The Patient and Continuous Quality Improvement

This weeks chapter covered "The Role of the Patient in Continuous Quality Improvement". So, I was expecting to learn more about continuous quality improvement. The first thing I really learned though was during this week's discussion. It covered a management process to bring about improvement. I was unsure about this to begin with so I did some research online about the subject regarding indicators and benchmarks. This is what I learned, especially from our team discussion this week:

Example: Patient post operative infections are increasing

                                      

INDICATOR: An indication or signal that a process needs evaluation and adjustment. A tool of measure used to judge whether the care delivered was appropriate or satisfactory. Indicators assess a clinical process or outcome to determine whether they are meeting the standard. From what I understand, in this case, it is a collection of data that can be examined to see how that process is functioning; is it meeting the standard the company wants or is it falling short? 

Example: patients are showing signs and symptoms of infection along with an increase in admittance of post operative patients for infections. 

PROCESS OF CARE INDICATOR: This is the process developed and put in place to correct or adjust the procedure that is not working or performing as the company would like. 

Example: Preventative measures are created such as antibiotic prophylactic treatment, patients bathing before surgery, and surgical site is shaven just prior to surgery.

                                      

OUTCOME INDICATOR:  I understand outcome indicators as another measure to determine the effectiveness of the steps shown above. In other words, it is a check-point along the way to see if the process of care indicator is working. It is like an ongoing assessment of the process.

Example: The in house documentation or checklists for surgery both pre and post are being evaluated and reviewed to make sure that the Process of Care Indicators are being done.

                                             

BENCHMARK: The benchmark is your goal, has it been met? In our example, have infection rates decreased due to the above process. Are we meeting the mark?

I am hoping that I understood this process because I really wanted to understand what we talked about this week in discussion. I have to admit when I read posts from the others in my team I feel that either I didn't get it or they didn't. So, I would like to know if I'm getting the right idea about these terms.

I do like to find better ways of doing things and I believe this is another example of how we can look for things that are not going as they should and look for better, more effective ways.

I also think the patient should be involved in their care. Sometimes I think they are so tunnel visioned on their pain or condition that they can't see outside the box. This is totally understandable. That's where we can step in and help them see beyond the pain and focus more on moving forward in the healing process. 

These are the different things that I learned this week and I will continue to work toward incorporating them into my nursing care.

                                

Okay, I just put this one in because I work nights and it made me laugh!