Sensitive Quality Indicators - Essay Sample

Introduction

In clinical setups, delivery of services is often accompanied by evaluating the effectiveness of the approaches used. Several approaches have been designed to help in evaluating the effectiveness of clinical procedures. Some of the approaches might be more specific to a specific situation. Nurses need to understand all the procedures and measures used to evaluate outcomes in healthcare facilities. In addition to these, nurse leaders have the mandate to educate new nurses on the evaluation procedures. Doing this helps in creating uniformity in workplaces and thus improving outcomes. Due to the importance of evaluating outcomes in clinical setups, there is a need to discuss nursing-sensitive quality indicators, why it is important to use the indicators, and how data is gathered and analyzed to evaluate outcomes.

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Sensitive Quality Indicators

NSIs are processes used in clinical setups to evaluate the effectiveness of specific processes by rating the outcomes. These measures were developed to improve the standard of services in healthcare facilities and thus improve the community's well-being. NDNQI is a database containing all the indicators used by nurses and other professionals to evaluate outcomes (Waugh & Bergquist-Beringer, 2020). The source containing all the indicators is managed by the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) in association with the American Nurses Association. KUMC is a nursing school that has a good reputation in the country. The indicator selected for the study is patient satisfaction after pain management. It is essential to monitor the indicator as it helps understand the standard of services offered in the patient's perspective. The information obtained during the evaluation helps in spotting the practices that could impact the patients negatively. Nurses need to be aware of this indicator while providing care to the patient. Understanding the indicator helps in designing a care program that will effectively address the patient's condition. The approach provides the basis of patient-centered care.

Collection and Distribution of Quality Indicator Data

Measuring the effectiveness of clinical procedures starts with data collection. The method used to collect data often differs depending on the indication in use. During the interview, the nurse explained that surveys are used to collect data for the indicator. After a pain management procedure, patients are voluntarily allowed to undertake a short interview, which helps in understanding the effectiveness of the approaches used. If the approaches were ineffective, then different techniques might be considered (Meng et al., 2018). According to the nurse, after the data is collected, nurse leaders have to analyze it before disseminating the results to the staff. Dissemination is done through official procedures such as direct emails to the respective departments and memos. The whole process is carried out by nurses at different levels. Nurses in their departments have to collect the data and transmit it to a panel of nurses, including nurse leaders and nurse informatics professionals. The panel is involved in data analysis and making essential decisions. Accurate data entering is essential. A mistake in data entering and dissemination can affect the quality improvement processes and affect pain management procedures.

Conclusion

Quality improvement is an essential process in clinical setups. Improving the quality of services offered to clients is guided by the data collected after service delivery. The interview with the nurse revealed the stages of data collection, decision making, dissemination, and enactment of quality improvement measures. New nurses need to understand these procedures to help them in delivering standard care to the patients.

References

Meng, R., Li, J., Zhang, Y., Yu, Y., Luo, Y., & Liu, X. et al. (2018). Evaluation of Patient and Medical Staff Satisfaction regarding Healthcare Services in Wuhan Public Hospitals. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 15(4), 769.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15040769

Waugh, S., & Bergquist-Beringer, S. (2020). Methods and Processes Used to Collect Pressure Injury Risk and Prevention Measures in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators® (NDNQI®). Journal Of Nursing Care Quality, 35(2), 182-188.
https://doi.org/10.1097/ncq.0000000000000428.