Quality Improvement Initiative
· You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts. All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.
#1
Milaine Garcia
St. Thomas University
NUR 416 AP 2
Instructor Lisbet Henriquez
October 6, 2022
Quality Improvement Initiative
As a health insurance company, my organization faces numerous challenges that may jeopardize the quality and safety of patient care, requiring the development of Quality Improvement programs. Quality Improvement is the methodical use of data to assess the results of care processes, along with the use of improvement techniques to plan and test practice modifications with the goal of continuously enhancing the quality and safety of healthcare systems (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2018). Quality Improvement is essential for patient care. As health organizations work to increase efficiency, lower healthcare costs, and guarantee high-quality patient outcomes, the nursing profession and healthcare systems as a whole, are placing an increasing emphasis on improving healthcare quality and safety (Adolfo et al., 2021).
In my organization, there have been many changes throughout the years. The latest Quality Improvement Initiative implemented was to select a new electronic documentation system provider. This was done after analyzing various difficulties and disadvantages that were in place with the previous charting system. After careful consideration, the decision was made to implement a new system. The objective was to select a system that allowed for the better and safest way to document, and store protected health information for the patients. This project included many individuals from various areas of the company. There is a team in my facility that is entirely responsible for quality improvement, and it comprises nurses. However, whenever a new initiative is planned, it is shared with other departments to get their input.
The majority of healthcare is provided by nurses, who thus have a significant impact on the industry's overall standard of care (Adolfo et al., 2021). However, members of the lead team for quality improvement should represent a variety of healthcare-related professions, and from support personnel, patients, and families (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2018). Nonetheless, the lead team members are responsible for organizing, coordinating, carrying out, and reviewing improvement initiatives.
In my organization, these principles are carried out. Nurses played a significant role in this quality improvement initiative. They helped in designing the project since they know what the system would require in order to better assist the patients. Nurses also helped in the implementation of the new charting system. They used it to document interactions with patients, and providers, and to store all data involved in each patient’s care. Additionally, they were tasked with the evaluation of the effectiveness of the initiative. Overall, nurses had a significant impact on this initiative.
The outcome of the project was positive. It improved both the coordination of patients' needs and the provision of care. The new system allowed for the time spent in each case to be reduced, therefore, optimizing patient care. The patient health information was now safely stored and easily accessible to authorized personnel. The improvement has been sustained for over a year now due to the positive outcomes. After the results were evaluated by the Quality Improvement team and the nurse's feedback, positive outcomes were demonstrated by the data presented. Hence, the initiative demonstrated to have been successful.
References
Adolfo, C., Albougami, A., Roque, M., & Almazan, J. (2021, April 11). Nurses’ attitudes toward quality improvement in hospitals: Implications for nursing management systems. Nursing Practice Today. https://doi.org/10.18502/npt.v8i3.5935
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2018). Nursing research: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice (9th ed.). Elsevier.
#2
Lisa Wright
St. Thomas University
NUR 416: Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice
Lisbet Henriquez
October 06, 2022
Quality Improvement Initiative
Quality improvement (QI) initiatives are programs undertaken in healthcare to address the shortcomings that a facility may be facing in certain areas. They seek to investigate these areas and design remedies in the form of interventions seeking recourse for healthcare benefits. QI initiatives are highly effective and paramount in improving patient outcomes and making the healthcare environment more productive and safer for patients and professionals (Backhouse & Ogunlayi, 2020). This assignment module examines a QI initiative in my practice, nurses’ role in the project, the outcomes of the project, and its sustainability.
Quality Improvement Initiative
A QI initiative I have been a part of is a program that seeks to address interdepartmental coordination to enhance patient care and improve patient outcomes. Effective and efficient harmony between departments of healthcare is paramount. It must be prioritized to ensure that every professional’s contribution to care is equally valuable and contributes to the patient’s recovery (Persson et al., 2022). Every professional, from the nursing to technicians, to surgeons, to the pharmacy, has a critical role in care delivery. As a nurse, for instance, my level of patient contact differs from a physician’s, making my perception of the patient different from theirs. A technician’s view is also primarily different because they work behind the scenes. When all parties work cohesively as a unit, every aspect of care is enhanced, and care delivery is optimized.
Nurse’s Role
The nurse’s role in this initiative was to uphold and enhance communication. This aspect of interdepartmental collaboration is critical for the initiative’s success in upholding care delivery at large. As a MedSurg nurse, I have to ensure that my records on the patient are taken keenly and communicated accordingly with other departments and professionals to ensure that the patient’s care is as efficient as possible. The nurse also must ensure transparency by relating and learning from other team members and stakeholders (Brown et al., 2018). Divisions that separate the departments are eliminated by working as a unit where the weaknesses and strengths are learned and addressed accordingly. As nurses, we must be open-minded about ways to better integrate with other departments through learning and close collaboration.
Project’s Outcome
Among the outcomes of the initiative included a feeling of empowerment by working collaboratively where no department is seen as more important than the other. Every team member can make recommendations about the care that has an equal chance of being executed. It also enabled comprehensive care delivery where a collective effort from different departments to patient care gives it a comprehensive view that ensures the most insightful view of care. This translated and still translates to optimized health outcomes. The third outcome was a collaborative team mentality where the team working across departments ensured support and deconstruction of previous divides. It also led to personalized patient care where a patient’s needs were examined through a lens from different angles giving the patient’s intervention a unique angle.
Initiative’s Sustainability
The initiative was sustained, and one of the ways this was realized was by enshrining it into the facility’s culture. The workforce was engaged before and after the initiative’s implementation and encouraged to keep the practice going. The facility’s processes were also geared to cross-departmental bounds to encourage the elimination of the departmental divides that existed prior. The initiative was sustained to ensure improved care efficiency and patient outcomes were maintained, and making change the norm was the best way to ensure this outcome.
Conclusion
QI is inevitable primarily because healthcare is dynamic. We need to keep looking for ways to improve care and improve patients’ experiences and outcomes as they can. The healthcare facility also needs to be optimized to benefit healthcare professionals as their positive experience translates to improved patient outcomes. We are grappling with multiple healthcare issues like staffing and shifting the healthcare landscape through health conditions. We must adjust accordingly to ensure the healthcare system’s stability remains intact. This assignment module examined a QI initiative in my practice, nurses’ role in the project, the outcomes of the project, and its sustainability.
References
Backhouse, A., & Ogunlayi, F. (2020). Clinical updates: Quality improvement into practice. The BMJ, 368. https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.M865
Brown, L. J. E., Dickinson, T., Smith, S., Brown Wilson, C., Horne, M., Torkington, K., & Simpson, P. (2018). Openness, inclusion, and transparency in the practice of public involvement in research: A reflective exercise to develop best practice recommendations. Health Expectations: An International Journal of Public Participation in Health Care and Health Policy, 21(2), 441. https://doi.org/10.1111/HEX.12609
Persson, M. H., Søndergaard, J., Mogensen, C. B., Skjøt-Arkil, H., & Andersen, P. T. (2022). Healthcare professionals’ experiences and attitudes to care coordination across health sectors: An interview study. BMC Geriatrics, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/S12877-022-03200-6