| Featured Topic: PACU Dashboard—A Window into the OR 
A "communication" dashboard that structures and automates the flow of crucial information about incoming patients was installed in a dedicated PACU as part of the MGH Best Practice Pod Project. The dashboard automatically provides a real-time global outlook of three operating rooms on a large monitor positioned in a central location on the PACU wall. In this month’s issue of Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Scott Ciesielski, RN, MS, Bethany Daily, MHA, and Wilton C. Levine, MD describe the impact of the PACU Dashboard on the working methods of recovery nurses. This innovative tool, designed to help reduce the level of uncertainty in the PACU and facilitate hand-offs from the OR, was embraced by nursing staff at MGH enthusiastically, with an unusual degree of ease, speed, and thoroughness. PACU nurses responded quickly to the new window into the OR by transforming their work style from reactive to proactive. With a more comprehensive awareness of incoming patients, the nurses in the Pod found that they were able to deploy resources, allocate staff, communicate with members of the OR team, and manage hand-offs more effectively. PACU nurses in the Pod, for example, increasingly turned to information on the dashboard for clues as to whether incoming cases had the potential for instability. When able to anticipate them, PACU nurses can prepare medication in advance, reorganize staff assignments to retain one-on-one nursing, and ensure that the patient is being transported to the appropriate unit. Physiologic data shown on the PACU Dashboard has also prompted recovery nurses to play a greater role in initiating the exchange of information with the OR. PACU nurses tend to question OR staff during the procedure, particularly if there is concern that the patient could require transport to the main PACU or ICU. On a general level, increased communication between the PACU and the OR improves the likelihood that relevant information is maintained during patient transfer. | 
