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Case study: Rounding cuts number of call lights by 3,000

Quality Improvement Monitor, July 25, 2008

Six months after the telemetry unit at Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital in Louisville, KY, implemented hourly nurse rounding, the number of patient falls decreased, patient satisfaction increased, and call light use dropped by more than 3,000 per month.

“The managers round on all of the patients every day,” says Amy Robinson, RN, a nurse manager at the 200-bed facility. “One of the questions we ask the patient is, ‘Does someone always come in as soon as you use your call light?’ And we often hear, ‘Oh, I never use my call light because they’re in here all the time.’ ”

The hospital began hourly rounding on Robinson’s 25-bed telemetry unit in March 2007 to reduce patient falls. In February 2007, the unit had five falls. That number dropped to one in April, although it took six months before the program was really hardwired. The director of patient care excellence, Lisa Benner, organized the project.

Access the full story in the June issue of Quality Improvement Report; access is free for subscribers, nonsubscribers can purchase a copy of the story for $10.

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