EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF THE UCI INFUSION AREA ON APPOINTMENT AVAILABILITY AND PATIENT THROUGHPUT.
Significance & Background: The Honickman Outpatient Urgent Care Infusion (UCI) Area was created to address delays and challenges in managing add-on patients requiring urgent infusion treatments or status changes. This dedicated space, equipped with three infusion chairs and staffed by a Registered N...
| Publicado en: | Oncology Nursing Forum Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 21 - 23 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Oncology Nursing Society
Mar2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=194211105&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 194211105 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 0190535X 4F0 jtl: Oncology Nursing Forum issn: 0190535X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2026 vid: 53 iid: 2 pid: 12496 pub: Oncology Nursing Society place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania artinfo: ui: 194211105 10.1188/26.ONF.e26535272 194211105 ppf: 21 ppct: 2 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P tig: atl: EVALUATING THE EFFECTS OF THE UCI INFUSION AREA ON APPOINTMENT AVAILABILITY AND PATIENT THROUGHPUT. aug: au: Miles, Ashley Evers-Hunt, Helen Williams, Sheila Thomas-Nembhard, Claudia Minardi, Madeline affil: MSN RN OCN, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA sug: ab: Significance & Background: The Honickman Outpatient Urgent Care Infusion (UCI) Area was created to address delays and challenges in managing add-on patients requiring urgent infusion treatments or status changes. This dedicated space, equipped with three infusion chairs and staffed by a Registered Nurse (RN), aimed to streamline care for urgent cases, minimize patient wait times, and reduce emergency department (ED) admissions by providing timely, focused infusion therapy alongside scheduled treatments such as Reclast, Zometa, and iron infusions. Purpose: This 90-day pilot program sought to assess the impact of the UCI Infusion Area on: * Management efficiency of add-on patients * Appointment availability and scheduling flexibility * Number of add-on patients seen daily * Emergency department admissions related to in-fusion care Interventions: The UCI area operated Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, with a dedicated RN coordinating with scheduling and same-day providers. Patients meeting urgent infusion criteria--including suspected infection, electrolyte imbalances, hypertension evaluation, short infusion treatments, and transfusions--were prioritized for care. The RN triaged and assigned patients to the UCI chairs, coordinated communication with central scheduling, and facilitated discharge instructions or hospital admissions when needed. Results: During the pilot, the urgent care RN managed an average of 8 patients per shift compared to 6 by staff RNs, with higher acuity scores (23 vs. 20). Staff surveys indicated: * 92% noted a significant decrease in unscheduled add-ons for treating staff * 67% reported reduced delays and rescheduling * 67% experienced a significant reduction in daily stress * 91% felt daily operations improved * 58% observed increased chair availability and scheduling flexibility Patients received timely care for conditions such as sepsis work-ups, hypercalcemia, hydration, transfusions, and acute symptom management without disrupting scheduled infusions. Discussion: The UCI Infusion Area demonstrated improved add-on patient management, reduced nursing workload and wait times, and enhanced patient flow. Challenges included dependence on specific staff and limited tech support. There was unanimous support for making the UCI a permanent service, reflecting its success in reducing ED admissions and optimizing infusion care delivery. This model supports timely, high-quality infusion therapy for urgent oncology patients, with potential for broader implementation pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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