Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care - Essay Example

"Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care" is a marvellous example of a paper on the health system.
Continuous quality improvement (CQI) is a process that helps ensure the intentional and systematic improvement of services and programs so that positive outcomes for the communities served are maximized. CQI is a proactive, data-driven, and cyclical process in nature.

Risk management, as the name implies, is the management of risk. This involves assessment of risk and taking measures in advance and in time so that not only the risks can be deterred but also the threats can be transformed into opportunities.

American Nurses Association (ANA) standards are a set of principles, guidelines, and policies established by ANA. The purpose is to elevate the nursing profession by establishing priorities and values for the registered nurses. Through its standards, ANA provides nurses with direction, influences legislation, and evaluates nursing excellence by implementing a framework (ANA, 2015).

Joint Commission standards form the basis of an objective process of evaluation meant to assist healthcare organizations in the evaluation and improvement of performance. The focus of Joint Commission standards is on important care and organizational functions which are fundamental to the delivery of efficient and safe care (The Joint Commission, 2015).

Outcome Assessment Information Set (OASIS) is a group of standard elements of data that have been created, evaluated, and modified over the last two decades by means of an extensive program of research and demonstration. “The OASIS data elements are designed to enable systematic comparative measurement of home health care patient outcomes at two points in time in adult skilled Medicare and Medicaid, non-maternity home health care patients” (Ohio Department of Health, 2010).

Describe two cultural differences that you may have encountered in your nursing practice. Where did you obtain the information that allowed you to provide culturally competent nursing care for your patient?

Once I was nursing an immigrant patient from India. He had freshly become a permanent resident of the US. The doctor told the patient to visit him two days later at a certain time in the day. Two days later, the patient arrived at the clinic two hours later than the assigned time. When I asked him why was he so late and if he needed assistance with anything, he told me that he had expected there to be a long queue of patients and he had been late to avoid the wait. He said that had a doctor in India told him a certain time for the meeting, it would have meant two hours later than the assigned time. The patient probably had some tiring experience of a wait at a private clinic in India. His meeting with the doctor was rescheduled as the doctor had gone that day.

In another case, I met a middle-aged man who had arrived for cosmetic surgery. When asked if he had brought any relative or family member for emotional support and care before, during, and after the surgery, he said that he had not revealed it to anybody that he was going to have the surgery. I did some search online and reached the conclusion that men particularly feel shy being discovered if they are heading for surgery. They think that people would judge them for their looks’ consciousness. I consoled the patient and reassured that the healthcare centre would maintain complete privacy for him as he had so desired.