Pauline Reid, RN, BScN
Patient Safety Squad, Windsor Regional Hospital
Windsor, ON
Karen Riddell, RN, BScN, MBA
Patient Safety Squad, Windsor Regional Hospital
Windsor, ON
“Patient rounds” have been around as long as the nursing profession. These “rounds” referred to prescribed times when a nursing team went to each patient room, assessing patients and providing variety of interventions to improve comfort. With changes in care delivery models, from team nursing to primary care models, rounds lost favour. There is growing evidence that standardized “comfort” rounds reduce falls, improve patient satisfaction and improve nurse efficiency and team work.
Windsor Regional Hospital implemented comfort rounds as part of their fall prevention program. This paper will share the elements of their standardized comfort rounds, implementation strategies and outcome measures.