[Sharon]

Describe huddles in your workplace and provide an example of how it benefits patient care and communication amongst the team.

[Maame]

At my workplace each shift has a huddle to discuss what is currently occurring during the shift and any concerns to be addressed. An example of a huddle on my unit is when a resident has a fall. Staff on the shift will gather around in the nursing station to discuss how the fall occurred and preventative measures that could of been put in place to prevent the fall.

[Johanna]

Hi Maame,

These falls huddles are important, as they help create an individualized plan of care for the residents. They also help all the staff members present to understand that the fall occurred and what need to happen in order to prevent the fall. For example, perhaps the resident needs to be toileted at a certain time.

[Jeanette]

Maame,
In the hospital we would do something similar during huddle. We would discuss which patients were a falls risk and what we can do as staff to make the hospital a safe environment and also if someone did fall there would be a debrief to learn how we can help it from happening again.

[Johanna]

My PSW team and I meet at the start of each shift for between 15 and 30 minutes. I read report regarding the past two shifts, and we review the bath list and laxative list. They also provide any verbal report received from the day staff. We also discuss any recent challenges that we have had regarding our residents (i.e.-behavioural), and ways that we can handle these.
Having this time allows us to make an individualized plan of care for our residents. This is designed to make their lives better and more comfortable.
For example, we identified that one resident has been increasingly aggressive during personal care. He has been spitting in the faces of the PSWs. Two items came from this discussion: firstly, the need to change his medication administration time from bedtime to 1600h in order for the medication to take effect before care. Secondly, I ordered a box of face shields from the charge nurse in order to protect the PSWs while they are providing care. By discussing these issues as a team, the resident will receive the support he needs, and the PSWs will also receive the support they need in order to perform their role safely.

[Maame]

Hi Johana,

That was a great analysis of your resident’s situation , recongizing the need to change medication from bedtime to 1600 so the medication can work it’s course. In addition, very considerate of you to order face shields’ for the PSWs’.

[Jeanette]

We have a 10 minute huddle every morning with everyone in the clinic. We discuss any patients we are worried about, we discuss the staff we have for the day as well there is a chance to bring up any concerns. I find this time very valuable. Often our patients are hard to reach because they don’t have a phone or are very hard to connect with so this is a great way for everyone to be on the look out. This was especially helpful during COVID I could keep all staff up to date with proper protocols. Huddles are good for patient care and they are a great way to keep staff in the know.

[Katie]

In our organization because we cover a large geographic area as well as provide care in clts homes there is not a traditional huddle as described. We do have Clinic, Wound Resource and Palliative Team meetings which occur quarterly to support discussion of concerns and upcoming changes.

These team meeting have driven policy change and employee recognition initiatives as well as the development of educational resources and supports.

[Author]

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