Rapid communications for Duke Nursing during COVID
Rapid, clear communications for nurses and patient-care teams during COVID.
Challenge
COVID created an urgent communication need for nurses and patient-care teams. Information changed quickly, and staff needed timely, clear messages they could use during demanding clinical work. Nursing leaders needed to communicate rapidly while maintaining accuracy and consistency.
Approach
Our Duke Nursing experience covered communications for more than 6,000 nurses and patient-care professionals across three hospitals and an ambulatory network. During COVID, the priority was rapid communication between nursing leadership and the people delivering care. The work focused on helping leaders explain what was changing, what staff needed to know, and what remained uncertain. Speed mattered because information could quickly become outdated. Clarity mattered because nurses had limited time to interpret a message while caring for patients.