Measuring ward round quality in urology.

Background: Ward rounds are the traditional process by which clinical information is interpreted and management plans made in the inpatient setting and the only time during which patient-doctor interaction can reliably occur. Efforts to improve quality and safety have started looking at the ward round but this has mainly been in the acute medical setting.
Objective: To begin the quality improvement process for Urological ward rounds.
Methods: Twenty indicators thought to relate to quality were recorded for every weekday ward round by the Urology team for one month.
Results: Twenty ward rounds, 93 patient encounters, were reviewed. A consultant was present for 37% of the patient encounters. 84% of observation charts were reviewed; drug charts 28% and antibiotics 70%. Plans were communicated to the doctors, patient and nursing staff. All notes were typed directly onto the electronic system, 20% of notes were checked by the lead clinician. Mean time per patient was 6 minutes.
Conclusions: By starting a discussion about ward rounds we aim to align the process with the broader values of the organisation. Ward rounds can be the cornerstone of delivering safe, clean and personal care and measuring this process is vital to understanding efforts to improve them.