One of Duke Ob/Gyn's major quality improvement successes over the past few years has been decreasing venous thromboembolism (VTE), a major cause of morbidity and mortality in surgical patients. Under the leadership of gynecologic oncologist Laura Havrilesky, MD, MHSc, a standardized protocol that has shown substantial reduction in VTE rates was developed. This work has been recognized by others at Duke Health who also aim to reduce the incidence of this deadly perioperative event.
Many aspects of the protocol that Duke Ob/Gyn developed have been adopted broadly by other surgical disciplines across the Duke University Health System. The latest example of this is a three-minute video that serves as an educational tool to prevent blood clots while in the hospital, developed by a team of dedicated caregivers in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. The video was well-received and has applications for a broad audience of patients; it is being utilized throughout DUHS, and is available in Maestro Care in English and Spanish (it can be accessed in clinical references by searching for “Preventing Blood Clots”). There is discussion in process about utilizing Digital Care/MyChart to send it to patients prior to admission.
Working collaboratively, Dr. Havrilesky; Georgia Smith, MSN, FNP-BC; Maryam Witte, BSN, RN, CMSRN; and medical student Natalie Wickenheisser, BS, created the educational video that was approved by the DUHS Patient and Family Education Governance Council earlier this year. It matter-of-factly explains how blood clots form, symptoms of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), risks and prevention. Blood clots are the number one cause of preventable death in hospitalized patients.
To help with awareness, a flyer created by the team explains in a user-friendly, at-a-glance format how to access the video. It addresses basic questions that caregivers can easily utilize, such as:
When should I use this?
- Show patients the video during admission and any time you need to reinforce admission education
- Print out the clinical reference so patients and caregivers can watch it more than once
A QR code on the flyer can be scanned to access the video, and a link to the video is included.