Top Team Peak Performers 2021: DSC Prep/Recovery Team, Medical Center
I would like to nominate the DSC Prep/Recovery team for the Peak Performer Team award. I do not have room to share all of the amazing things this team has done and continues to do to elevate the experience for our patients, our families, and for one another but I will share two that I believe exemplify the amazing teamwork they uphold in being thoughtful and intentional in their pursuit of outstanding safety, service, and quality for the customers we serve.
The Pre-op and PACU staff were challenged with transitioning to “one” team in the sense that all would be cross trained to all areas of the unit. This meant pre-op. nurses would now also be able to work in the PACU and PACU nurses would also be able to pre-op patients. This was not a popular idea at the time however the staff embraced the change and as more and more staff were trained the unit morale improved greatly. Team members who were previously isolated to one area unable to help the other, and who didn’t even have much of a collegial relationship with the other were now working together side by side and rooting for the other to be successful. The whole team dynamic changed and created one team that cared and looked out for the other and thus by improving these relationships, communication was improved, and patient safety, satisfaction and the quality of care received by patients was elevated. This staff is now completely cross trained to all areas and able to flow in and out of areas where the patient need is which also benefits the hospitals productivity as well. It was a Win-Win!
The second example of the amazing teamwork and collaboration of this team is how they embrace shared governance. All team members (nurses, paramedics, secretaries, and child life) are required to be part of at least one council. Many of these team members are on more than one. When our Service Excellence Council was reviewing our NRC Picker scores which were all above the CHCA average they could have said, “Great job us!” However, this team looked at what the lowest of the great scores were and decided to create an evidence based practice project to look at initiating a Bedside Shift Report to increase those scores surrounding communication. They successfully completed this with minimal help from leadership and implemented this on the unit with their peers. As a result, the scores they wanted to increase did so dramatically and the satisfaction of staff giving and receiving report increased as well. Families are included and interactive in the hand-off from one nurse to the other which has been a big satisfier and we have seen that satisfaction on our NRC picker comments. This project also was presented at a national conference and is also part of a bigger project within the hospital currently. All staff members embraced this way of communication and we now have so many positive comments to read at staff meetings from our NRC scores, that at the last meeting we had 17 staff members mentioned by name by families; some up to 4 times! This team continues to give 100% daily to their job and their team. Their eagerness to flex their scheduled times and days every week and also to pick up extra shifts in the unit (some in other units) throughout Peri-op and the hospital shows their dedication to our mission. They are extremely flexible and resilient! We could not ask for a better team and we appreciate the collaboration and hard work given by all and believe that they deserve to be recognized for all they have done and continue to do to uphold the Cook’s promise! Thank you for your strong work DSC team!!