Part a
I was privileged to interview the Nurse Manager in the facility that I am currently undertaking my practicum with the intentions of having a better understanding of the working of the organization. She informed that the overall goal for the operation of the facility is that at the end of it all, the levels of patient satisfaction will be high, job satisfaction on the side of care will be improved while the reputation of the facility is targeted at remaining high on the eyes of the clientele.
The specific objectives and goals of the organization, however, are as follows;
• To have a process that is targeted at approving and revising both the preventive and the non-preventive guidelines used in the process of healthcare provision. These guidelines are then communicated to the patients and their families to ease the process of decision making (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
• To identify the processes that are suitable in ensuring that patient safety is promoted with the aim of reducing the rates of medical errors. These objectives can be achieved through incorporating practitioners and the patients in the education process.
• To make sure that only a network of qualified practitioners is developed through complying with the regulatory legislations in place and sticking to a professional language (Goetsch & Davis, 2014).
• To get involved in the process of monitoring and analyzing activities in the facility so as to improve the levels of outcomes from the activities being performed.
• To boost the levels of quality of the medical and behavioral healthcare services provided in the healthcare facility by carrying out an evaluation of the goals and benchmarks by the organization and focusing on improving the actions in the organization.
Part b
The quality improvement structure of the organization is composed of individuals who are responsible for making decisions that will overall aim at improving the quality of the healthcare facility. As such, there is the need to have managers in charge of design, publicity, and human resources. The manager in charge of design is tasked with ensuring that the principles of quality assurance are adhered to. Designers are responsible for checking on the effectiveness of the processes in the organization. They are also concerned with keeping track of the revisions done in the healthcare delivery process. The publicity team is responsible for ensuring that the services being provided by the healthcare facility meet the required standards (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). The manager in charge of this department is tasked with ensuring that standards are observed and if not, a revision of a particular process is done to come out with the best practice. The quality assurance manager is also responsible for ensuring that the healthcare personnel sticks to their jobs as it is stipulated in the job descriptions. Healthcare providers are supposed to act according to their training and level of education.
Part c
The selection, management and monitoring of development quality improvement plans follow 8 steps. The first step is the identification of the goals that need to be met; goals here being a statement that gives a description of the outcomes expected from the project. The second stage is about having an understanding of the current processes for the quality improvement managers to have an understanding of the root cause of the problems being experienced. The next step is carrying out a root cause analysis with the objectives of identifying the problems in the current process (McAlearney et al., 2013). The fourth step is about brainstorming the ideas that will be important in solving the problems that the project aims at. The fifth stage is about developing an implementation plan that will oversee the rolling out of the project. Pilot testing is the step that follows whereby a specific unit of the hospital is selected with the purpose of rolling out a mini project. In the event that the pilot tests shows positive results, the healthcare team then continues with implementing the plan on the actions of the project. The nurses under the guidance of their leaders are tasked with the management and monitoring of the project.
Part d
The training of healthcare practitioners is the most effective method of ensuring that quality standards are maintained in the healthcare facility. The basis of these training is based on continuing professional development for nurses whereby short workshops and seminars and ongoing job training are utilized in the process (Goetsch & Davis, 2014). The various approaches through which nurses can be trained include; the use of practical projects in the process of skill development, undergoing university courses that offer formal education to the nurses, involving in workshops for professional development, involving in collaborative strategies in the training period, incorporating quality improvement in the healthcare trainings to these nurses and utilizing online models which are effective in distance learning.
Part e
The first quality methodology tool that needs to be applied in the quality improvement process is the DRIVE technique which puts a focus on analyzing problems then solving them. The D stands for Define, whereby nurses are tasked with measuring the scope of the problem that has been agreed upon by the management. The R stands for reviewing the current situation to have a fine understanding of the background. This technique is vital for collecting the required information for the quality improvement process. I stands for identifying the improvements that can be done on the proposed solutions and put in place the changes that can be effectively used in sustaining the quality improvement process. The V serves the purposes of verifying whether the improvements will actually result in the projected benefits in order to achieve the planned success by the organization (McAlearney et al., 2013). The last step is about executing the solutions that have been identified in the process of development, carrying out a review of the process and gathering the required feedback for the quality improvement process. The second technique that can be used in the quality improvement process is the six sigma methodology which focuses on defining the improvement goals that the consumers of healthcare services require, measuring the process to achieve the goals of improvement, analyzing the current quality improvement process to have an understanding of the root cause of problems and their solutions and finally controlling the quality improvement process by involving the concept of standardization in the process. Having a better understanding of the workings of the techniques is principal in ensuring that the healthcare organization is able to achieve quality improvement in a continuous manner(Goetsch & Davis, 2014).. Also, the quality improvement techniques are crucial to the work output of nurses in the sense that they can be in a position to perform to the maximum of their abilities thereby ensuring that patients come out with desirable outcomes.
Part f
The most appropriate communication technique that can be utilized in communicating quality improvement messages to the staff is the top-down approach or the horizontal form of communication. The data being used in the communication process should be very compelling to the staff members to boost their morale levels. Secondly, the nurse manager is supposed to reinforce the messages every time there is a departmental meeting to make the participants act as a team (The Health Foundation, 2012). Regular meetings are important in sharing the best techniques for quality improvement with the staff members. These techniques are effective in ensuring positive outcomes from the process since the employees will be acting in a unidirectional manner.
Part g
Evaluating the effectiveness of a QI plan requires that the management has a set of predetermined questions that will serve as a guide in establishing whether the process has been a success. It is crucial to assess the progress of the project in terms of what has already been done compared to what the objectives that were set at the beginning. Secondly, it is essential to assess whether the QI process is data driven (CDC, 2015. Data provides the yardsticks which are vital for measuring the required progress. Additionally, it is important to establish whether the processes have led to improved efficiencies at the healthcare setting where the project was being carried out. The levels of effectiveness are dependent on the costs incurred in the process and the outcomes from the costs incurred.
Part h
The QI activities that have been successful in my workplace have primarily focused on reducing the cases of amputations in patients with type 2 diabetes and the problem of falls among the elderly being taken care of in the facility that I am undertaking my practicum. The QI techniques on solving the problem of increasing amputation rates amongst type 2 diabetes have focused on providing teaching to the patients under our care on the importance of lifestyle changes like moderate physical activities, smoking cessation and putting on loosely fitting shoes. These strategies have been crucial in ensuring that the levels of foot ulcers in these classes of patients have been effectively addressed. On elderly falls, patients have been educated on the importance of avoiding environmental hazards at home like slippery floors and focusing on proper lighting. Patients were also taught the importance of putting on nonskid shoes to prevent slipping while walking. These practices have been effective in that cases of amputations reported have tremendously dropped while injuries from falls have also been addressed.
References
CDC. (2015). Evaluating quality improvement inititaves. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/pubs/docs/cb_december_2012.pdf
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. pearson.
McAlearney, A. S., Terris, D., Hardacre, J., Spurgeon, P., Brown, C., Baumgart, A., & Nyström, M. E. (2013). Organizational coherence in health care organizations: Conceptual guidance to facilitate quality improvement and organizational change. Quality Management in Healthcare, 22(2), 86-99.
The Health Foundation. (2012). Quality improvement techniques fro healthcare professinals. Retrieved from http://www.health.org.uk/sites/default/files/QualityImprovementTrainingForHealthcareProfessionals.pdf
