QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE

Quality Of Healthcare



Quality Of Healthcare

Introduction

Quality of care plays an important role in assuring the standards of nursing performance. By providing specific performance requirements, standards of nursing performance can improve and provide quality of nursing care in health care settings (Scope & Standards, pg 33). Quality care is one of the most significant nursing standards of modern time. This particular standard must be implemented by nurse's everyday.

Analysis

One of the main concerns in nursing practice today, is quality of care in the health care setting (iom.edu). Recent reports from the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Institute of Medicine's Quality Initiative (IMQI) brought immediate attention to the public on the collapse of quality of care. The reports focused on the need to recognize, develop, evaluate, and ensure the quality of health care in the United States (nursing world.org). Both the ANA and IMQI represent a systematic effort to advance health care quality and patient safety concerns. Many other institutions have felt the need for further disciplinary actions to improve quality of care in healthcare settings.

Organizations such as the American Heart Association and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have also recommended that the healthcare system launch a systemic proposal to increase the quality of care. The American Heart Association has made the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Interdisciplinary Working Group (QCOR IWG) to provide quality care to heart patients (americanheart.org). The QCOR IWG is a multidisciplinary group committed to making a significant contribution to improving patient outcomes and healthcare quality. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality developed a National Healthcare Quality Report to facilitate the needs of patients around the United States. By doing so, they are raising awareness to healthcare institutions for the improvement of quality of care (ahrq.gov).

Private groups such as the National Quality Forum (NQF), Leapfrog group, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) made recommendations and efforts to ensure healthcare quality. All of the organizations are trying to make an attempt to lower client dissatisfaction, identify specific quality indicators, and increase the quality of care in every health care institution in the United States (ahrq.gov).

A 2004 study, done by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, concluded that 45.1 percent of people were not receiving the care they needed (ahrg.gov). Healthcare systems are now aiming at quality improvement, education, and implementation of quality care (ahrq.gov).

The ANA gives reasons for the lack of quality care in institutions today. One of these reasons is the lack of professional care. The registered nurse (RN) has one of the lowest censuses of the healthcare professionals and highest in demand. RN's are now faced with an enormous amount of patients, little time to care for their individual needs, and long strenuous work hours. Longer hours from the nursing shortage lead to RN burn-out. This burn-out creates decreased quality of care, medications errors, and an increase of patient safety risks (nursingworld.org).

A nurse, D. Thomas, from the local Nursing Home discussed her time of ...