At our Fremont Medical Center, Nursing Communication is the area of focus for patient experience as measured by the HCAHPS patient experience survey. The Nursing Communication composite includes Nurses Listen Carefully, Nurses Treated Me with Courtesy and Respect, and Nurses Explained Things to Me in a Way That I Can Understand.
In March 2024, Christopher Neilson, BSN, RN, NE-BC, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse Executive introduced a daily “Golden Hour” from 10-11 a.m. for leader rounding, allowing leaders to connect with patients and demonstrate active listening using Commit to Sit stools in patient rooms. After rounding, the interdisciplinary leadership team holds a debrief to address care concerns and select an exceptional recognition for weekly celebration. The Magnet Care Experience team focused on improving communication tools, including adding patient education handouts to the My Hospital Visit folder. These handouts featured an updated Welcome Letter, detailing what to expect during a hospital stay, and medication information. Additional tools such as pocket amplifiers for hearing-impaired patients and ASL interpreters for deaf patients (with ASL being the sixth most prevalent language) were also implemented. As 11% of patients speak a primary language other than English, visual identification of patients needing interpreters has enhanced care team communication. These efforts contributed to meeting the Nursing Communication organizational goal for the year, with a 9 percentile increase in the benchmark score.