Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Fast-Tracking Patients in an Academic Hospital to Increase Efficiency and Decrease Discharge Delays: A Process Improvement Plan.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Rice, AN; Douglas, C; Bosarge, H; Young, G; Muckler, VC; Vacchiano, CA
Published in: Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses
December 2021

The purpose of this quality improvement project was to determine if implementing a Phase II postanesthesia care unit (PACU II) to fast-track patients following surgery in an academic hospital would decrease OR hold times and increase patient flow efficiency.An observational pre-post design was used to compare PACU bypass rates and recovery times for ambulatory surgery (AS) patients before and after implementation of a patient fast-tracking program.A PACU II was instituted and a fast-tracking program using the White Fast-Track Scoring tool was adopted. Nursing staff as well as anesthesia providers were educated to assess patients using the tool as well as the appropriate patient population to be transferred to the new PACU II.Following implementation of the new unit and the fast-tracking program, a PACU bypass rate of 30% was achieved and there was a significant decrease in PACU length of stay for AS patients.The results suggest that fast-tracking is a suitable intervention to decrease inefficiencies in an academic setting despite higher acuity patient populations.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses

DOI

EISSN

1532-8473

ISSN

1089-9472

Publication Date

December 2021

Volume

36

Issue

6

Start / End Page

615 / 621

Related Subject Headings

  • Recovery Room
  • Patient Discharge
  • Nursing
  • Length of Stay
  • Humans
  • Hospitals
  • Anesthesia Recovery Period
  • Ambulatory Surgical Procedures
  • 4205 Nursing
  • 4204 Midwifery
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Rice, A. N., Douglas, C., Bosarge, H., Young, G., Muckler, V. C., & Vacchiano, C. A. (2021). Fast-Tracking Patients in an Academic Hospital to Increase Efficiency and Decrease Discharge Delays: A Process Improvement Plan. Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing : Official Journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, 36(6), 615–621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2021.04.005
Rice, Andi N., Christian Douglas, Hansel Bosarge, Geraldine Young, Virginia C. Muckler, and Charles A. Vacchiano. “Fast-Tracking Patients in an Academic Hospital to Increase Efficiency and Decrease Discharge Delays: A Process Improvement Plan.Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing : Official Journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses 36, no. 6 (December 2021): 615–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2021.04.005.
Rice AN, Douglas C, Bosarge H, Young G, Muckler VC, Vacchiano CA. Fast-Tracking Patients in an Academic Hospital to Increase Efficiency and Decrease Discharge Delays: A Process Improvement Plan. Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. 2021 Dec;36(6):615–21.
Rice, Andi N., et al. “Fast-Tracking Patients in an Academic Hospital to Increase Efficiency and Decrease Discharge Delays: A Process Improvement Plan.Journal of Perianesthesia Nursing : Official Journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses, vol. 36, no. 6, Dec. 2021, pp. 615–21. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2021.04.005.
Rice AN, Douglas C, Bosarge H, Young G, Muckler VC, Vacchiano CA. Fast-Tracking Patients in an Academic Hospital to Increase Efficiency and Decrease Discharge Delays: A Process Improvement Plan. Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. 2021 Dec;36(6):615–621.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses

DOI

EISSN

1532-8473

ISSN

1089-9472

Publication Date

December 2021

Volume

36

Issue

6

Start / End Page

615 / 621

Related Subject Headings

  • Recovery Room
  • Patient Discharge
  • Nursing
  • Length of Stay
  • Humans
  • Hospitals
  • Anesthesia Recovery Period
  • Ambulatory Surgical Procedures
  • 4205 Nursing
  • 4204 Midwifery