Quality Improvement Storyboard

Quality Improvement (QI) Plan: [Insert the QI Model selected e.g. PDSA, FADE,] [Insert the title of the Capstone Project here] Note: Adjust font size as needed
Quality Improvement Problem Provide a Brief Overview/background of the QI problem
Data to support QI Problem: Provide the data used to justify why the QI problem was selected; answers the question how many? How often?; How does the data show that a problem exists? Cite sources
Analysis of the Evidence to Support QI Problem: Discuss the important evidence from research, clinical guidelines, expert opinions with a brief description of important findings. This is the evidence that you used in the project/paper to develop your QI plan include in-text citations in APA format [Citation fonts may be smaller in size]
QI Plan: List or summarize the quality improvement plan using the Quality model selected – PDSA, FOCUS PDCA, FADE etc.
Resources to Support the QI Plan: What materials, who are the persons/department(s) or the title of the persons) needed or used in planning and implementing the QI plan?
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References

Place your reference list here, use APA formatting

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Week 1

Defining quality

High-quality care and positive outcomes are something we all strive as healthcare employees for our organizations to deliver. Healthcare consumers have expectations when it comes to the quality of care in a healthcare setting and it is up to us as the providers to ensure that we meet those expectations. According to Patricia Spath (2013), the Institute of Medicine defines quality as the delivery of healthcare services to an individual that increases the likelihood of desired health outcomes that are consistent with current professional knowledge and evidence-based practices (Spath, 2013). The mission of quality is to provide care to the right patient at the right time, every time. Spath also mentions that we must understand the patient’s expectations and provide a reliable service that meets those expectations in a cost-effective and accessible manner (Spath, 2013). We as healthcare providers must ensure that the services we provide utilize the necessary resources at the lowest cost possible for both the organization and the patient.

Major quality theorist, Kaoru Ishikawa, implemented the concept of quality circles, which are small performance improvement teams that include front-line staff members (Spath, 2013). In order to deliver high-quality care an organization must include the front-line staff when looking for opportunities for improvement; most of the time it is these employees that work in the trenches of the situations and have the ideas for improvement. The challenge is leadership putting the input of the small performance improvement teams into practice. Quality circles are extremely helpful in managing the quality of healthcare that promotes positive outcomes and meets the patient’s expectations of care. As nurses, we have the opportunity to deliver high-quality care to our patients and share best practices with both our patients and our fellow nurses. It is extremely important that we empower our patients and support our patient’s rights to improve the quality of care he or she receives.

One practice problem that we have encountered at my current organization is the overall cleanliness of our facility. Last year, we transitioned into utilizing a contracted housekeeping service instead of our own organization employees for environmental services. We have noticed over the last year that the service and perception of our patients have dropped a great deal. Patients and families expect a hospital to be clean and employees expect a clean working environment, and we are struggling on a daily basis to meet those expectations. Our overall patient satisfaction scores have dropped, we even were cited on our recent Joint Commission survey for cleanliness, and we have constant employee complaints regarding the housekeeping service. Even though it was said that this contracted service would save the organization money, we have noticed that this particular change in service was a wasteful practice. The contract company provides the bare minimum of staff and makes it difficult for the staff to be able to do the job well. Prior to the change, we had dedicated housekeeping staff for specialized units and the Emergency department that were stationed in those areas at all times. This allowed the staff to be trained appropriately on specialized equipment and necessary cleaning protocols for those specialized areas. We currently have a quality circle that is working together to determine other process improvement opportunities that will help improve the desired outcomes. Cleanliness of an organization is a consumer’s first impression and impacts the perception of the quality of care the organization provides.

Reference:

Spath, P. (2013). Introduction to Healthcare Quality Management (2nd ed). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.

 

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