Introduction
In the current era of healthcare management, hospitals need to consider a wide range of factors to make sure that its quality improvement programs are in compliance with national and state health policies. This paper will critically evaluate how national and state health policies impact implementing quality improvement programs at the macro-meso-and micro-system levels. The paper will also discuss what actions an individual nurse/nurse executive can do within an organization to promote such quality improvement initiatives.
Quality Improvement
It is identified that health policies designed by national and state governments can significantly influence the implementation of quality improvement programs at the macro-meso-and micro-system levels. As Weinberg, Hilborne and Nguyen (2005) purport, hospitals are required to comply with the health policies of national and state governments, and this legal compliance requirement may in turn affect the quality improvement programs implemented. For instance, if the national government requires all hospitals in the country to maintain 1:1 nurse-to-patient ratio at ICU, then the hospital management cannot assign additional duties to nurses at ICU during the implementation of a quality improvement program. To be precise, when each single patient is given the care of an individual nurse mandatorily, no additional nurse staff would be available to deal with implementation of a new quality improvement program. Therefore, health providers at the macro-meso-and micro system levels, from the hospital’s administrative management to individual nurses, are required to cope with the health policies of national and state governments. Hospitals must be vigilant to make necessary changes to its operational policies and practices in such a way to promote the implementation of quality improvement programs in adherence to current national and state health policies. When a national/state health policy concerned is amended, the hospital management has to review its ongoing quality improvement programs and make proper changes if needed in order to ensure legal compliance (Hughes, 2008).Evidences suggest that changes in national and state health policies may inflate/deflate costs of quality improvement programs that are progressing at the macro-meso-and micro-system levels. Furthermore, health policy initiatives at national and state levels would bring uniformity in quality improvement programs organized by different hospitals in the state (Manghani, 2011).
As a nurse, I will take all possible efforts to make sure that my nursing care operations are in strict compliance with current national and state health policies. In addition, I will try my best to know more about national/state health policies and to make appropriate changes in my daily operations. I think it is good to get feedbacks about my job performance from my nurse manager periodically so as to improve my care delivery and performance efficiency constantly. As a nurse executive, I will arrange to provide new hires with proper training so as to keep them informed of current national and state health policies. In addition, I will prepare and review care delivery reports weekly to identify areas of improvement and compliance. This strategy may be effective for the organization to promote the level of legal compliance of its ongoing quality improvement initiatives. I can facilitate enhanced upward and downward flow of communication within the healthcare facility for connecting top management to the nurse staff.
Conclusion
References
Hughes, R. G. (2008). “Tools and Strategies for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety”. In: Hughes, R. G, editor. Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US).
Manghani, K. (2011). Quality assurance: Importance of systems and standard operating procedures. Perspectives in Clinical Research, 2(1), 34–37.
Weinberg, J., Hilborne, L. H & Nguyen, Q. T. (2005). “Regulation of Health Policy: Patient Safety and the States”. In: Henriksen, K., Battles, J. B, Marks, E. S, et al., editors. Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation (Volume 1: Research Findings). Rockville (MD). US: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
