Implementation Analysis of a Nurse-Led Observation Unit.

Objective: This implementation analysis of a nurse-led observation unit describes the development process and analyzes patients' characteristics, patient satisfaction, and provider perceptions.

Background: A nurse-led observation unit was developed to create more inpatient bed capacity and place patients in the clinical area best suited to their needs.

Methods: Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used for analysis.

Results: The average length of stay of 467 patients was 1.1 days; 68.1% (n = 318) were female. Elective surgery was the most frequent reason for admission. All of the patients rated the observation unit patient feedback survey factors favorably except for noise. All healthcare providers (n = 64) reported that they communicated well with each other and had resources to provide quality care but rated the environment less favorably.

Conclusions: A nurse-led observation unit was found to be an effective and efficient approach to providing postoperative and postprocedure care, which was generally well received by patients and healthcare providers.