Background & Problem: Ward 8b is a respiratory ward, the majority of our patients are receiving oxygen and some are very sensitive to oxygen which can often lead them to respiratory failure.
As a team we found that oxygen was not being prescribed, impacting the amount of oxygen patients were receiving, which led to over oxygenation for certain patient groups.
We sought to find a prompt to aid staff in the prescription & delivery of oxygen which would lead to better compliance with the NEWS2 charts and therefore patient safety.
Aim: For 50% of patients on ward 8b to have oxygen correctly prescribed and delivered within six months.
Method: - Collected the baseline data on the use of oxygen on the ward, how well it was prescribed and how well the NEWS2 charts were being used.
- Literature research & British Thoracic Society (BTS) guideline review for oxygen use.
- Driver diagram, measurement plans and PDSA cycle completed
- Staff training/briefing
- Introduced the use of our oxygen wristbands to ward 8b, using bedside posters and patient information leaflets to provide prompts to staff.
- Weekly audits to monitor the use of the wristbands and the impact they had on our outcome measures
Results: The results showed an improvement in all four areas measured, however the smallest impact is on oxygen being prescribed on the drug charts.
