Quality Improvement Research Paper

10. QUALITY(ASSURANCE/IMPROVEMENT DOCUMENTATION).
Introduction
 QA is defined as a program that guarantees quality patient care by tracking outcomes through scheduled reviews
 Guidelines are developed for all the processes and when formally adopted becomes the QA program

PERSONNEL LIFE
 Tool to monitor and evaluate all processes
 Must be measurable, well defined, specific, objective and clearly related to an important aspect of care
 Indicators can measure quality, adequacy, accuracy, timeliness, effectiveness, customer satisfaction etc.
SOCIAL LIFE
 If levels of care is unacceptable – corrective plan is established
 Monitor and evaluate continuously to ensure quality improvement.
 To change outcome we must look at process
 Follow
process from start to finish to see where there might be obstacles – or where the problem lie
 To ensure that the same process is always followed, there must be controls and checks along the way
 The use of controls in a process is known as Quality Control

CURRENT JOB
Incident report must be filled out when a problem occurs
 Identifies the problem, state the consequence, and describe the corrective action
 Should not be used to place blame
 Should be used to ensure that the event does not reoccur

QA documents have been developed to: - standardize procedure, inform nursing personnel on importance of patient preparation and record problems
 Can be used for legal purposes as well
 Can provide information for QA purposes
 Patient medical records
CURRENT RESEARCH
 Accreditation standards for agencies require the facility to show documents on all quality control checks and other QA activities
 QA forms include equipment check forms and incident/occurrence report forms
 Special forms for recording checks on tube additives, vacuum strengths and expiration dates – verification of new lot numbers
 Refrigeration temperatures – recorded daily
 Control checks on centrifuge – tachometer readings and maintenance performed