Improving the process of communication at the bedside

Timely communication among health care workers, patients, and significant others is an important component of delivering quality health care. As patients' lengths of stay decrease, "flextime" among health care personnel increases, and the various types of practitioners providing patient care increases, a method for quick communication of pertinent clinical information at the bedside becomes imperative. A multidisciplinary quality improvement team was formed to improve the process of communication of pertinent clinical information such as allergies, isolation precautions, and NPO (nothing by mouth) at the bedside. The outcome of this project was the development of a bedside clinical communication system and an improvement in the process of communicating pertinent clinical information at the bedside.