Patient safety leadership walkrounds: lessons learned from a mixed-methods evaluation

<p dir="ltr">‌ Wynne-Jones, J., Martin-Babin, M., Hayward, B., & Villa, L. (2020). Patient safety leadership walkrounds: lessons learned from a mixed-methods evaluation. <i>Kai Tiaki Nursing Research</i>, 11(1), 24–33</p><p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.nzno.org.nz/Portals/0/Files/Documents/Resources/kaitiaki/2020-11 Kai Tiaki Nursing Research vol 11 no 1 - Patient safety leadership walk rounds.pdf" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Link to full text</a></p><p dir="ltr"><b>ABSTRACT</b></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Aim:</b> This evaluation, undertaken in 2019, aimed to assess the impact of a patient safety leadership walk rounds (PSLWR) programme implemented in a hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, and to provide useful recommendations for programme improvement.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Background:</b> A PSLWR is a safety initiative that aims to connect leaders with the frontline services of their hospitals, raising visibility of challenges in frontline care. This PSLWR programme involved senior leaders and other departmental representatives going out to wards to conduct staff and patient interviews to capture experiences, alongside an environmental assessment.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Method:</b> This non-experimental outcome evaluation design applied a mixed-methods approach. This included an international literature search, semi-structured interviews with 25 staff, analysis of programme data, action follow-up assessments and evaluative observations of the PSLWRs.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Findings:</b> Findings showed that PSLWRs have the potential to have a significant positive impact on some areas of patient and staff experiences of care. These include promoting awareness of and accountability for patient and staff safety, building safer ward environments, promoting a positive culture of monitoring and evaluation, and increasing visibility of people and processes. PSLWRs are also a useful tool to help organisations identify and address problems persisting in their care environment, but they cannot be completed in isolation from other organisational monitoring and without dedicated leadership time.</p><p dir="ltr"><b>Conclusion:</b> The overall effectiveness of a PSLWR programme very much depends on the way it is implemented. Eight recommendations are presented which should help to inform the development and implementation of similar programmes across the patient safety sphere.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p>