Patient Experience Coordinator: An Innovative Role to Improve Patients' Hospital Experience.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the impact of an innovative nonclinical support role to improve patient experiences while supporting nurse work on inpatient units. BACKGROUND: On the basis of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, patients' experience declined nationally during the COVID-19 pandemic. A nonclinical support role, titled an Experience Coordinator, was created as a test of change to collaborate with care teams and respond to patients' and families' nonclinical needs. METHODS: This is a quality improvement (QI) project for a supportive role development and implementation. The health system's HCAHPS data were compared before and after the role was tested on 3 inpatient units. RESULTS: The HCAHPS data indicated that 5 of the 10 domains' top box ratings increased during the QI project month compared with the previous month. CONCLUSION: The study findings may support the implementation of new innovative nonclinical positions to alleviate nurses' workload and promote patients' hospital experience.

Connecting Patients' Perceptions of Nurses' Daily Care Actions, Organizational Human Caring Culture, and Overall Hospital Rating in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Surveys.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to connect patients' perceptions of nurses' daily care actions with patients' overall ratings of their hospital experience and hospitals' human caring culture. BACKGROUND: The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a national standardized survey measuring patients' hospital experience. Current literature lacks the connections between patients' perceptions of nurses' daily care actions and their overall hospital experience measured by the HCAHPS survey. METHODS: This is a correlational study based on the HCAHPS surveys from patients discharged from a hospital in the United States. Correlations were conducted between patients' perceptions of nurses' daily care actions and overall hospital experience. RESULTS: A total of 3,258 (16.6%) patients returned the HCAHPS survey between January and May 2019. Significant relationships were found among patients' perceptions of nurses' daily care actions, hospitals' caring culture, and overall experience. CONCLUSION: Nurses' daily care actions significantly contribute to favorable patients' overall hospital ratings on HCAHPS.