One of the quality improvement strategies that can assist in providing timely care is Plan-do-study-Act. This tool is designed to accomplish real-world change through a cycle of improvements in practice. The process can help workers commit to different actions to reduce time in the emergency department and other areas to ease patient care. According to a study by Cartwright et al. (2017), the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) can provide a significant improvement in patient care timelines devoid of additional resourcing. The strategy is crucial in impacting and evaluating change, mainly achieved through recurrent but small PDSAs before embarking on making changes to the systems. PDSAs investigate the nature of the issue, determines necessary changes to solve the issue and select necessary resources and evaluation metrics to be used. After the change is implemented, data is collected, and an assessment is done to monitor the process for success or failure. This is followed by actions geared towards improving the outcomes by restarting the process or making necessary changes. PDSA is one of the quality improvement tools that my organization is utilizing.
The second methodology that can be used to solve the issue of delayed care is six Sigma. This tool involves enhancing, creating, and monitoring processes to eradicate or minimize waste while optimizing satisfaction and improving financial stability. Six sigma can evaluate the outcomes, and defects and predict the performance of a particular process. One of the six Sigma main phases is the define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) technique (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2020). Six Sigma process identifies the process, reviews historical data, and provides a scope of expectations. This is followed by identifying a set of quality standards to start and maintain a new process. Finally, the new process’s implementation is monitored, and changes are recorded for correction and assessment of validity and success.
References
Cartwright, L., McGill, D., Tjong, R., Hollis, G., Tan, R., Coombes, L., & Marley, P. (2017). Use of plan do study act cycle to enhance timely care for patients presenting to the emergency department for cardiac implantable device interrogation. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 26, S282.
Zerwekh, J. G., & Garneau, A. Z. (2020). Nursing Today: Transition and Trends (10th ed.). Mosby.