Effect of Hourly Rounds Implementation on Women's Perceptions of Nursing Care

To evaluate the effect of implementing hourly rounds on a mother-baby unit (MBU) on the perception of care by women admitted to the hospital for birth or with pregnancy complications.

Retrospective, quantitative, before-after study.

The MBU of a large metropolitan hospital in the northeastern United States was the setting. With considerable resources allocated to hourly rounding implementation, there was a need to examine whether hourly rounds influenced the perception of communication with nurses by women admitted to the hospital for prenatal care and women's likelihood to recommend the hospital.

Women ages 18 years and older discharged from the MBU.

Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Services (HCAHPS) survey responses collected from women at discharge, before and after hourly rounds implementation on the MBU, were compared. Aggregate data were retrieved from Press Ganey reports.

No significant change in women's perceptions of nursing care and communication was found when comparing pre- and postintervention samples.

Although we found no statistically significant change in perception of care, we have identified opportunities for future research. More research is need to explore what approaches for hourly rounds implementation and sustainability are most effective. Additionally, there is a need to study whether vital aspects of care identified by pregnant women admitted to the hospital are similar or different compared with other populations.