Shining the Light on St. Michael’s Best Practice Spotlight Organization Achievements This annual newsletter highlights some of St. Michael’s best practice achievements with examples of how our nursing teams are implementing, evaluating and sustaining best practice guidelines (BPGs) into standardized processes that support evidence-based nursing practice.
A Champion for Quality Thomas Sawyer had been in his role as a registered nurse on 9CC Trauma and Neurosurgery for four years when he volunteered to help with a quality project: implementing staff-led debriefing after critical incidents. “Incidents like verbal and physical abuse or significant code blues (when someone is experiencing cardiopulmonary arrest) didn’t happen regularly but when they did, it would end with everyone just dispersing,” he said. “We didn’t have a standardized process to discuss what happened, what could have been done differently and how we were all feeling. We also didn’t have a means of bringing our feedback forward.”
Six months after launching, the debrief tool is still in use on 9CC and it is making an impact; staff feel empowered to reflect and share their thoughts and recommendations after an incident. Their collective feedback is shared with the unit’s CLM who Sawyer works with to address concerns brought forward and ensure closed-loop feedback is shared with everyone who was involved in the incident.
As part of the best practice guideline (BPG) on Stop Harm and Violence, Sawyer, a newly minted BPG Nurse Champion, was able to help create a debrief tool to be used in these situations. He connected with staff to understand what needed to be included, trained charge nurses to initially facilitate the discussion and advocated for the tool’s use after it launched. “It was really refreshing – I would come into work and people would tell me that there was an incident and they used the debrief tool to process it effectively as a team,” he said. “The initial feedback was very positive – sensitive topics and safety concerns were brought forward during debriefs and attendees were able to critically review outcomes and felt their concerns were validated. Staff said they felt more supported knowing the unit was prioritizing their wellness and safety.” Continued on page 3 BPSO stands for Best Practice Spotlight Organization, the designation awarded by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) to organizations upon successful implementation, evaluation and knowledge translation of established nursing best practice guidelines (BPGs). St. Michael’s has been a proud designated BPSO since 2012.