Kalene Mears, Brigham Young University
Health
The purpose of this project is to compile a learning history for a hospital unit, documenting patterns of past adaptation within a clinical microsystem that can be magnified to help the system continue to improve. The goal in healthcare is to create an adaptable system, where changes are continuously made as problems are identified to prevent harm from care. Through a learning history, a hospital unit can identify how they have already solved problems in the past and identify patterns of adaptation that can be replicated to increase reliability within the organization. This project has the potential to help a hospital unit improve its reliability in providing quality patient care and reduce preventable patient harm. To obtain the information about the unit’s history, key team members will be interviewed using an appreciative approach to identify strengths and patterns of successful adaptation. Interviews will highlight positive features of this team to foster feelings of success and achievement, promoting desire to continue improvement. Clinical data will supplement the interviews to show a full picture of how the unit adapted to its situation. The transcribed interviews will then be distilled to highlight the critical, meaningful points in the plot line where learning and adaptation took place. This resulting manuscript is the tangible learning history. Internal dissemination will involve sharing the learning history with the organization and facilitating group discussions about the findings with members of the organization. Through this process, we anticipate the unit will be able to promote more effective interventions to improve patient care.