Gatorounds

What are Gatorounds?

Athletics and Music Take Teamwork

Gatorounds is a patient-centered rounding system that applies championship athletic principles to health care. We are applying the lessons learned by the University of Florida's premier football, basketball, and volleyball coaches to the care of our patients. Understanding that not everyone is an avid sports fan, we have also reached out to our music school to offer another useful analogy for effective teamwork in healthcare, the Symphony Orchestra.
Our goals:

1. A team approach to patient care focusing on the patient as the team owner.
2. Participation of bedside nurses, case manager, and pharmacist in work round management decisions.
3. Emphasis on spending time communicating with each patient with the bedside nurse present (rounds in the room when possible)
4. Work rounds consistently under 2 hours. This requires:
   - Succinct and highly targeted verbal communication protocols that are problem based.
   - Proper allocation of time for all patients (approximate allocation per patient = 120 min/patient number.
   - Improved patient flow by planning discharges the night before and having the attending see the patients before work rounds to assure discharge by 10 AM.
   - Ordering of new tests and procedures etc at the bedside using the portable computer
5. Everyone must understand their specific role on the team

It takes teamwork to achieve the highest standards of care: