Since she began nursing in 1992, Monique Roy-Michaeli has seen many models of care come and go. But until now she hasn’t seen one as effective as the new 48/6 model, a standardized approach to patient assessments and care plans happening across BC.

“48-6 has drawn out information about the patient sooner and consolidated it, making it easier to access,” the clinical nurse educator says from St. Mary’s Hospital in Sechelt, where 48/6 is being piloted. “It’s helped us hone in…focus on what the patient needs from us.”

Goal of 48/6

The goal is to return the patient back to, or as close to as possible, their pre-illness/injury status by working as a cohesive team. With 48/6, Acute care patients are assessed on six key functional care areas and related issues are addressed within 48 hours of admission through an interdisciplinary Care Plan.

Monique says the new documentation has allowed them to get to know the patients and their needs quicker and more efficiently.

Now being used on multiple sites across VCH and soon being rolled out across VCH, 48/6  is helping interdisciplinary teams work with patients and their families to maintain function and independence in the hospital.

“I like it, I really do,” she says “I think it helps us understand who our patients are and identify the work that needs to be done – so everybody is on the same page for goals of care.”

More accessible and efficient

She says her team really embraced the new model once they saw its benefits including improving communication and accessibility of patient information among staff (“It helps fill in the gaps about the client’s needs”) and streamlining discharge planning.

“It is a large document and compared to past documents, it’s more complicated,” she admits. “But it’s more in-depth. So even though it’s more of an investment of time in the beginning, it pays off in the end. We’re not discovering things as we go along – it helps highlight the issues earlier on and focus the care early.”

Embraced by the team

“People are using it, they’re learning about their patients and it’s not taking as much time as it used to,” she continues. “It’s been done tremendously well here by the staff. They have 48 hours to complete the document and they have them done sooner, sometimes in less than 24 hours.

She adds that the 48/6 working group has revised the documents to improve information gathering in the most efficient way without double charting. The document now combines the 48/6 approach into the nurses initial head to toe assessment.

Speaking the same language

The ministry has mandated that 48/6 be standard of care across all health authorities. “It’s not just us, it’s not just Coastal that’s adopting the new approach – it’s everybody going to be speaking the same language.”

What’s next?

In September, all VCH and PHC sites piloting 48/6 came together to share lessons learned and finalize standard tools and processes in preparation for the roll out across VCH this fall. Teams across the health authority will be supported in the roll out with face-to-face education sessions and online resources.

More about 48/6

See sample admission and assessment forms and learn more on the 48/6 page of VCH-Connect.