Utilizing Scripted Communication in the Health Care Setting

Developing a positive relationship between healthcare professionals and patients requires effective communication skills. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report on Health Professions and Training, identified that health professionals lack adequate skills in communicating with patients. A possible intervention to address this communication issue is to utilize an evidence based communication tool. The purpose of this project was to implement and observe the use of a communication tool in the hospital setting. When health care teams do not communicate effectively, the quality of patient care suffers and is reflected in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System (HCAHPS) surveys and reimbursements. This is the problem that the creators of AIDET (Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thank you) hope to solve. The Joint Commission described that - if medical errors appeared on the National Center for Health Statistic's list of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, they would rank number 5. This would be ahead of accidents, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease, as well as AIDS, breast cancer, and gunshot wounds. Poor communication can create situations where medical errors occur, increasing the potential to cause injury or patient death. AIDET seeks to reduce the number of medical errors made through improving communication between the patient and caregiver. The first objective of this project was to: Develop and administer a questionnaire to nurses at a community acute care hospital and BSN nursing program, assessing the importance of communication and understanding of AIDET. The second objective was to teach AIDET and it's scripted communication tool to nurses at the community hospital, and to student nurses in the BSN program. The third objective was to administer a questionnaire that assesses the ease of use of AIDET in these two groups. The fourth objective was to analyze the results of the surveys and disseminate them to hospital leadership at the community acute care hospital. The purpose of this project was to help bridge the gap of understanding between patients and healthcare clinicians by introducing AIDET to nurses in the emergency department at the community hospital and student nurses in a BSN program and to assess the results of its implementation. Utilizing AIDET can be valuable for organizing patient communication and providing patients with the information they need about their care, leading to increased overall patient satisfaction.