A Dashboard for the PACU: Given a Window into the OR, Recovery Nurses Transform Work Methods

By Scott Ciesielski, RN, MS; Bethany Daily, MHA; Wilton C. Levine, MD

Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

September / October 2008

Clinicians at Massachusetts General Hospital in collaboration with LiveData, Inc. have designed, developed, and introduced an innovative tool to help reduce the level of uncertainty in the PACU and facilitate hand-offs from the OR. A "communication" dashboard that structures and automates the flow of crucial information about incoming patients is currently installed in a dedicated PACU as part of the MGH Best Practice Pod Project. ...

... Given this window into the OR, PACU nurses have transformed their work style from reactive to proactive. With a more comprehensive awareness of incoming patients, the nurses in the Pod find that they are able to deploy resources, allocate staff, communicate with members of the OR team, and manage hand-offs more effectively.

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