Sign of the times - The story of Team Hydr8

It was born out of a remarkably simple idea pitched by six third-year nursing students at the University of South Wales. Why not introduce jugs with yellow lids, rather than the traditional blue, in order to help hospital staff keep an eye on patients who are having their fluid intake monitored?

After sharing their eureka moment on social media, Cwm Taf University Health Board invited the six – Donna Walker, Cellan Howells, Tamara Konten, Rachel Lloyd-Jones, Charlotte Phillips and Cerys Davies – to come in and discuss the idea further. That led to yellow lids being trialled in 2018 on a surgical ward at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant.

The trial proved to be such a success that the lids are now being used in all hospitals together with residential and nursing homes across the Cwm Taf area. As a result, ‘Team Hydr8’ – as the six are now known – have been shortlisted in the Student Innovation in Practice category at the Student Nursing Times Awards 2019.

“A few of our group have worked as healthcare support workers and, although nursing staff make every effort to ensure patients are getting the correct fluids, we all agreed that it can be quite difficult to know which patients are having their fluids monitored on a ward,” says Donna Walker.

“Some patients, for example, may be on fluid restrictions following complications such as heart failure, whilst others might be being encouraged to drink more because they are dehydrated.

“Our idea was to introduce an easy visual cue which can show a nurse or a health care support worker on a busy ward which patients they should be monitoring for fluids. We chose yellow as it is considered a colour that is positive for people living with dementia, as well as people with impaired vision.

“We’re delighted with how it has been received and really please that Cwm Taf University Health Board saw the benefits and decided to roll it out. It’s marvellous to see our idea put into practice.”