Improving Discharge Process: Implementing Change with Dr Smith, RN Jones & LCSW Jackson - Essay Sample

Introduction

Key quality indicators include patients getting discharged early within the proposed 8 hours, improved communication skills among the stakeholders, increased consultation time for patients who need step-down care and smooth or undisturbed weekend discharges.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The proposed change at Harris is to create a discharge planning checklist process which must be utilized within the 8 hours upon admission.

DO

Dr Smith, RN Jones and LCSW Jackson should implement the change by:

• Educating the stakeholders on the importance of excellent communication skills
• Develop the proposed discharge planning process
• The team champions should begin collecting data and feedback responses from its workers.
• The progress of the project should be measured by determining the patient's length of stay in the hospital and the rates of the second unit (2NE)

ACT

Involves adoption, rejection or modification of the proposed change plan.

Positive change noted was that interdisciplinary discharge process spread to the other inpatient units.

NE also accepted to pilot another PDSA cycles. This was done to improve the working relationship with the stakeholders to carter for step-down care planning.

PDSA

STUDY

The change should be evaluated based on the effectiveness of the entire process, outcome and lessons learned.

The process involved analysis of data obtained by comparing it to the objectives.

On outcome, the rate of discharge improved from 5%-15% indicating a positive growth after 12 weeks duration, and LOS also decreased by 0.5 days;

Lessons learned were also positive as the consultation time for step-down care for patients hiked, and the care was also being offered at an individual level, not collaboratively.

Using PDSA for Formal Evaluation of Processes

PDSA model is useful in most healthcare settings because leaders can easily understand and formally evaluate their processes. Besides, the cycle shows how changes are related to the planning stage to the action stage; thus, leaders can easily monitor the effectiveness of a particular change. For instance, PDSA is a crucial tool to improve the quality of outcome and patient safety, because all the activities involved in the suggested in the patient care plans can be monitored closely (Ragsdale & Mueller, 2005).

How PDSA Supports the Ability to Work with Stakeholders

In connection to the week 03 assignment analysis, PDSA is an essential metric because it shows both causal and correlational relationships, making the identification of problems in the patient care more straightforward (Murphy, 2013). Since the model is applicable to test the hypothesis, by predicting that a particular change would result in a specific result, moreover, the four stages of problem-solving as depicted in the tool, can encourage leaders to include the internal and external partners (stakeholders) as a measure of collecting an accurate data. The data may be used in the study stage, to either eliminate the non-value-added process and to improve the process that seems productive, after their implementation.

References

Murphy, J. I. (2013). Using plan do study act to transform a simulation centre. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 9(7), e257-e264. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876139912000461

Ragsdale, M. A., & Mueller, J. (2005). Plan, do, study, act model to improve an orientation program. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 20(3), 268-272. https://journals.lww.com/jncqjournal/Fulltext/2005/07000/Plan,_Do,_Study,_Act_Model_to_Improve_an.13.aspx