Importance of Observation and Communication - Aldersgate Kings Meadows

Aldersgate Kings Meadows is a 67 bed high care facility located in Launceston Tasmania. It has been benchmarking key performance indicators with QPS since 2003. It was noted in 2006-7 that the prevalence of pressure areas were beginning to increase. They trended up during 2006-7 and peaked above the industry mean in Quarter 3 2007. Instinctively most staff equate increased pressure areas with a breakdown in resident care systems. Such breakdowns are rarely the fault of any one individual and at Aldersgate Kings Meadows it was perceived that improving communication about individual resident needs may assist in the early detection and prevention of pressure areas.

The first step that was taken was to discuss observation and communication with staff, not because it was a particular problem but more in the context how team communication could assist in all aspects of clinical care.

One staff member, the Therapy Assistant was identified as being someone who was particularly observant and capable of reporting on emerging resident issues or where care programs might be in jeopardy of breaking down. To help manage this reporting work load the facility was broken into the two areas so that reporting could be alternated for the two groups. This helped ensure that the focus and attention to detail was not diluted by the need to report on every resident at every staff meeting.

From these reports the clinical staff meetings were better able to identify deficiencies or oversights in the care programs and take appropriate action.

The communication strategies adopted have benefited many areas of clinical care and they have helped to foster a renewed culture of collective staff support for one another - a factor we hope to measure in upcoming staff satisfaction surveys.

The high result in March 07 prompted discussions regarding observation and communication.