Leading Better Care
Senior Charge Nurse Review
NHS Fife
My experience of the above has had a positive effect on my self and my team, many positive changes have been introduced due to my knowledge being enhanced and my confidence and understanding increasing, and also I now had tools that would enable me to evidence the high standard of patient centred care that was being delivered.
Following this year long learning session I took a step back and assessed the way in which I ran my ward. I knew nursing was continually changing and realised that I as a SCN had to change along with my team in order to be successful in delivering care of a high standard.
I believe the SCN review played in huge part in giving me a focus and a structured approach to care delivery and measuring how well we were doing.
I communicated regularly to my team on how I was finding the SCN review/Leading Better Care, they knew that I would be introducing audits etc and they knew to expect change.
I first of all started using the (how are we doing) leaflets that were introduced to us when we attended the SCN review sessions. I decided to obtain up to date info from the patients, I wanted feed back re what we did well and what we could improve. We have a display area within the ward and these feedback leaflets are displayed for all to see. I have found the comments to be very positive and the negatives to be centred on the layout of the ward, meals etc. Staff need to know how they are doing and the feed back has been uplifting for the team, I also feel patients and their families appreciate being given the opportunity to have their say.
I then introduced a coordinators role with in my ward, this role was created as I could see my staff struggling to deliver care to their patients while also trying to find time to contact numerous people on the telephone, such as social workers, home care managers, occupational therapists etc. I was aware that so much had changed over the last year and as a team of nurses we had to change so that we could maintain excellent patient care and also ensure discharge planning for our patients was well organised.
My ward had gone from a surgical ward to medical where the majority of the medical patients were in delay due to their social circumstances. By introducing this role I have found that both my junior and senior staff have developed their knowledge and skills when it comes to discharge planning. This role is not person dependant as all trained staff have the opportunity to be the coordinator. By implementing the coordinators role I have found the nurses have more time to spend with their patients, they no longer spend time on the phone trying to track down a social worker etc. They feel more relaxed and they are not worrying about not following the discharge plans through, which was what I could see happening and which had a negative impact on the nurse and also the discharge process.
We now have a robust discharge system in place and have built up excellent communications with the multidisciplinary team. My nurses are knowledgeable, confident and forth coming when it comes to discussing discharge planning.
The occupational therapist and the physiotherapist know abut the coordinator so they communicate with them re any changes and the coordinator cascades this throughout the team. We have had positive feedback from senior medical consultants re our organisation, discharge planning and forward thinking. We regularly exceed our discharge quota and by doing this we are able to accommodate other wards by helping out when beds are tight.
I have found that by having a structured system in place that has been proven to work, I now have more time to catch up with my office work etc.
The SCN review allowed me to be come familiar and confident regarding implementing audits and since this course I have not only implemented all the CQI’s but I have also implemented all the suggested audits which came form SPSP.
I have also implemented the Pura SSkin bundle and my ward has recently received a certificate of achievement as we have had no pressure ulcers develop for 140 days.
As a SCN I believe I have made positive changes within my ward and my team and I feel this was helped by attending the SCN review. The whole experience was enjoyable and informative and for once SCN’s were all together in one room sharing their experiences, worries and successes.