Creating the Perfect Mother-Baby Transfer

 TITLE: Creating the Perfect Mother- Baby Transfer

Purpose for the program:  The purpose of this initiative was to create a seamless transfer process for the mother and the baby from Labor and Delivery (L & D) to Woman’s Care Center (WCC). This transfer process would enhance communication between nursing and the patient and foster teamwork between L & D and WCC.

 Proposed change:   The decision to initiate change was a result of comments from patient satisfaction surveys and direct observations. Consistency and the communication techniques of managing up and scripting and were utilized to promote the transfer process.

 Implementation, outcomes and evaluation:   A team, consisting of managers and educators, focused on patient satisfaction priority items such as; “nursing kept you informed”, and “staff worked together to care for you”. The team created a list of eight core “always” behaviors that the staff would be expected to model, which included introducing the new care giver, managing up your fellow peers, and having a positive attitude. Several senior staff nurses from each unit were also included in the team meetings.

Process changes included using RNs instead of OB scrub technicians to perform the transfer, the Nursery nurses welcoming the Mom in her room, and a brief physical assessment conducted by a nurse from L & D and a nurse from WCC. Prior to implementation of the perfect transfer, education sessions were held for all staff members. The staff then had the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns.

 Both units showed an overall increase in patient satisfaction during the first and second quarter that the initiative was in place. The raw score for the patient satisfaction question “How well the staff worked together” showed an overall increase. Additionally, the percentage of encounters when one nursing staff member manages up members of the other nursing staff also increased.

  Transfers were observed around the clock for the first week of implementation with feedback and suggestions provided to the staff. Following the first week the managers conducted 10 random observations per month for six months. The team met each month to review progress and identify areas for improvement.

Implications for nursing practice:   Fostering teamwork and consistently exhibiting the “always” behaviors can enhance overall patient care and increase patient satisfaction. These principles, as well as the use of managing up and scripting, can be used by nursing in any specialty to initiate positive behaviors.

 Keywords: Mother-baby transfer, communication, teamwork