Member, Royal Columbian Hospital Safety Starts with Me Focus Group

Improving the quality of a patient’s experience, while in hospital after surgery, includes being able to bathe and walk. How does a care team support patients to be more confident and motivated to take the lead in making this happen? The Quality Improvement Team at Royal Columbian Hospital are seeking five patient partners to provide input into answering this important question, and others through a focus group in October.

Open to: Patient partners in Fraser Health communities

Lead Organization or Department

Royal Columbian Hospital, Fraser Health Authority

Aim

This project aims to identify barriers to personal hygiene and mobility among patients admitted to hospital.  Patients partners will provide input that explores the barriers and identify innovative solutions to empower patients to lead and manage their personal hygiene and mobility while in hospital care.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.  

Eligibility

• were an inpatient for more than two days at Royal Columbian Hospital • are a family member or caregiver of a surgical patient at Royal Columbian Hospital • Are comfortable with sharing your experience in a group setting If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and volunteer agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact the engagement leader directly.

Logistics

Vacancies: 5

Date/Time: To be determined with input from patient partners

Location: Royal Columbian Hospital

Commitment:  One 90-minute focus group within the last two weeks of October. Additional correspondence via e-mail may also be required

Reimbursement

Preapproved expenses, per Fraser Health Travel Policy, related to local travel to in person meetings will be reimbursed including mileage, parking, tolls and/or public transit.

Background

Fraser Health has identified six patient safety priorities focused on ensuring the delivery of high quality care while also supporting a positive patient experience.  The overarching aim is to minimize preventable harm for patients. The following clinical care areas are the focus of this work: hospital acquired pneumonia, urinary tract infection and sepsis, delirium, MRSA, and patients waiting in emergency greater than 10 hours. The evidence demonstrates that when patients participate in their personal hygiene activities and mobility during admission, they reduce their risk of pneumonia, urinary tract infections and pressure ulcers. This reduces the patient’s length of stay in the hospital and improves the patient experience. To address this important health outcome, Royal Columbian Hospital will be embarking on site-wide campaigns that will minimize preventable harm to patients. To evaluate the effectiveness of these campaigns there is a need to gather baseline data and gain an understanding of current patient experience and perspective.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jami Brown
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Fraser Valley
604.510.0449
jbrown@bcpsqc.ca