Leadership Rounding

Angie SzumlinskiNews

“Leadership rounding is a process where leaders (i.e., administrator, department heads, and nurse managers) are out in the building with staff and residents, talking with them directly about care and services provided in the organization including Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement (QAPI) initiatives. Rounding with staff and residents is an effective method for leaders to hear firsthand what is going well and what issues need to be addressed within the organization.

It serves as an important signal of leadership’s commitment to performance improvement, and promotes a culture of QAPI in the organization. Use this to guide your rounds to monitor the progress of QAPI initiatives.” (QAPI Leadership Rounding Guide by API)

AHRQ has developed a rounding tool for leadership teams to use that includes questions to ask direct care staff such as:

  1. What things are going well around this initiative or this aspect of care or service? What evidence do you see of success?
  2. What is frustrating you with the work around this initiative or this aspect o care or service?
  3. What barriers/issues do you see threatening this initiative or aspect o care or service?
  4. How should they be addressed?

We are all “rounding” daily right? But what are we seeing, doing, hearing, and improving based on what our rounds tell us? Many times we walk the halls and see “nothing” when in actuality, we have become numb and rounding has become a walk through the building versus a team building, quality improvement effort! Access this valuable rounding tool, talk to your QAPI committee about it, and give it a try. What do you have to lose?

Stay well, mask up indoors and stay tuned!