While the United States has been known as the land of opportunity inexpensive, quality healthcare has been an unobtainable dream for many Americans. When compared to other industrialized counties, The United States’ healthcare is more expensive, less efficient and more difficult to obtain (Mahon & Fox, 2014). Americans pay nearly twice as much for their healthcare, however the quality of care they obtain is only average. It is these troubling statistics that has lead for a push to monitor health care quality and make changes to the American healthcare system based on quality measures.
Healthcare quality is a measure of a medical establishment’s ability to provide care equal to current professional standards and expected patient outcomes (Huber, …show more content…
Quality care is safe, timely, efficient, equitable, effective and patient-centered (Huber, 2014). Incorporating the latest research into practice is one way to ensure high quality patient care is being provided. At AGH, nursing councils have been created to support the institution of evidence-based practice and a culture of quality and safety as recommended by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Similar to Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) recommendations, staff nurses on the Practice Council develop a practice question and refer it to Research Council for exploration. The Research council then performs a review of the literature and analyzes studies to find the highest quality research available on the topic. Practice council then creates a standardized nursing protocol based on the available research. As recommended by QSEN, the practice council tailors the protocol to fit the needs of nurses at AGH (Barnsteiner, 2015a). After the protocol is created, the information is formally disseminated to the staff through a nursing protocol and procedures manual that is kept on the hospital website and can be accessed at any time (Barnsteiner, …show more content…
The elevated incidences of preventable complications at AGH suggest that there is a quality problem at AGH. Unlike the recommendations made by Barnsteiner (2015a), AGH relies heavily on memory and vigilance to prevent adverse patient events. Additionally, while AGH meets staffing ratio benchmarks due to union contract, it comes at a price. Staffing shortages result in nurses working extra shifts and staying later to maintain patient ratios. This is detrimental to care quality as nurses that work longer than 10 hours are more likely to report the care they provide is poor and their work areas unsafe, than nurses that work 8 or 9 hour shifts (Stimpfel & Aiken, 2013). Unsurprisingly, patient outcomes have been shown to be negatively influenced by nursing shifts longer than 10 hours (Trinkoff et al., 2011). Naps and breaks have been shown to increase mental alertness, however, nurses at AGH often go without breaks and rest (Barnsteiner, 2015b). While the Institute of Medicine restricts the number of hours that residents can work and recommend that nurses cap hours worked at 60 per week, no such quality benchmarks have been instituted at AGH (Stowkoski, 2004). Given the large body of evidence indicating the dangers associated with fatigue, I believe a potential quality improvement project at AGH would be to implement
Healthcare quality is a measure of a medical establishment’s ability to provide care equal to current professional standards and expected patient outcomes (Huber, …show more content…
Quality care is safe, timely, efficient, equitable, effective and patient-centered (Huber, 2014). Incorporating the latest research into practice is one way to ensure high quality patient care is being provided. At AGH, nursing councils have been created to support the institution of evidence-based practice and a culture of quality and safety as recommended by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Similar to Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) recommendations, staff nurses on the Practice Council develop a practice question and refer it to Research Council for exploration. The Research council then performs a review of the literature and analyzes studies to find the highest quality research available on the topic. Practice council then creates a standardized nursing protocol based on the available research. As recommended by QSEN, the practice council tailors the protocol to fit the needs of nurses at AGH (Barnsteiner, 2015a). After the protocol is created, the information is formally disseminated to the staff through a nursing protocol and procedures manual that is kept on the hospital website and can be accessed at any time (Barnsteiner, …show more content…
The elevated incidences of preventable complications at AGH suggest that there is a quality problem at AGH. Unlike the recommendations made by Barnsteiner (2015a), AGH relies heavily on memory and vigilance to prevent adverse patient events. Additionally, while AGH meets staffing ratio benchmarks due to union contract, it comes at a price. Staffing shortages result in nurses working extra shifts and staying later to maintain patient ratios. This is detrimental to care quality as nurses that work longer than 10 hours are more likely to report the care they provide is poor and their work areas unsafe, than nurses that work 8 or 9 hour shifts (Stimpfel & Aiken, 2013). Unsurprisingly, patient outcomes have been shown to be negatively influenced by nursing shifts longer than 10 hours (Trinkoff et al., 2011). Naps and breaks have been shown to increase mental alertness, however, nurses at AGH often go without breaks and rest (Barnsteiner, 2015b). While the Institute of Medicine restricts the number of hours that residents can work and recommend that nurses cap hours worked at 60 per week, no such quality benchmarks have been instituted at AGH (Stowkoski, 2004). Given the large body of evidence indicating the dangers associated with fatigue, I believe a potential quality improvement project at AGH would be to implement