It is essential that healthcare providers give their best when providing care to patients. Improved hospital efficiencies and adequacy in terms of performance are solely dependent on the abilities of the nurse to provide their services. The need to ensure that these objectives are met dwell on the fact that patient care and experience levels need to be boosted, reducing the costs incurred in the healthcare delivery process and finally tackling the main objective of providing healthcare to patients (Masters, 2015). From the foregoing, therefore, it is important that nurses get involved in the process of quality improvement of services so that they can improve patient outcomes and experiences. It is worth noting that hospitals are always in the forefront in making sure that the levels of quality are either maintained or improved (Tabrizi, 2013). To achieve this purpose, these healthcare settings rely on nurses in making sure that they are achieved. Nurses understand the specific needs of patients and the healthcare system and as such, are the only reliant persons that need to be involved in the process. In this direction, therefore, the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses provides the framework on which such strategies can be realized. This organization is tasked with ensuring that current and future nurses continuously get the required skills, knowledge and attitudes which are crucial in ensuring that safety and quality are improved in the health care delivery process. QSEN utilizes the competencies from the IOM in drawing up plans that are vital in ensuring that quality and safety are achieved.
Nursing education
Notably, the care delivery process is supposed to be one which is founded on a strong realm of boosted quality levels. As such, the levels of nursing education that should be provided to budding nurses are supposed to be of high quality and which in this direction should be based on research. It is crucial that quality is involved in the care delivery process so that nurses can achieve the objective of improved levels of patient satisfaction.
Knowledge
There is the need for having improved measurement levels for the knowledge that nurses acquire from their educational process. This form of education is important as it plays a role in making nurses get the latest information on how care is supposed to be provided to patients so that they can experience only the best in terms of care from the nurses. From the foregoing, therefore, it is important that budding nurses have a better understanding of the outcomes expected of them (QSEN, 2014). It is vital that nurses utilize only strategies that are helpful in achieving these objectives. Additionally, quality improvement should involve nurses having improved cultural competency so as to have a better understanding of patients’ ethical backgrounds.
Skills
Secondly, nursing students are supposed to have the required skills to solve technical issues in line with the profession to avoid the possibilities of errors. As it is commonly said, knowledge is power. From this direction, therefore, it is imperative that nurses be actively involved in the process of seeking information on how to improve quality during the time that they will be dealing with patients in healthcare settings. Additionally, it is vital that student nurses search for information on how to improve projects at the care settings that they will be dealing with.
Attitude
It is significant that nursing students have the right attitude when interacting with fellow students to achieve the objective of teamwork both at school and the hospital. With this attitude in place, it will be easier for the process of quality improvement to be improved in the care delivery process (QSEN, 2014). Additionally, nursing students are supposed to identify that high levels of quality in their daily activities are supposed to be observed so that patients can be satisfied in the process.
Nursing research
Research plays a crucial role in the process of creating new bodies of knowledge that can be used in the care delivery process. These new sources of information always translate to improved patient outcomes at the hospital. Research is in line with evidence based care which is targeted at boosting the levels of quality in the care delivery process.
Knowledge
The care delivery process is supposed to take into consideration the fact that the latest forms of knowledge should be applied in developing improved strategies for providing care. As such, nursing students are supposed to acknowledge that they are part of a system which is tasked with taking care of patients and their families. In this direction, therefore, by having a deeper insight into the functionality of the system, it will be important in overseeing the improvement of the process.
Skills
Attitude
The appropriate attitudes that students need to be equipped with to ensure that they produce the best levels of research should be appreciating the workings of variations in the research process. Such a realization is crucial in creating an atmosphere whereby people can appreciate that there are indeed problems in the process and that change is important.
Nursing practice
In terms of the provision of care, this QSEN competency is aimed at improving the process of care delivery to patients. Quality improvement in the process of care delivery is vital in the sense that it is aimed at boosting the levels of patient satisfaction.
Knowledge
The knowledge that nurses should have is having an understanding of the ever-changing process of care delivery. Additionally, it is important that teamwork plays an important role in the care delivery process which is in line with the IOM competency of interdisciplinary team working. Involving many healthcare practitioners in the process is an important strategy for achieving improved outcomes for patients (QSEN, 2014). Also, improving the variations in terms of care is crucial in choosing the best care provision regimen for patients.
Skills
Attitude
The appropriate attitude that nurses need to develop is valuing the contributions that others make in the care delivery process. Appreciating the roles that other nurses play in the care delivery process is essential (QSEN, 2014). It means that an instance of cultural competence has been taken into consideration translating to the spirit of brotherhood in them.
Application of the competency in the working environment
With improved levels of quality, the instances of near misses, errors and hospital acquired infections are addressed. As such, patients emerge with better outcomes in the sense that they will only incur very minimal costs in the care delivery process, therefore, taking care of their financial positions. Additionally, improved levels of quality imply that only the best forms of care are given to patients since all care provision regimes have been created from a research process (Cunningham et al., 2012). As such, patients that undergo these courses will be ensured of their safety during their stay at the hospital. The skills that nurses gain in the learning process are the ones that make sure that the safety factor has been achieved. The end product of this process is that patients will come out with desirable outcomes translating to boosted levels of satisfaction on the side of the patients.
Conclusively, the care delivery process is supposed to ensure that patients benefit from the services that they receive at the hands of nurses. To make this process a realized dream, it is imperative that quality improvement is given the required attention in terms of knowledge, practice and research. These three practices end up in desirable patient outcomes which are eventually translate to higher levels of patient satisfaction.
References
Cunningham, F. C., Ranmuthugala, G., Plumb, J., Georgiou, A., Westbrook, J. I., & Braithwaite, J. (2012). Health professional networks as a vector for improving healthcare quality and safety: a systematic review. BMJ quality & safety, 21(3), 239-249.
Masters, K. (2015). Role development in professional nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
QSEN. (2014). QSEN Competencies. Retrieved from qsen.org/competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/
Tabrizi, J. S. (2013). Quality Improvement in Health Care. Journal of Clinical Research & Governance, 2(1), 1-2.
