Improving Quality of Health Care
Improving the quality of health care delivery and patient safety continues to be a political concern and has been at the heart of reform issues for many years. The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have increased awareness of health care quality and safety issues, as well as advocated for health care reform. The documents featured at the ANA and IOM websites listed in this week’s Learning Resources focus on many of the current issues surrounding quality and safety in the health care industry.
Review this week’s Learning Resources, focusing on the Six Aims for Improvement presented in the landmark report “Crossing the Quality Chasm: The IOM Health Care Quality Initiative.”
Consider these six aims with regard to your current organization, or one with which you are familiar. In what areas have you seen improvement? What areas still present challenges? As a nurse leader, how can you contribute to improving the organization’s achievement of these aims?
Select one specific quality or safety issue that is presenting a challenge in the organization. Consider at least one quality improvement strategy that could be used to address the issue, as well as which of the six aims for improvement would then be addressed.
Reflect on your professional practice and your experiences with inter-professional collaboration to improve quality and safety. How has inter-professional collaboration contributed to your organization’s efforts to realize the IOM’s six aims for improving health care? Where has inter-professional collaboration been lacking?
These Needs to Be Covered in the essay
A description of the quality or safety issue you selected and a brief summary of the impact that this issue has on health care delivery.
Describe at least one quality improvement strategy used to address this issue. Then explain which of the six “aims for improvement” are addressed by the strategy.
Finally, explain how inter-professional collaboration helps improve quality in this area.
References
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. (2012). Crossing the quality chasm: The IOM Health Care Quality Initiative. Retrieved from
http://www(dot)iom(dot)edu/Global/News%20Announcements/Crossing-the-Quality-Chasm-The-IOM-Health-Care-Quality-Initiative.aspx
The Institute of Medicine provides a Quality Initiative to document the seriousness of the quality problem and assesses the ongoing effort to improve the nation’s quality of care.
National Quality Forum. (2012). Retrieved from http://www(dot)qualityforum(dot)org/Home.aspx
The National Quality Form project identifies outcome, process, and structural measures, as well as patient experience of care in order to specifically address quality improvement.
American Nurses Association. Health system reform. Retrieved March 22, 2012, from http://www(dot)nursingworld(dot)org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy/HealthSystemReform
This web page details health reforms impact on health care delivery.
Berwick, D. (2002). Escape fire: Lessons for the future of health care. Retrieved from http://www(dot)commonwealthfund(dot)org/usr_doc/berwick_escapefire_563.pdf
Improving Quality of Health Care
Name:
Institution:
Working in a community hospital can be quite challenging, especially on the aspects of delivering quality health care services. Noticeably, there have been some improvements at the local general hospital where I work, especially with regard to offering a patient centered care. Health care decisions now include the inputs of the patient, their friends and families (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2012). At the same time, the health care services at the hospital are now quite equitable, thus patients are not segregated based on their gender, race, ethnicity or income levels. This was a common trend in the society that also affected the health care services delivery at the local hospital where I work. However, there is still a challenge in delivering quality care with regard to the timeliness and effectiveness. Much of the challenge is due to the fact that the hospital is still using the chart methods and manual records. This means that retrieval of the patients’ records is cumbersome and time wasting. As such, it reduces the effectiveness of offering quality care at an instance (Ahrq.gov, 2014).
Although there have been some remarkable improvements in the health care delivery, there have been some challenges as well. As such, the health care provision has been compromised with reference to quality of care. Decision making is slow and ineffective with massive implications on the safety of the patients. At the same time, safety for the patients has been compromised on several occasions.
As a nurse leader, there are number of ways I can contribute to the intended achievement. One of the contributions relates to offering care that does not harm the patient. This means that I have to be careful in every aspect such administering the correct drugs. Secondly, I have to involve the patient in all decisions by giving them all the information they need, when they need it. As such, I will be in a position to offer care that is timely. To make sure that I contribute to efficiency, I would prioritize my assigned tasks so as to optimize the efficiency of the shared responsibilities. To make sure that the organization offers effective services, I will reduce overuse or underuse of resources. To ensure that the organization offers equitable services, I would provide care without any form of prejudice, (Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2012).
The main quality improvement that can be impleme...