Discovering “What Matters” to patients: A quality improvement project

• Published in: Geriatric nursing (New York) Vol. 55; pp. 237 - 241
• Main Authors: Nahabedian, Anissa, Bullock, Lynn Marie, Fitzpatrick, Suzanna, Resnick, Barbara, Brandt, Nicole
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2024
• Subjects: Age-friendly; Aged; Health systems; Humans; Patients; Person centered care; Quality Improvement; Quality of Health Care; What matters; Whiteboards; Health systems; Person centered care; Age-friendly; Whiteboards; What matters
• ISSN: 0197-4572; 1528-3984; 1528-3984
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2023.11.007

•Age-Friendly Health Systems recognize that older adults have a unique set of needs and strive to optimize their care.•The “4 M's” (What Matters, Medication, Mentation and Mobility) were developed to provide an evidenced based framework for healthcare providers to consistently provide high-quality care to older adults.•The goal of “What Matters” is to shift the focus of care from disease processes to health goals of the patient. The “Get to Know Me” boards are white board templates with colorful graphics in a story board format that are placed in patient's rooms to document what matters most to patients and to establish daily health outcome goals.•The “Get to Know Me Boards” are a highly visibly way to describe “What Matters” to patients. the boards allowing for “What Matters” to be easily accessible to all members of the healthcare team. Age-Friendly Health Systems were developed to provide an evidenced based framework to provide high-quality care to older adults. The purpose of this quality improvement initiative was to increase the completion of the “What Matters” section of the “Get to Know Me” boards. Face-to-face training was provided to staff via individual sessions on “What Matters” to patients and how to complete the boards. Re-education continued weekly over a 15 week period. Board Completion rates were collected weekly. 60 nurses participated in this project. The “What Matters” completion rates increased from 27 % to 59 % over the intervention period on the SACU and 16 % to 32 % on the SIMC . The “Get to Know Me Boards” are a visible way to describe “What Matters” to patients. Education helped to increase the completion rate of the boards allowing for “What Matters” to be accessible to members of the healthcare team.