Essentials For Quality And Safety Improvement In Health Care

Patient safety and quality improvement in health care remain a global priority. Subpar performance in health care, however, is still common more than a decade after the christening of patient safety in Africa. The core principle of safety and quality improvement systems is to identify and assess the root cause of failures in order to learn from them and devise a means to improve and to avoid recurrence. This book is designed to encourage, facilitate and empower healthcare workers in the development and implementation of strategically driven patient safety and quality improvement initiatives for safer healthcare systems and healthcare facilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Africa. It also highlights some of the profound challenges and barriers to designing and implementing patient safety and quality improvement interventions or programmes in the region and reiterates the need to remain focused and determined to work out solutions with confidence and overcome these barriers. In the book, chapters highlight six essential components crucial for achieving evolutionary progress in safety and quality improvement in a healthcare system: Standard operating procedure Audit Research Safety management Quality management Evaluation Practical steps in planning and conducting these six essential components are outlined with some specific features to aid learning and facilitate their implementation. The authors have experience and expertise in the medical practice gained in Africa and a decade of knowledge and experience from consultancy work in safety and quality improvement in health care within and outside the region. Essentials for Quality and Safety Improvement in Health Care: A Resource for Developing Countries is authored for both medical professionals and those from other professions who are interested in and enthusiastic about patient safety and healthcare quality and therefore willing to build a career in this field. It is relevant to all health institutions, health and non-health workers, and can be used as a checklist while rendering quality and safe health care.

This text uses a case-based approach to share knowledge and techniques on how to operationalize much of the theoretical underpinnings of hospital quality and safety. Written and edited by leaders in healthcare, education, and engineering, these 22 chapters provide insights as to where the field of improvement and safety science is with regards to the views and aspirations of healthcare advocates and patients. Each chapter also includes vignettes to further solidify the theoretical underpinnings and drive home learning. End of chapter commentary by the editors highlight important concepts and connections between various chapters in the text. Patient Safety and Quality Improvement in Healthcare: A Case-Based Approach presents a novel approach towards hospital safety and quality with the goal to help healthcare providers reach zero harm within their organizations.

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

Building on the revolutionary Institute of Medicine reports To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm, Keeping Patients Safe lays out guidelines for improving patient safety by changing nurses' working conditions and demands. Licensed nurses and unlicensed nursing assistants are critical participants in our national effort to protect patients from health care errors. The nature of the activities nurses typically perform â€" monitoring patients, educating home caretakers, performing treatments, and rescuing patients who are in crisis â€" provides an indispensable resource in detecting and remedying error-producing defects in the U.S. health care system. During the past two decades, substantial changes have been made in the organization and delivery of health care â€" and consequently in the job description and work environment of nurses. As patients are increasingly cared for as outpatients, nurses in hospitals and nursing homes deal with greater severity of illness. Problems in management practices, employee deployment, work and workspace design, and the basic safety culture of health care organizations place patients at further risk. This newest edition in the groundbreaking Institute of Medicine Quality Chasm series discusses the key aspects of the work environment for nurses and reviews the potential improvements in working conditions that are likely to have an impact on patient safety.

The Health Care Data Guide is designed to help students and professionals build a skill set specific to using data for improvement of health care processes and systems. Even experienced data users will find valuable resources among the tools and cases that enrich The Health Care Data Guide. Practical and step-by-step, this book spotlights statistical process control (SPC) and develops a philosophy, a strategy, and a set of methods for ongoing improvement to yield better outcomes. Provost and Murray reveal how to put SPC into practice for a wide range of applications including evaluating current process performance, searching for ideas for and determining evidence of improvement, and tracking and documenting sustainability of improvement. A comprehensive overview of graphical methods in SPC includes Shewhart charts, run charts, frequency plots, Pareto analysis, and scatter diagrams. Other topics include stratification and rational sub-grouping of data and methods to help predict performance of processes. Illustrative examples and case studies encourage users to evaluate their knowledge and skills interactively and provide opportunity to develop additional skills and confidence in displaying and interpreting data. Companion Web site: www.josseybass.com/go/provost

Concise, portable, and user-friendly, The Washington Manual® of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement covers essential information in every area of this complex field. With a focus on improving systems and processes, preventing errors, and promoting transparency, this practical reference provides an overview of PS/QI fundamentals, as well as insight into how these principles apply to a variety of clinical settings. Part of the popular Washington Manual® series, this unique volume provides the knowledge and skills necessary for an effective, proactive approach to patient safety and quality improvement.