Description/Overview: This symposium will share results of a 6 month quasi-experimental, mixed method study, conducted in a large acute care facility. The purpose was to determine if a structured hourly rounding protocol (SHaRP) would result in significant gains in efficiency, patient satisfaction, and quality measures. A secondary purpose was to see if the gains could be sustained over time when coaching and monitoring were removed. The literature on the effectiveness of rounding goes back to the 1980’s with early studies looking at discharge, change of shift and physician rounds. More recently the literature has been focused on the implementation of a concept called hourly rounding. A review of literature involving scheduled rounding revealed a total of 19 research studies over the last 5 years. These studies examined the impact of rounding frequency, the rounding intervention itself, and the metrics evaluated. Many of the studies reviewed were limited either by the design, sample size or duration of the study and only four reported significant statistical findings. The research team included representatives from research, quality, and nursing education and was supported by nursing administration and a statistician. Together they developed, implemented and monitored SHaRP on a 34-bed cardiovascular acute care unit. The control unit, comparable in size and patient population, received a less standardized hospital wide roll-out of hourly rounding. The presenters will share quantitative and qualitative findings related to efficiency, patient and staff satisfaction. Specifics of SHaRP and measures taken to ensure rounding was hardwired and integrated into the culture of the unit will be shared.

Learner Objective #1: Describe the development of a practice change using research methodology.

Learner Objective #2: Discuss strategies to engage direct care nursing staff in the research process.