Simple Is Good

... oftentimes better and occasionally best. Trudy Lieberman has a couple of examples from the world of nursing. And from England's National Health Services (NHS), no less.

Here's one example which went far to eliminating the problems associated with giving patients their medications; patients can be given the wrong medication or the wrong dose. The problem is usually the result of nurses being interrupted. The NHS solution? Nurses don red pinafores when giving patients medications. The pinafores serve as a 'do not disturb' sign.

Falls by patients are another problem the NHS has addressed. Here the answer was a large chart. Taylor explains the chart as follows: "Using a graphic with boxes for each day of the month, hospital personnel on a floor mark the boxes with a green X if there are no falls for the day and a red one if there are. Another visual called a “measles chart” uses red dots to mark the spots on a floor plan diagram showing where most falls occur. Knowing that, the staff can investigate the causes and make corrections. ... this simple technology has allowed nurses to “visually see their work and create a team and a community on the floor.” In one hospital, nurses were upset when a fall occurred after several months of having none."

Similar nurse-led innovations have been implemented in a number of areas: patient hygiene, nursing procedures, meals, medicines, and ward rounds. The result being that nurses have more time to be with patients, this number having increased from 24% to 54%.  The concept has moved to the U.S. A group of Oregon hospitals have now initiated similar changes.