Leading Innovative Change

Engaging and empowering healthcare workers (HCW) to meaningfully improve their work may improve the provision of high-quality healthcare and workplace wellbeing. Methods by which healthcare can be improved include quality improvement (QI). The Leading Innovate Change Program is a pilot program to improve quality of care and HCW wellbeing by engaging and empowering frontline emergency department (ED) registered nurses (RNs) to use structured QI methods to identify and work to improve important gaps in care quality.

Here is a brief report for the Leading Innovative Change Program

The projects

Hot Debrief

Following important clinical events, hot debriefs were considered important to improve understanding of the medical events, as well as improve staff wellbeing and overall care quality and safety. Here is a video of a slide show presentation of hot debriefs. And the hot debrief tool.

Improving use of ECGs

Rationalising use of ECGs by clarifying and implementing criteria for which patients required an ECG provided an opportunity for safe reduction of staff workload. Here are the indications for ECG in the ED criteria.

Peer Support

Nurses new to AED who had experience nursing elsewhere were identified as an important workgroup that could benefit from a voluntary structured peer support program provided by nurse colleagues with more experience in AED. A summary of the peer support program can be found on these Peer support slides

IV cannula rationalisation

Reducing unnecessary cannula use had the potential to improve safety by reducing infection and reduce time and consumables resource waste. Here is a 1 page summary of the AED IV cannula use guideline, and link to a power point presentation.