Prior to initiating the new model, the authors identified the need for workflow improvement within a post-anesthesia care unit. “Patients are spending 95 minutes in the PACU before transfer to the ward. PACU nurses spend only 18 minutes on one-to-one caring for the patient and 77 minutes on wasteful activities” (Kuo, Borycki, Kushniruk & Lee, 2011, p. 9). The four stages of the Healthcare Lean Six Sigma System were then put into effect. First starting with creating a quality improvement team. This consisted of a PACU manager, a physician, two PACU nurses, and a IT technician. The team then identified the quality improvement goals and analyzed the current workflow process. A total of seven problems were identified that contributed to wasteful
