Continuous quality improvement (CQI) is a managerial philosophy employed by organizations in an ongoing process that aims to improve their operations. One of the most significant problems in the healthcare industry is the need for finding successful methods of reducing medical errors (McFadden et al., 2015). While frequent accreditation has been cited as a detriment to innovation in nursing practices, it can, in fact, foster innovative change (Halstead, 2020). CQI initiatives are, on the whole, linked to an improvement in process quality and are thus vital when addressing the problems faced by the health care industry (McFadden et al., 2015). Studies report that conducting continuous quality improvement programs in the health care industry largely falls under the purview of nurses, and to a smaller extent, therapists (Mazur et al., 2015). Thus, the implementation and overview of CQI programs should be formally under the purview of all nurses.
In the past, I was once employed in a hospital ward where both myself and other medical staff, most especially the nurses, had safety and quality concerns. Implementing a formal continuous quality improvement program would have allowed for these concerns to be reported, and addressed and for subsequent improvements to be made. One of the most significant causes of concern and error was caused by performance issues, such as suboptimal communications, brought on by a lack of apparent oversight. A CQI program addressing the oftentimes lacking instructions would have ameliorated the problem considerably. This assumption is supported by evidence from other studies that clearly show how implementing a continuous quality improvement program leads to improvements in patient safety culture (Mazur et al., 2015). Furthermore, implementing ongoing quality improvement programs has an overall positive effect on perceptions of the culture of patient safety (Mazur et al., 2015). It is evident that implementing a CQI program would have been a great aid to all the nurses on the ward.
References
Halstead, J. (2020). Fostering innovation in nursing education: The role of accreditation. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 15(1), A4-A5. Web.
Mazur, L., Chera, B., Mosaly, P., Taylor, K., Tracton, G., Johnson, K., Comitz, E., Adams, R., Pooya, P., Ivy, J., Rockwell, J. & Marks, L. B. (2015). The association between event learning and continuous quality improvement programs and a culture of patient safety. Practical Radiation Oncology, 5(5), 286-294. Web.
McFadden, K. L., Stock, G. N. & Gowen III, C. R. (2015). Leadership, safety climate, and continuous quality improvement: impact on process quality and patient safety. Health Care Management Review, 40(1), 24-34. Web.