Simple Change to Code Response Makes Significant Difference
From left, Kristin Gannon RN, BSN, Marie Caulfield, RN, BSN, and Kathleen Ryan Avery, RN, MSN.
Nurses responding to a patient code in the Tower or the Connors Center intuitively know the roles that must be filled as initial responders to stabilize the patient before the arrival of the hospital code team. Roles include caring for the patient; preparing medications at the code cart; recording the events occurring during the code; and providing backup support,
BWH is piloting a new approach to the unit’s response to patient codes to reduce the complexity of a code response and eliminate the potential for confusion. When a code is called, the unit nurse in charge or charge nurse will assign nurses to the specific roles of direct patient care, code cart and recorder before the code team arrives.
“It’s amazing how such a simple modification in the way we have always done things can make responding to codes so much more efficient,” Mary Lou Moore, RN, MSN, nurse manager on Tower 12, said. “This change has really made a drastic difference.”
Charles N. Pozner, MD, medical director of the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation in BWH’s Department of Emergency Medicine, presented this change in code practice to the CPR Committee in December as the pilot was rolled out on Tower 12. “This pilot demonstrated the importance of proper use of the automatic defibrillator,” Pozner said. “We really need to ensure that the nurses place the defibrillator on the patient and press the analyze button before the code team arrives.”
Moore said this modification to code response will be implemented in the rest of the Tower in coming months. This information is covered in the 2006 RN Competency Day sessions.