Preoperative Multidisciplinary Team Huddle Improves Communication and Safety for Unscheduled Cesarean Deliveries: A...

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Healthcare Communication
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Effective communication is vital for safe patient care, especially in dynamic Labor and Delivery (L&D) settings.
• Unscheduled cesarean deliveries (CDs) often involve complex communication challenges among nursing, anesthesia, and obstetrics teams.
• Preoperative communication failures in L&D units have been linked to near-miss safety events and staff dissatisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve multidisciplinary communication surrounding unscheduled cesarean deliveries (CDs) in an academic L&D unit.
• To address widespread dissatisfaction with communication processes identified through initial surveys.
• To reduce the risk of compromised patient care stemming from preoperative communication breakdowns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the UC Health Performance Improvement Way, including Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles.
• Introduced a bedside, multidisciplinary, patient-centered pre-CD huddle with a standard checklist.
• Collected qualitative patient feedback and compared pre- and post-intervention data on communication satisfaction and procedure times.

Main Results:

• Huddle adherence reached 96% for unscheduled CDs within six months.
• Care team satisfaction scores for communication improved significantly, from 3.3/5 to 4.7/5.
• Patient engagement increased, with positive feedback on participating in huddle discussions. General anesthesia rates and decision-to-incision times remained stable.

Conclusions:

• Communication failures during unscheduled CDs negatively impacted staff satisfaction and perceived safety.
• Implementing bedside multidisciplinary huddles enhanced team communication and fostered a stronger safety culture.
• The huddle intervention improved communication and safety perceptions without negatively affecting procedure timeliness.