LAUSR

D espite ongoing efforts to reduce the number of adverse events in healthcare, sentinel events continue to occur. In 2020, an estimated 794 events were reported to the Joint Commission, 76 of which were related to treatment delays. Communication plays a contributory role in adverse safety events. Ineffective handoff communication between healthcare professionals can be harmful as information can be untimely, inaccurate, misinterpreted, and/or incomplete. In hospital settings including busy surgical units, the high frequency of handoffs coupled with potentially unstructured casual communication can confound the issue. Communication issues can also occur between healthcare professionals and patients. Electronic health records that are not updated, accurate, or readily accessible can also result in communication problems as nurse and healthcare provider (HCP) notes are not usually maintained in the same areas. Separating patient information can negatively impact communication since technology can distract from patient care. For example, if information is unavailable during patient rounding, HCPs may utilize alternative sources to gather information such as communicating with other members of the nursing team. At our mixed surgical unit, for example, HCPs would consult the nursing leadership or patients. These methods of communication circumvent an essential aspect of the interdisciplinary team: the clinical nurse. To address this communication gap, the adoption of interdisciplinary or interprofessional bedside rounds has been shown to improve communication in many medical units. This article discusses the impact of interdisciplinary bedside rounds in a mixed surgical unit, particularly on the communication, collaboration, and teamwork among nurses and surgeons.