Research Paper on "Implementing a Quality Improvement Program at a Community Medical Center"

Research Paper 10 pages (4187 words) Sources: 35

[EXCERPT] . . . .

There are varying methods for the catheterization of female and male patients. For instance, two comprehensively referenced journal articles have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine detailing videos that have instructions on the catheterization of both males and females (Ortega, Sekhar and Song, 2008; Thomsen and Setnik, 2006).

Quality improvement

A culture of safety is employed by several nationwide quality improvement schemes focused on health care delivery in order to enhance patient safety. These projects make use of a robust and resilient safety culture with clinical or practical interventions that have already been proven to bring down the rate of health care associated infections. A good example of a nationwide project is the endeavor to get rid of and do away with catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) by means of the On the CUSP: Stop CAUTI project. The systems of care, as well as hospitals that have been most fruitful in attaining and sustaining reductions in infection rates, have employed a two-pronged method that makes use of the best clinical practices with a change in culture. There are clear and comparatively straightforward scientific or practical interventions to reduce CAUTI. With sturdy safety cultures, systems of care and hospitals can shape and modify the detailed interventions for decreasing CAUTI rates. The whole process of quality improvement can be presented as a practice that is a self-governing or self-supervision improvement program, or as an evaluation undertaken by an external party (CFPC, 2011). It is important to develop an official quality improvement approach for guidance during the transformation process as the healthcare organization strives to become a patient-centered medical facility (Fontaine et al., 2014; Spenceley et al., 2013; Wagner et al., 2012; Wagner et al., 2014).

The following are some of the characteristics of an effective approach for quality improvement:

1. Has solid and involved leadership with proficiency in change management

2. Makes use of rapid-cycle methods of change to assess innovations and plans for change

3. Is reliant on unchanging performance measurement to pinpoint or ascertain prospects for improvement

4. Engages the personnel in the process of development and implementation

5. Routinely attains and makes use of patient experience information and data to notify improvement endeavors

6. The engagement of personnel in these activities offers a well-accepted and understood perspective on the prevailing processes and notions for change, and might make the changes be more acceptable (Wagner et al., 2014).

7. Involves patients and their families in an endeavor to make the practice be more receptive to the needs and inclinations of their clients.

8. Approaches to involve patients as well as families in current quality improvement endeavors consist of petitioning consistent reactions and responses through surveys, collecting additional information on patient standpoints through the creation of patient/family consultative assemblies, and welcoming separate patients and customer and patient establishments to add to quality improvement undertakings and events (Peikes, Genevro, Scholle, & Torda, 2011).

Cultural Interventions for CAUTI Prevention

A robust safety culture creates the conditions under which CAUTI reduction is possible. Both attaining and maintaining these reductions in CAUTI necessitate a healthcare setting that supports honest and clear communication, shared responsibility, and constant development. The behaviors intrinsic to a culture of safety facilitate the kinds of process improvements that will bring about prevention of infections. Development and improvement, in the long run, necessitates a culture that makes sure that the practical work will done effectively. One challenge that comes with these quality improvement practices is project fatigue. Health care systems have ascertained that the CUSP model works and functions very well with other change models, such as the IHI model and the Kotter Leading Change Model (American Hospital Association, 2013).

Effective Practice

The nationwide project dubbed On the CUSP: Stop CAUTI offers comprehensive tutoring and important data gathering support to unit teams constantly working to reduce CAUTI. By means of this support and mentoring, the involved hospitals have pinpointed numerous key lessons to positively decrease and prevent rates of CAUTI. These include:

1. Exhibit senior leadership dedication

2. Amass a varied and involved multidisciplinary group on each operation unit

3. Authorize front-line personnel

4. Make sure procedures for data collection and recording are recognized

5. Offer committed resources to the project

6. Involve personnel with patient stories

7. Communicate achievements primarily in the project in the long run

8. Create and supervise metrics to assess routine improvement determinations and results. Also make sure all personnel members have an understanding of the metrics for success

9. Make the most of health information technology that offers support to critical functions; for instance, performance measurement, alerts to providers, and constant reminders, computerized order entry (COE), and population management

10. For the quality improvement strategy to be effective, it is important that clinically significant and actionable metrics that are suitable to each exercise and public setting be carefully chosen (CFPC, 2011; Coleman et al., 2014; Martin, 2014).

Healthcare associated infections (HAI)

Procedurally, healthcare associated infections (HAI) are not dissimilar from the health concerns of attending to adult patients. Whereas CAUTI is acknowledged to be the primary basis of HAIs in adults, CAUTI occurrence rate and comparative importance in pediatrics is only now being recognized and proven. In pediatrics, the justification for catheter placement, catheter size, consideration of sterilization methods on insertion, and the dependence on a "package" approach for quality of care in handling the equipment, are all essential to preclude these infections. Nonetheless, children cannot be simply considered as lesser adults. Care providers to children, particularly in a hospital environment, ought to embrace the consideration that there are numerous extra issues and concerns that are associated distinctively with the age of their patients. Patients who are of any age face probable negative outcomes due to an indwelling catheter. These include shock, distress, rigidity, loss of self-respect, amplified antimicrobial use, and the making of pools for pathogens. Nevertheless, the extra worries explicitly intrinsic in the care of children consist of, but are not restricted to the following for the clinician's concern:

1. The age of the child and the use of developmentally suitable methods for appropriate care are vital considerations and ought to be taken into account in every aspect of the child's care. Additionally, it is not abnormal or developmentally unsuitable for young children to have issues with lack of urinary and/or bowel control. It is imperative to note that even youngsters who have attained self-restraint as a developmental breakthrough may relapse when met with sickness or hospitalization.

2. Considerations of family-centered care, cultural proficiency of the clinicians, and health literateness of the family can generate a more accommodating and cooperative patient understanding. Family-centered care, which is a prevalent focus in pediatric health care, prompts clinicians to study the child's specific uncertainties and conduct patterns. This is data best attained from a family-identified professional, comprising family members in the child's care, to the extent that they wish to play a part, and is a vital component in attaining the child's belief and collaboration (Stephan, Wachsmuth M, et al.,2006).

3. Providing emotional support and comfort, for instance having a parent present and using comforting elements such as music and objects, can be of immense help to children who are in a novel, uncomfortable, or terrifying circumstance. Medical procedures within the hospital can induce a lot of anxiety in children, something that can hinder the safe completion of the hospital procedure if it is not well managed. For instance, having puppets and dolls, particularly the kid's favorite play toys or even blankets, can offer safe and accommodating coziness and diversion in order for the hospital treatments to be completed in a safe and efficient manner (Owen, Perez, Bornstein W, et al., 2012). Preferably, any invasive medical procedures ought to be performed in a procedure room that is distinct from the child's hospital bed, in order for child to consider the hospital room to be a harmless and nonthreatening area.

4. Everyday care and evaluation for antipathies, skin allergies, particularly in the selection of cleansing agents, and matters of catheter securement are prevalent worries in the care of children.

i. Allergies and skin sensitivities are challenging, particularly in newborns where the skin has distinctive and detailed microstructures. Baby stratum corneum is a whole 30% thinner, and the epidermis of the newborn is as much as 20% thinner compared to that of adults (Wald, Epstein, Radcliff, T, et al., 2008.). These dissimilarities in skin microstructure elucidate a number of the practical healthcare issues, for example, altered healing periods, heat loss, and simple tearing of the undeveloped child's skin.

ii. Taking into consideration the bodily dissimilarities perceived in pediatrics, superior safety measures are necessary in the choice and use of grounding and maintenance solutions used on the skin and mucous membranes. One good example of a prevalent concern is sensitivity to iodine. The clinician might employ an accepted antiseptic towlette, such as benzalkonium chloride towelettes which come in handy in cleansing before capturing a clean-catch urine sample in adults. The use of mild soap and water… READ MORE

How to Reference "Implementing a Quality Improvement Program at a Community Medical Center" Research Paper in a Bibliography

Related Research Papers:

Quality Improvement Term Paper

Healthcare Quality Improvement Program

Proposed Quality Improvement Program

This memo covers the reasons for implementing a quality improvement program.

It then outlines three quality improvement programs which can serve as… read more

Term Paper 7 pages (1786 words) Sources: 6 Style: APA Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Quality Improvement Program Research Paper

The prospective influence of its addition was also examined. The examination piloted semi-structured interviews of 36 infection preventionists from a sample of acute care United States hospitals. In the examination,… read more

Research Paper 2 pages (606 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Nursing / Doctor / Physician

---

Quality Improvement Project Essay

Quality Improvement Project

The medical profession can probably be regarded as the most intensely caring profession there is. Doctors and nurses are faced with patients and families who are traumatized,… read more

Essay 6 pages (1818 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Quality Improvement in Health Care Term Paper

Quality Improvement in Health Care

In the past few years, the criteria for evaluating the structure of rehabilitation services and related programs offered by hospitals have undergone a stricter type… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1426 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

Community Organizing for Health Research Paper

Oral Health: A Community Health Problem

Oral remains a serious public health issue in the U.S., since it has significant effect on the overall health and well-being of people (Kaylor,… read more

Research Paper 7 pages (2033 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Healthcare / Health / Obamacare

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>