Importance of the Patient and Staff Satisfaction (PASS) Committee - Essay Example

Importance of the Patient and Staff Satisfaction (PASS) Committee The opportunity to work with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) means that nurses have greater resources in researching for best evidence-based practices in order to upgrade the care provided to patients who rely on us to keep them healthy. There are always new ways being found to help with clinical processes and making them more efficient as well as determining better health solutions for patients who may have a myriad of problems (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt 2011).

As part of providing better practices to patients, the establishment of the Patient and Staff Satisfaction (PASS) Committee through which practices are examined and critiqued for improvement if needed. This includes conducting reviews of case studies from the nurses who have attended patients and how they were able to provide solutions, or if there was an area that needed improving, such as how research was conducted to find the best solution (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber 2013; Webb 2011). It is important for nurses to know how to conduct research and what tools are available for them to do so.

This includes using medical library databases such as Cochrane and MEDLINE/PubMed, a resource division of the National Institute of Health (NIH). There are a host of clinical trial results listed within MEDLINE, for example, which would provide numerous amounts of information on what is working in terms of medicines and processes during treatment tests, including the criteria of variables in analyses. TOXNET is the Toxicology Data Network which concentrates on toxicology of hazardous materials and environmental health and what diseases might occur from such exposures (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt 2011; Webb 2011).

Nursing students should be taught early on in their education how to research medical issues and practices so that they are well-trained by the time they get into a practice situation. They should also know how to conduct analyses of data and be able to interpret the data they get in order to fully understand the research data they might get if conducting their own clinical trial. At the very least, they can access other trials and do their own work based on a hypothesis they might have developed while reviewing clinical trials.

While a trial might have presented a certain outcome, based on its own original hypothesis, nurses can also do their own work over a number of trials to come up with new information that might not have been captured before (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt 2011). This can include a new dosage of a medicine that was in trial, or a different procedure in delivering the medicine. The field of information in medicine is available to be worked on and massaged for new outcomes, including the impetus for conducting new clinical trials, based on collective research.

The more a nurse knows about research and analysis, the faster she or he can work and do his or her own research which, in turn, helps the medical community overall. Even new theories in nursing may be developed as these are constantly being used and developed further to accommodate new practices (McEwen & Wills 2010; Webb 2011). The reality, in fact, is that if a nurse does not have these skills, then there may not be room for advancement in the art of nursing and certainly, for providing patients with the best and latest findings in the medical field to help them live a better life.

Resources LoBiondo-Wood, G, & Haber, J. (2013). Nursing Research: Methods and Critical Appraisal for Evidence-Based Practice (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Mosby McEwen, M., & Wills, E.M. (2010). Theoretical Basis for Nursing, (3rd ed.). Dallas, TX: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Melnyk, B.M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2011). Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing & Healthcare (2nd ed.). Baltimore, MD: Wolters Kluwer Health. Webb, J.J. (2011) Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice. Chapter 6.

In Cherry, B. & Jacob, S.R. (Eds.), Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends & Management (5th ed.), (pp. 104-124). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Mosby. Available at http://www.coursewareobjects.com/objects/evolve/E2/book_pages/cherry/pdf/SAMPLE.pdf