AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Coaching Supports Care Process Change, Improving Sepsis, Nurse Turnover, and Fall Rates

Coaching Supports Care Process Change, Improving Sepsis, Nurse Turnover, and Fall Rates

Snapshot
Summary
Hospital-based coaches at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital assist nurses in developing process improvement projects to enhance geriatric care, including an early sepsis recognition program and treatment order set, a protocol for hourly rounding to prevent falls, and a fall prevention staff education game. Although results are still being analyzed, the program led to anecdotal reports of lower sepsis mortality and to below-average fall rates and contributed (along with other factors) to a decline in nurse turnover.

Evidence Rating
Suggestive: The evidence consists primarily of post-implementation declines in sepsis mortality, comparisons of fall rates to national averages, and a decline in nurse turnover that can be partially attributed to the program.

Developing Organizations
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, TX

Date First Implemented
2007
January

Patient Population
Age > Senior adult (65-79 years); Aged adult (80+ years); Vulnerable Populations > Frail elderly


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AHRQ Innovations Exchange | Coaching Supports Care Process Change, Improving Sepsis, Nurse Turnover, and Fall Rates