Researchers created a multidisciplinary quality improvement team to design and test a huddle handoff communication tool called the Potentially Aggressive/Violent Huddle Form. During two iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, staff developed a plan to test the change.
The key details to know:
1. Emergency department nurses and nurses from six other units said they felt 100 percent safe throughout the transfer process when the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles were in effect.
2. Process satisfaction in the emergency department increased from 53 percent to 75 percent from the first cycle to the second cycle.
3. Study author Ambrose H. Wong, MD, and co-authors wrote in an editorial, “These evidence-based quality improvement strategies have traditionally been used to address patient safety issues, but the innovation here lies in the authors’ application of these strategies to workplace safety. This agitation handoff tool provides the receiving inpatient unit a comprehensive plan for managing potential violent episodes and anticipating additional behavioral needs to safely deliver care.”
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