TY - JOUR T1 - Pleural drain management - A clinical practice improvement project JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P409 AU - Boloor Rao AU - Vinod Aiyappan AU - Jeff Bowden AU - Anand Rose AU - Adriana Thanh-Thao.Le Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P409.abstract N2 - Introduction:An audit performed in Year 2010 at Flinders Medical Centre showed significant number of complications with intercostal chest drain insertion and management, with only 28% of patients being complication free.Aims and ObjectivesOur mission was to reduce the incidence of complications associated with management of pleural drains, in respiratory unit at Flinders Medical Centre, by 80% within 6 months.MethodsWe used validated tools, introduced by Deming, Shewart, Juran et al, customized to the health environment to tackle this problem. We assembled a team and undertook diagnostics. This included brainstorm sessions, cause and effect diagram and prioritized problems using a pareto graph. We then designed interventions and evaluated the outcome.ResultsView this table:Audit :Pre and Post projectWe found that the three main issues impacting on pleural drain management was a lack of protocol, lack of patient information and Nursing education. This was followed by targeted intervention. Already available protocol was reviwed and customized to our local setting. A formal patient information sheet was adapted from British Thoracic Society and American Thoracic Society guidelines. A nursing education session was undertaken and a continuous refresher course was set-up. Documentation sticker was prepared. Subsequently a re-audit was performed, which showed a reduction of complications from 72% to 12.5%. ER -