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CS99
Red Light / Green Light: Who Transports the Patient?
By Myrna Ward, RN, BSN, R. Corcoran, J. Mueller, C. Ford-Weaver, Barnes-Jewish Hospital at Washington University Medical Center, St. Louis, MO
For further information, please contact: mrw1221@bjc.org
Purpose: Our hospital had a critical event related to a patient’s transport to another department. Analysis of the incident showed that our policy for transporting patients with appropriate levels of staff was not well known, nor was it consistently followed.
Description: We formed a multidisciplinary team that included members from nursing, radiology, dispatch and other departments. Our goal was to develop and implement a user-friendly method to identify and communicate a patient’s level of stability for safe internal transport. We identified key indicators that relate to a patient’s level of stability. These indicators are: vital signs, respiratory status, cardiovascular status, presence of intravenous lines and drips, other monitors and tubes, sending unit (intensive care unit or operating room), and factors such as age or behaviors. We made an eye-catching color-coded poster called the Transport Stability Scale. The scale communicates the patient’s level of stability. A patient is judged as safe to transport with an orderly only (green level), with a registered nurse (RN) or physician (yellow level), or with both an RN and a physician (red level). We put a color-coded sticker on the chart to communicate the patient’s level of stability.
Evaluation and Outcomes: Both the poster and the chart stickers lead to a more user-friendly, easy process. The RN assigns the green, yellow or red status based on the patient’s most recent assessment. The RN dates, times and signs the single-use sticker. The orderly does not transport a patient without a completed sticker on the chart. The receiving department easily sees the patient’s stability status upon arrival. Follow-up auditing of this process shows consistently better than 80% compliance with using the new scale. This approach meets the goals of our project and helps to promote a safer environment for our patients.
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