Using huddles to improve communication and teamwork in an instrument-processing department
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Using huddles to improve communication and teamwork in an instrument-processing department

Amy Hans Loesche Supervisor, Nursing Education and Professional Development, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida, US

Why you should read this article::
  • To enhance your awareness of the benefits of team huddles

  • To learn about the effects of a service improvement project that involved the implementation of daily huddles and huddle boards

  • To identify methods you could use to improve communication and teamwork in your area of practice

Instrument-processing staff work in a fast-paced, high-risk environment and errors in any of their processes can have a significant effect on patient safety. Effective communication is essential to the maintenance of complex processes such as the cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation of surgical instruments. This article details a service improvement project that aimed to evaluate staff members’ perceptions of teamwork and communication before and after the implementation of team huddles in an instrument-processing department. A questionnaire was used to survey staff perceptions of teamwork and communication before and after the implementation of team huddles. The huddles included the use of a huddle board to standardise their content.

While the survey did not identify any significant differences in staff perceptions before and after the implementation of the huddles, the department leaders noted significant improvements in the attitudes and engagement of staff members. The service improvement project demonstrated that structured team huddles can improve morale and efficiencies within departments through enhanced collaboration and communication.

Nursing Management. 27, 6, 34-42. doi: 10.7748/nm.2020.e1958

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

amyhans.loesche@gmail.com

Conflict of interest

None declared

Loesche AH (2020) Using huddles to improve communication and teamwork in an instrument-processing department. Nursing Management. doi: 10.7748/nm.2020.e1958

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the following individuals for their expertise and contribution to this manuscript: Alexandra Baker, Stephen Betins-Kinnamon, Tara Brigham, Corinne Cochran, Nathan Hans, Anne Lara, Mary Lois Lacey, Jake McHugh and Carolyn O’Brien

Published online: 16 November 2020

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