The evidence suggests that MDR utilizing a structured communication tool may have contributed to an improvement in staff satisfaction. There was inconclusive evidence to support the use of structured MDR to improve LOS or patient satisfaction. The use of a structured communication tool during MDR is one means to facilitate communication and collaboration, thus improving satisfaction among the multidisciplinary team. More rigorous research using higher level study designs on larger samples of diverse patient populations is needed to further evaluate the effectiveness of structured MDR on patient care outcomes and satisfaction of patients and providers.

We implemented a quality improvement project to reduce noise levels in the OR in response to complaints from the anesthesia staff members at two community hospitals. Excessive noise has been shown to increase staff member stress, fatigue, distraction, and ineffective communication, which can lead to medical errors. We measured noise levels during anesthesia induction and emergence for 118 different surgical procedures and compared noise levels before and after the improvement project intervention. Staff member education and noise reduction strategies, which included signage, prominent noise meters, and specific suggestions to staff members, helped to significantly reduce the noise level during the anesthetic induction and emergence phases of OR procedures.

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