Impact on Patient Communication and Information after the Incorporation of white Boards in the Rooms of the Cardiology Hospitalization Units of four Hospitals

Background/Aim: Effective communication between patients and healthcare professionals is crucial to ensuring optimal health outcomes. The study´s objective was to describe the impact on communication and information that patients have after the placement of white boards in the rooms of the Cardiology inpatient units of four hospitals. Material and Methods: Quasi-experimental multicenter before-after study with a non-equivalent control group to evaluate the improvement in the information and communication received by the patient after the placement of whiteboards in the rooms of the cardiology hospitalization units of 4 hospitals, during the year 2021. All patients were included with the condition that they were over 18 years old of age with a minimum stay of 3 days. The variables to be collected were knowledge of the professionals responsible for their care, care objectives, procedures and/or tests to be performed, with a collection in two phases, and gender/age. The analysis is based on the characteristics of the variables. Results: Total population =364, 176 prior phase and 188 after implantation, 39,8% women and 51,6% men. In the previous phase, the patients reported knowing the nurses 3,7% vs 96,3%, the nursing assistants 7,4% vs 92,6%, the doctors 31,4% vs 68,6%, the care goals 17% vs 83% and tests 13,8% compared to 86,2% later (p<0,001- Pearson's chi-squared value). Discussion: The study confirms that whiteboards in patient rooms improve communication and healthcare staff knowledge. While the usefulness of whiteboards is acknowledged, the research couldn't directly compare their effects with other studies. Limitations such as incomplete patient satisfaction analysis and lack of sample randomization are noted. However, the multicenter design of the study strengthens its conclusions. Conclusions: After placing whiteboards in patient rooms, there is an improvement in communication and in the information that patients admitted to the hospitalization units studied have.