Evaluation of Clinical Tool to Improve Adherence to Ventilator Management

Respiratory Therapists (RTs) have difficulty maintaining compliance with protocols and making efficient handoff communication. This project will evaluate the effectiveness of an electronic tool that will display a dashboard of key information on all the RTs patients and provide reminders that indicate whether evidence-based practice protocols are being followed. In addition, it will collect data from medical devices and the EMR and outline key information in the appropriate format to help standardize and improve handoff communication. The study will first collect blind baseline data for comparison with protocol adherence and silently evaluate shift change handoffs. In the second stage, the electronic tool will be installed and used to evaluate whether protocol compliance and shift change handoff is improved.