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Beyond paging: building a web-based communication tool for nurses and physicians
Kenneth A Locke1, Barbara Duffey-Rosenstein, Giancarlo De Lio
1Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. ken.locke@utoronto.ca
Introduction:
The traditional means of communication between nurses and physicians is through paging. This method is disruptive to the workflow of both professions and is too non-specific to be used for all types of messages.
Aims:
We undertook a quality improvement project to streamline communication between nurses and trainees for urgent and non-urgent matters. We assessed user uptake and satisfaction with the new method.
Setting:
A General Internal Medicine teaching unit in a tertiary care academic centre.
Methods:
Through collaborative techniques, we developed a novel communication method that sends non-urgent messages to a Web-based task list and urgent messages to an alphanumeric pager. We implemented this new technology using a collaborative process between nurses and physicians to address all concerns.
Evaluation:
Post-implementation surveillance indicated a high degree of uptake of the new practice. User surveys and focus groups showed a high level of satisfaction and a perceived decrease in interruptions to the workflow of both nurses and physicians with the new system. Usage data indicated that the new system may increase overall non-urgent communication.
Conclusion:
A Web-based system to triage urgent and non-urgent messages between nurses and physicians was developed collaboratively and implemented successfully to improve workflow for both groups.
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