The Battlefords Union Hospital’s obstetrical team is being honoured for the third time in three years with the national recognition award for achievement in implementing the MOREOB patient safety program.
MOREOB stands for Managing Obstetrical Risk Efficiently, made available by Salus Global Corporation, which presented the award Monday.
The BUH obstetrical team of physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nursing leaders has received the award for its outstanding performance in the application of knowledge, communication and teamwork to make patient safety the priority and the responsibility of everyone on the birthing unit.
Cindy Williams, program consultant with Salus, said BUH had 100 per cent participation, one of the reasons they were presented the award.
"We ask for greater than 80 for the recognition award and a lot of teams this size aren't able to accomplish that," she said. "For them to have actually accomplished 100 per cent for every activity is phenomenal."
She said she's never seen 100 per cent participation by any other team. BUH also had 100 per cent participation last year. In its first year, participation was 97 per cent.
The award was formally presented as team members begin the first of the three-year MOREOB Plus program.
Pamela Plummer, nurse manager of the Women’s Health and Birthing (obstetrical) Unit, said what the MOREOB program means to moms and babies is that the whole care team is on the same page.
"We all have the same education, all the same communication techniques, we all have a focus on patient safety," she said.
It's a team approach, she explained.
"It's not just the nurse," said Plummer. "It's the nurse, physician, any care provider within the organization that does obstetrics."
At BUH, that takes in approximately 40 people. Everyone practices emergencies, takes part in skills drills and workshops, she said.
"Communication is key. We're all on the same page."
She also said the MOREOB program means less hierarchy.
"Physicians and nurses are on the same level for everything, especially if there is an emergency involved," said Plummer.
Registered nurse Dawn English said, with MOREOB , everyone knows what their goals are and they have confidence in one another.
Plummer added MOREOB has provided the unit not only with education but with tools for communication, such as flow charts and acronyms everyone can relate to. They've been printed out, laminated and placed in the patient rooms.
Family physician Erin Hamilton said the flowcharts are useful to the nurses as they can predict what's coming next and anticipate what they'll need to do.
"It's not, 'this doctor likes to do it this way, this doctor likes to do it this way,'" she said.
All the physicians are on the same page as well, she indicated.
The next step for BUH's obstetric team is MOREOB Plus.
Williams said, "Taking the program MOREOB Plus is about making it your own, 'what do we need to work on in our hospital and our unit to make things better.'"
She said they did a session last month, looking for opportunities to improve, even though BUH's culture is very strong, one of the reasons they were named award winners. They determined communication and patient safety were primary opportunities to improve, said Williams.
Plummer said MOREOB Plus is a program that will provide, at the same time, additional training and a way to maintain what has already been established.
"Now we take the program and gear it toward what we need here," she said.
The core team of 11 people, made up of four nurses, four physicians, two administrators and one educator, has done some brainstorming, said Plummer.
Goals have been set, reviews have been planned and the team has decided what workshops will be scheduled. They begin in January, said Plummer.
Plummer also said any new staff coming onto the team will be required to participate in the MOREOB program.
"It's an expectation," said Plummer.
This is Plummer's fourth year with the MOREOB program as she was involved in Ontario prior to coming to BUH.
Ontario has mandated that all its hospitals that have obstetrics units participate in the MOREOB program, she said. Alberta has as well, which means Lloydminster's hospital, part of the Prairie North Health Region, was already involved in MOREOB when BUH came on board, said Plummer.
Now that Meadow Lake's hospital is also participating, MOREOB is being used throughout the Prairie North Region, she said.
MOREOB is a Canadian program, Plummer noted, but it is also being used in the United States.
In place for more than a decade, MOREOB has been accredited by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Canadian Association of Midwives, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
MOREOB has its origins in a 2001 pilot project by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the Health Insurance Reciprocal of Canada to improve patient safety outcomes in obstetrical units. In 2007, Salus Global Corporation was formed and MOREOB continues to be its marquee product.
