Improving Communication and Collaboration Between Disciplines: Utilization of aDaily Goals Sheet During Daily Multidisciplinary Rounds in the Critical Care Setting
Communication problems have been cited as the “top safety incident” causing patient harm in intensive care units (Halm, 2008). Many concerns related to interdisciplinary communication and collaboration were found in a small, satellite critical care unit of a major teaching facility. This led to missed patient care goals and opportunities for improved patient outcomes, as well as increased length of stay. The researcher used a convenience sample of 40 nurses and advanced care providers and a mixed methods quasi-experimental pre/post survey design to explore whether multidisciplinary rounds utilizing a rounding tool would improve communication and collaboration between advanced care providers and nursing staff, as well as improve understanding of the daily goals of patient care. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed yielding mixed results with both positive and negative attributes to interdisciplinary communication and collaboration. Overall, the study supported the use of daily multidisciplinary rounds in the critical care setting utilizing the Daily Goals Sheet to increase interdisciplinary communication and collaboration and improve understanding of the daily goals of patient care, when compared with rounds not using the Daily Goals Sheet. Major limitations of the study were the small sample size and increased workload and staff resistance in using the Daily Goals Sheet and completing the surveys. The most significant implication of this study is that the researcher plans to continue integration of the Daily Goals Sheet into the research study site’s new computer system, as well as to continue future research in this quality improvement area
