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SAFER-f Patient Flow Medicine Bundle

Save Patient and System Time

The SAFER Bundle is a way to operationalize reduction in needless waiting and values patients’ time.
Professor Brian Dolan, personal communication, August 26, 2022

We’ve heard the phrase ‘the right treatment, in the right place, at the right time’. Ultimately, we strive to ensure this for the people we serve within Nova Scotia Health, and the people we serve should expect this.

We know that...

  • Ensuring patients are treated in the right care environment contributes to significant positive differences to their health status and trajectory.
  • Acute care benefits patients in addressing and treating acute health issues, but beyond that, this type of care environment is not conducive to full recovery.
  • Individuals who stay longer in acute care settings, especially those living with complex health issues, social issues, and frailty, are at risk of returning home less mobile and independent in their day-to-day function.
  • Time spent in acute care is NOT only associated with physical symptoms that result from an acute health issue.

Patients, especially those living with frailty, also experience complications associated with the environment itself such as infections, deconditioning, delirium, poor oral intake, loss of agency over small comforts, and other challenges.

More time spent in acute care settings leads to more vulnerability to other factors.

Physical pain
plus Other symptoms (e.g. breathlessness, nausea)
plus Inability to make sense of surroundings
plus Inability to make needs known/understood
plus Unfamiliar surroundings
plus Spiritual/Existential pain
plus Loss of independence/agency over self
plus Loss of appetite/ability to eat favourite foods
plus Isolation
plus Falling short of meeting expectations for recovery
equals Total Pain and Suffering

Benefits of Using SAFER-f

Information on page

Benefits of Using SAFER-f

BENEFITS FOR PATIENTS/FAMILIES/ESSENTIAL CARE PARTNERS

  • Improved care co-ordination
  • Well planned, informed and timely discharge
  • Less deconditioning and deterioration
  • Being assessed to accurately reflect needs
  • Feeling a sense of partnership with clinical staff
  • Knowing what is happening and when
  • Being cared for in the most appropriate acute care setting

BENEFITS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WORKING ON INPATIENT UNITS

  • Improved and effective communication among MRHCPs, nurses and multidisciplinary team
  • Common understanding of what each patient needs to do to progress toward discharge
  • Bullet Rounds with MRHCP and team eliminate the need to repeat the same message to multiple team members throughout the day
  • Early discharge allows for earlier admissions so the right staff is available for a patient when they are admitted to the unit

REDUCING UNNECESSARY WAITING FOR PATIENTS