Johns Hopkins has identified several tools to help improve communication and teamwork. Each tool comes with detailed instructions.
We suggest that you adopt and implement three tools per year.
| Tool Name | Who Should Use It | Goal |
| Learning from Defects | Requirement for all units | Set up a local process to learn from and respond to defects locally, within the unit |
| Daily Goals Checklist | Units in which less than 60% agree with the item: “The physicians and nurses here work together as a well coordinated team.” | Improve team communication regarding patient’s plan of care |
| Morning Briefing | Any setting where physicians, nurses and other providers work as a team to manage patients | Promote collaboration and better care coordination between physicians and frontline nurses |
| Shadowing Another Profession | Any inpatient or outpatient care area | Identify defects in communication, collaboration and teamwork between different disciplines, and develop methods for resolving these problems |
| Observing Rounds | Recommended for all units | Enhance teamwork and communication behaviors across disciplines |
| Physician Call List | Recommended for all units | Improve the effectiveness of nurse-to-physician communication when using the paging system |
| Culture Debriefing Tool | Recommended for all units | Make culture survey results actionable through a structured process |
A critical success factor in using tools for improvement is measuring compliance with the tool. It is not enough to simply state that the tools are being used. Staff-friendly reports of compliance should be posted in the unit, along with infection reports. The combination of these reports (seeing infections decrease as compliance increases) should be a motivating factor for continuous improvement.
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