Ward 5 staff were thinking about how they could better organise patient files and make them easier to find. They also wanted to tidy up their nurse’s station. A cubicle in the handover room ,with cubby holes designated to each bed number, was proposed.
The biggest issue with the old system was patient notes left lying around everywhere. This posed risks for patient privacy as well as notes going missing and of course the mess. There was a case note trolley and staff would rummage in the trolley to find the notes they wanted then go and look for the matching old notes. Finding notes was very frustrating to the medical staff when doing their rounds and to nurses trying to write notes or send patients for tests.
The wooden cubby holes are a simple idea – each cubby hole corelates to a ward bed – and the list of patients can be found on the white board. Wall mounted, the cubby holes actually save space. Notes are easy to find and put back again. They are no longer left lying around anymore.
Ward 5 surveyed doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants & allied health staff after the cubby holes had been in place for a month to see whether they were working for them. The feedback came back 100% positive. This has really changed procedures and atitudes to managing patient notes.
