and staff can give input after hearing all of the teams thoughts while not missing any changes in a patients care due to poor communication. (Rosen, Stenger, Bochkoris, Hannon, Kwoh, 2009) “Family-centered multidisciplinary rounds is a method of conducting inpatient hospital rounds that fosters teamwork and empowers hospital staff. The patient and family are engaged in and are the focal point of the rounds. Staff members are able to hear everyone's perspective and give input” (Rosen et.al., 2009, p.3). This has been noted to have a significant impact on both staff and patient/family satisfaction. In a study discussed on the New South Wales (NSW) government website, two patient groups were analyzed and evaluated: one utilizing an MDR approach and the other staying with the traditional approach. There was a noted decrease in the length of stay by 0.6 days for the group that received care utilizing the MDR approach. Interdisciplinary Team In order to make changes to the current state of rounding in the workplace, a Quality Improvement (QI) team needs to be assembled. “QI team members should represent a cross section of workers who are involved with the problem,” according to Folse (2011, pp. 395). This QI team will consist of two staff nurses, the unit nurse manager, an infection control liaison, and two doctors or PA/NPs. These disciplines will be playing an active part in MDR’s so it will benefit this team to have them come together to collect data for this change project. This team will continue to monitor and evaluate progress after implementation. According to Multidisciplinary rounds (MDR): an implementation system for sustained improvement in the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines Program (2007), “MDR is a patient-focused communication system integrating care delivered by multiple providers using concurrent feedback, redundancy, and rapid cycle improvement.” The MDR
team should consist of all types of staff involved in patient care. These team members would include: “The bedside registered nurse who presents the patient; physician on the patient’s case; respiratory therapist; pharmacist; nutritionist; social worker; physical therapist; case management; and trainees who are involved in the patient’s care such as student nurses and medical students” (Ababat et al., 2013, para 3). Each team member will address and discuss the appropriate aspects of patient care corresponding to his or her specific discipline. This will allow for effective collaboration and increase in communication amongst all members of the healthcare team. Data Collection Method This study aims to use a data collection method similar to the one used in the 2007 study by O’Mahoney, Mazur,Charney, Wang & Fine in their study about multidisciplinary rounding. Monthly data will be collected from an administrative database to measure the average LOS and nursing quality indicators of patients six months prior to implementing the MDR and monitored continuously following the change. “Nursing quality indicators reflect the structure, process, and outcomes of nursing care,” according to Folse (2011, pg. 399). The pre-MDR measurements and post-MDR measurements will be compared to see if the change shortened the patient’s length of stay, improved nursing quality indicators, and increased patient satisfaction scores. A line graph, or trend graph, can be used to display the monthly data to easily visualize trends and compare data both before and after implementation. Length of stay (LOS) is the measurement of a single episode in the hospital for a patient. The measurement will provide quantitative data showing if the new implementation of multidisciplinary rounding has shown an average decrease in a patient’s length of stay. This number will be compared to the real length of stay for the patient post MDR implementation.