Intradisciplinary Nursing Communication Post Hospital Merger: A Quality Improvement Project Using Online Communities of Practice in the Intensive Care Unit

After hospital mergers, unit work environments are at risk of being unhealthy due to poor intradisciplinary two-way communication in times of change. This quality improvement project explored the impact a 4-week, social-media–based, intradisciplinary communication strategy had on a postmerger intensive care unit work environment. The sample (N = 14) included 11 bedside nurses and three administrative nurses working in a 22-bed southwestern US ICU. The participants took part in a Facebook closed-group community of practice called Nurse to Nurse, with a total of 25.9% participation rate. Eleven participants completed the pre–Nurse to Nurse survey, a 20.4% completion rate, while eight participants completed the post–Nurse to Nurse survey, a 14.8% completion rate. After the conclusion of Nurse to Nurse, the overall mean skilled communication survey score increased to 3.79, a 1.6% improvement. Question 14, which measured zero-tolerance behavior perception, exhibited a mean of 2.3% improvement, boosting this metric to excellent status. Utilization data revealed 68 comments posted within Nurse to Nurse implementation, with 56 showing horizontal communication (73.5%) and 24 displaying vertical communication (26.5%). A total of 217 bedside nurse views (81.3%) and 50 administrative nurse views (18.7%) were noted. Nurse to Nurse, an online communication-focused community of practice, enhanced communication among bedside and administrative nurses working in a postmerger intensive c...
Source: CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing - Category: Information Technology Tags: FEATURES Source Type: research