Innovative Agatharied Care Project

The nursing sector is under pressure: a shortage of skilled workers, high workloads and a lack of appreciation characterize the profession. Agatharied Hospital has responded proactively with a forward-looking nursing project as part of the “Future of Nursing” initiative established by 2perspectives.

Background: Why the care project was launched

Agatharied Hospital plays a central role in providing inpatient medical care for the population in the Miesbach area and neighboring regions. With around 350 inpatient hospital beds, the facility provides basic and standard care and is also an important point of contact for patients from outside the region. With its location in the foothills of the Alps, it combines the requirements of a modern hospital with proximity to the population. In order to ensure efficient healthcare provision in the future, the hospital management decided to develop an innovative concept that contributes to the long-term safeguarding of care quality and employee satisfaction.

Despite economic challenges, the hospital invests in nursing care

Like many hospitals, Agatharied Hospital was confronted with a tight economic situation - yet the hospital management made a conscious decision to initiate the “Future of Nursing” project. This decision was a clear commitment to the strategic importance of nursing care for sustainable, high-quality care. The main challenges here were reconciling limited resources with ambitious goals. It was necessary to maintain ongoing operations despite staff shortages, while at the same time developing new concepts and initiating changes across professional groups. In particular, overcoming habitual thought patterns and promoting a shared project culture were important but rewarding hurdles.

Systematically identifying challenges and developing measures - a participatory development process

At the start of the project, a comprehensive nursing survey was conducted among all nursing staff at the facility. Various areas of day-to-day work were surveyed in order to obtain as complete a picture as possible of the initial situation. The results of the survey served as a basis for identifying key challenges, deriving prioritized fields of action and defining initial measures in a targeted manner. The topics were based on the proven fields of action of the “Future of Nursing” approach. An interdisciplinary project group - consisting of nursing staff from different areas and levels of experience as well as representatives from therapy and the medical service - supported the development and implementation of these measures. Where necessary, other professional groups were involved in order to take additional perspectives into account and to ensure practicality in everyday clinical practice.

Results

Concrete solutions were defined for a total of six different areas of action to improve the situation in the care sector at various levels. In doing so, emphasis was placed not only on collecting ideas, but also on successfully implementing initial measures and making the results measurable:

1. Working model (structures and processes)
   The aim in this area was to scrutinize existing structures and procedures and establish more efficient processes. The project group intensively discussed the specific challenges, as a result of which the use of software for intralogistics was decided as a concrete measure to significantly increase the efficiency of internal processes.
2. Standardization and documentation
   In order to standardize the work processes on the wards, the project members agreed on binding standards. These make it easier for new employees and internally changing nursing staff to start working on the wards and promote a uniform level of quality. What is already being implemented on individual wards has been made binding for all areas by the project.
3. Leadership and communication
   Well-functioning communication is a key success factor for satisfaction and good cooperation. This is why “innovation boards” were introduced on all wards during the course of the project. With the help of these boards, employees can directly address ideas and problems - colleagues can react to these ideas and directly propose solutions, which are addressed at management level at regular intervals.
4. Digitalization and innovation
   Several measures were jointly developed in the area of digitalization. One solution was implemented during the project: the introduction of a sensor system for fall monitoring. This enables continuous, discreet and contactless monitoring of patients - a significant relief for nursing staff and an important contribution to patient safety.
5. Shift system
   The organization of shift operations remains a key challenge. A fairer and more transparent solution is to be created with the help of digital tools for duty planning and the coordination of substitutions. In addition, an incentive system is planned for particularly busy areas in order to increase job satisfaction.
6. Authority to act and further training
   The continuous training and development of employees is a key success factor. Part of the training program has already been successfully implemented during the course of the project. In addition, external job shadowing and employee exchange days are planned in order to promote professional exchange and mutual understanding within the teams. These measures create a solid basis for further developing individual skills and strengthening cooperation.

During the final project meeting, the project group was informed which of the jointly developed measures will be implemented directly and when the other defined measures can be expected to be implemented.

Achieving joint success with different perspectives and new approaches

Two key factors contributed to the success of the project:

• Interdisciplinary project group:
  A key success factor was the interdisciplinary project group, which brought together different perspectives and thus facilitated new approaches. The open and open-minded exchange enabled solutions to be developed quickly and pragmatically.
• “Out-of-the-box” way of thinking:
  The project group also managed to break away from existing structures and thought patterns when finding solutions, which is considered another key success factor. This joint “thinking outside the box” was crucial to the successful implementation of the project.