Post a brief explanation of how you would identify a quality improvement practice gap in your practice or organization. Describe a potential quality improvement practice gap you might use for your DNP project, and explain why. Then, explain at least two types of tools and/or methods you might use to address this quality improvement practice gap, and explain why. Be specific and provide examples.
Patient satisfaction surveys are excellent ways to determine issues that need to be addressed at a hospital for improvement-
Can you be specific as to a gap in practice that needs to be addressed- what is one for your DNP project? please explain and tools/ methods to address this specific gap
Original paper
Identification of Quality Improvement Practice Gap
A quality improvement practice gap could be identified by looking at the existing deficiencies within the organization. Such is done by looking at areas where the organization does not excel and needs improvement. A quality improvement practice gap could be identified using a different rate-based quality measure. In my DNP project, patient satisfaction scores could be essential in determining a quality improvement practice gap. Patient satisfaction scores measure a patient’s level of satisfaction with the treatment and care received from a specific hospital (Lu et al., 2020). High patient satisfaction rates could indicate that they get efficient, high-quality treatment and care that meets their expectations. In addition, higher patient satisfaction rates have been linked to enhanced clinical outcomes, including decreased mortality and hospitalization rates. A lower patient satisfaction score would mean a quality improvement practice gap exists.
Patient satisfaction impacts patient retention and clinical results (Backhouse & Ogunlayi, 2020). It affects the functional, patient-centered delivery of quality care. Patient satisfaction is among the most effective ways of measuring hospitals’ and nurses’ success. Patients’ satisfaction offers insight into the psychosocial area of care (Backhouse & Ogunlayi, 2020). Patients expect instant access to care. Though, the expectation for a quick response to patients enhanced frequent rounding. Moreover, the desire to meet the patient’s needs through quick responses could overshadow efficient and safe care. Though patient satisfaction is essential, patient safety is more important than satisfying a patient’s request, mainly when the request is harmful and unnecessary and does not focus on the healthcare plan.
Various methods would be used to conduct a gap analysis of the organization. A gap analysis will be used to examine the current quality of care. Such will be done to determine if it meets the patient’s expectations. In addition, the gap between the current goals and set expectations would be significant in determining the quality improvement practice gap (Gibson-Helm et al., 2018). The patient satisfaction scores would decide if the set expectations have been met. Lower patient satisfaction scores would indicate a lack of improvement in the patient’s expectations.
In addition to that, The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems would also be an essential tool in addressing the quality improvement practice gap (Gibson-Helm et al., 2018). The tool gives benchmark information on patient satisfaction scores in different areas of care, like communication with doctors and nurses, the hospital’s quietness and cleanliness, and how the hospital staff responds to care. When looking at the patient satisfaction scores, both the percentile ranking and the actual score are valuable (Lu et al., 2020). Ranking the hospital against different hospitals based on the patient’s satisfaction score would help assess how the hospital performs against others in meeting the patient’s expectations. With such, it would be easier to identify the magnitude of the quality improvement practice gap and what is required to fix it to ensure patients are satisfied with the level of care.
The patient satisfaction score would also help determine the impact of the measures in solving the quality improvement practice gap (Lu et al., 2020). With the measure’s implementation, patient satisfaction scores need to increase. An increase in patient satisfaction scores would indicate that deficiencies in care provision have been rectified.
Finally, patients and nurses are essential stakeholders in the proposed change. Nurses would need to adhere to the new reporting timelines. On the other hand, the patient would benefit from enhanced quality of care and services. The patients would also be involved more in their choice of care services and treatment. The organization’s leaders and management would also benefit from the project since such improved care would improve nursing staff efficiency, reducing errors and thus leading to a reduced threat of legal action.
Additional information
The PDSA model is another QI tool that you could use to address this practice gap. According to Christoff (2018), one step in the PDSA prompts the other until the cycle is completed and another cycle is repeated. Additionally, learning done from one cycle informs the other for improvement. Your goal is to increase patient satisfaction. Applying the PDSA model would first begin by planning the strategies to implement to improve patient satisfaction, and if the results are desirable, then action is taken. If patient satisfaction is not achieved to the levels that you want, the cycle is repeated again, taking note of the errors and mistakes in the first cycle and improving on them for optimal outcomes.
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