Work Flow Analysis of Admitted Patients

FEATURED STUDY

by Cheryl Stephens-Lee, RN, BscN

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ABSTRACT

The Dartmouth General hospital (DGH) is a community hospital in urban Nova Scotia that provides services to approximately 120,000 people in Dartmouth and surrounding areas. The hospital has 131 inpatient beds, consisting of 95 acute, 28 transitional care and 8 intensive care beds. In 2005, 75% of all hospital admissions came through the Emergency Department (ED).

The work of the ED nurse requires a high degree of flexibility. Being able to adapt to the ever changing patient demographics and health status is an essential characteristic for staff who work in the ED setting. Traditionally this care has been marked by short-stays and a quick turn-around time between patients. In recent years, adaptive measures have expanded to include the care of the admitted patient.

To determine the issues around the flow of the admitted patient to an inpatient bed from the ED a working group was formed. The multidisciplinary group was led by Mr. John Kim of Lean Advisors Inc (LEAD®). Lean Advisors Inc. (LEAD®) is a consulting company that teaches the concept of “lean management” or “lean thinking” through analyzing flow processes. This analysis included stakeholders at the administrative level, as well as nurses and ward clerks from both the ED and inpatient units. The analysis involved data collection, emergency department information system (EDIS) queries, and work flow analysis using the concepts of LEAD®.

Title: Work Flow Analysis of Admitted Patients

Author: Cheryl Stephens-Lee, RN, BscN

E-mail: cheryl-stephens-lee@uiowa.edu

Affiliation: Dartmouth General Hospital, Capital Health Authority, Dartmouth, NS

Submitted: 29 May 2006

Accepted: August 2006

Editor: Agnes Bianchi, RN, BScN, MN

APA Reference:

Stephens-Lee, C. (2006). Work flow analysis of admitted patients. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics, 1(2). https://cjni.net/journal/?p=297