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Vancouver Coastal Health provides health care services through a network of hospitals, primary care clinics, community health centres and residential care homes. Search our health care services in Vancouver, Richmond, North and West Vancouver and along the Sea-to-Sky Highway, Sunshine Coast and BC's Central Coast.

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Measles alert for several Vancouver locations

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Behind the scenes of myVCH Projects: improving communication between orthopaedic residents and nurseshttp://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-myvch-projects-improving-communication-between-orthopaedic-residents-and-nursesBehind the scenes of myVCH Projects: improving communication between orthopaedic residents and nurses<p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><strong><em>Photo caption: Orthopaedic and Trauma Unit (T7) Patient Services Manager Caleigh Sullivan-Ashe</em></strong></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><span style="color:#000000;font-size:15px;font-weight:700;">Ever wonder how </span><span style="color:#000000;font-size:15px;font-weight:700;">our staff are maki</span><span style="color:#000000;font-size:15px;font-weight:700;">ng Vancouver Coastal Health a better place?</span></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><span style="color:#f15d3f;font-size:22px;">What gave you the i</span><span style="color:#f15d3f;font-size:22px;">dea for this project?</span></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph">I work in the Orthopaedic and Trauma Unit (T7), and we identified a problem between the staff on the unit and orthopaedic residents. The challenge was that residents aren't on surgical units that much – they're often in clinics or the OR. They have pagers, but the system wasn't working well: there were long waits, missed calls, and incidences of paging the wrong person. We wanted to find a better tool for staff on the unit to communicate with residents when we had concerns, or needed things done for patients. </p><h2 class="phsa-rteElement-Header2">How did your team work to improve communication between the orthopaedic residents and nurses?</h2><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph">The project was very interesting: at first we thought the best solution was to give the residents cells phones, which would be more efficient than the pager system. But then I spoke with a senior medical resident who was using the cell phone system, and he told me that while there were some benefits, most of his team disliked the phones. They felt an expectation to respond immediately, which was disruptive. Our orthopaedic residents agreed, and were quite adamant they would not be having their phone on when they're in with patients, which I felt was fair.<br></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph">So I went back to my team of nurses with this, and they brought forward the idea of developing a problem list. We could have a notepad on the unit hung in a certain spot where nurses could record low-priority patient problems, and the residents would decide who was responsible to address the challenges on the list. For high-priority items we would still use the pagers, and in the end this is the system we went with.</p><h2 class="phsa-rteElement-Header2">How did using the new myVCH Projects pathway affect your project outcome?</h2><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph">If I'm being totally honest, I think my project was a bit too small to truly benefit from it. However I'm glad that I know the process of how it works, because I have bigger project ideas I'm sure would be great for this system. The main benefit of the approach is that if your project hits a roadblock a Senior Executive Team member or director can help move things along for you.</p><h2 class="phsa-rteElement-Header2">How did it feel when your project was implemented?</h2><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph">It felt good to implement this: my staff thought it was a great idea, and they were thrilled to be trying it. When my staff are happy with things, it makes me happy. They felt people were listening to what they had to say, which was very positive.</p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph">Our notepad system has been working well, but I wouldn't say it's been the amazing fixer of all things. To some extent that's just the nature of our jobs – people get busy – but this has helped to improve things. The system is working, and the patients are getting what they need faster than before, so I think it's been an overall good outcome for sure.</p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><strong>Project Name: </strong>Introduce cellular phones for T7 physician team</p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><strong>Initiative Owner:</strong> Patient Services Manager Caleigh Sullivan-Ashe</p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><span style="color:#f15d3f;font-size:22px;">Related </span><span style="color:#f15d3f;font-size:22px;">articles</span></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><a href="http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-my-vch-projects-implementing-telestroke-at-sechelt-hospital" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of My VCH Projects: Implementing Telestroke at Sechelt Hospital</a><br></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><a href="http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-my-vch-projects-saving-money-by-reducing-supply-waste" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of My VCH Projects: Saving money by reducing supply waste</a><br></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><a href="http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-my-vch-projects-creating-vch-wide-meaningful-recognition" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of My VCH Projects: Creating VCH-wide meaningful recognition</a><br></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><a href="http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-my-vch-projects-increasing-nursing-home-health-capacity" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of My VCH Projects: Increasing nursing home health capacity</a><br></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><a href="http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scene-of-my-vch-projects-upskilling-nurses-in-the-management-of-vascular-access" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of My VCH Projects: Upskilling nurses in the management of vascular access</a><br></p><p class="phsa-rteElement-Paragraph"><a href="http://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-my-vch-projects-filling-vacant-shifts-and-decreasing-relief-not-found" target="_blank">Behind the scenes of My VCH Projects: Filling vacant shifts and decreasing relief not found (RNF)</a><br></p><img alt="" src="/PublishingImages/Caleigh-Sullivan-Ashe.JPG?RenditionID=8" style="BORDER:0px solid;" />

 

 

North Shore to benefit from new Lions Gate Hospital acute care towerhttp://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/news-releases/north-shore-to-benefit-from-new-lions-gate-hospital-acute-care-towerNorth Shore to benefit from new Lions Gate Hospital acute care tower2018-09-17T07:00:00Z
Behind the scenes of myVCH Projects: improving communication between orthopaedic residents and nurseshttp://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/behind-the-scenes-of-myvch-projects-improving-communication-between-orthopaedic-residents-and-nursesBehind the scenes of myVCH Projects: improving communication between orthopaedic residents and nurses2018-09-16T07:00:00Z
Game on! VCH project wins research awardhttp://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/game-on-vch-project-wins-research-awardGame on! VCH project wins research award2018-09-14T07:00:00Z
Measles alert for several Vancouver locationshttp://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/measles-alert-for-several-vancouver-locationsMeasles alert for several Vancouver locations2018-09-13T07:00:00Z
Refreshed policy to better serve Indigenous Peoplehttp://www.vch.ca/about-us/news/refreshed-policy-to-better-serve-indigenous-peopleRefreshed policy to better serve Indigenous People2018-09-10T07:00:00Z
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