Efficacy of a Standardized Process in Optimizing Appropriate Use of Progressive Care Unit Beds in a Tertiary Care Facility

Abstract

Background Poor patient progression from the progressive care unit (PCU) beds has been recognized as a bottleneck, limiting the hospital's ability to optimize capacity for the sickest patients. Improving nurse management on PCU admission and discharge criteria could avoid PCU bottlenecks. Local Problem Our institution lacked a standard process to identify clinically appropriate patients ready for transfer out of the PCU, causing delays in vacating PCU beds. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine if creating a standard process to empower bedside nurses and unit nursing leaders to push readiness information to the provider team improves the appropriateness of PCU stay and transfers patients out of the PCU earlier. Methods The most common causes of delayed transfer out of the PCU were discussed among stakeholders. A process was designed to empower the bedside nurses to partner with a physician leader to send information to the provider team requesting evaluation of the patient's readiness to leave the unit. The improvement of meeting the criteria for PCU was evaluated by comparing 60 patients prior to the intervention phase with 139 patients during the intervention. Results The primary outcome, percentage of patients meeting PCU criteria, was 53% during the audit phase and 68% during the intervention phase (P = .05). The PCU transfer time was pushed 1 hour earlier in the day. Conclusions The standard process of empowering bedside nurses to partner with physician leaders to push readiness for transferring patients out of the PCU resulted in a significant improvement in the percentage of patients meeting PCU criteria and earlier discharge of appropriate patients.