Introduction
Quality in nursing and health care is one of the most fundamental concepts. Though it is frequently compared with safety and positive outcomes, it is wrong to search for similarities or contradictions of all these issues in order to grasp their essence. Quality is a complex and multidimensional aspect that has to be characterized by a number of organizational improvements and assessments (Coleman, 2015). Nurses are usually aware of the importance of high-quality services. They are involved in numerous activities the aim of which is to improve quality, recognize strong and weak aspects, and offer the best level of care. Professional nursing and quality improvement are two interrelated concepts that will be discussed in this paper.
Roles of Professional Nurses in Quality Improvement
The role of professional nurses in quality improvement cannot be ignored. Coleman (2015) states that modern nurses are well prepared and educated to understand their responsibilities and affect organizational changes. Their roles in quality improvement may vary depending on their background knowledge, practical experience, duties, and even personal desire to participate in certain activities. In the investigation developed by Coleman (2015), the necessity to understand what may define quality care is mentioned, proving that it should be discussed “within a local and national context as they [nurses] formulate action plans for improvement” (p. 262). Therefore, one of the main roles of professional nurses in quality improvement is to introduce action plan and make sure that every medical worker within a facility follow it.
Active participation and leadership are also important issues for performance excellence. It is not enough for a nurse to know how to improve the quality of care. This person has to be prepared to promote care with all its characteristics like team-orientation, patient-centeredness, and comprehensiveness, explain other members of a team how to achieve success, and support those who face challenges or need additional assessments (Coleman, 2015). Therefore, it is suggested not only to gain some skills and use them all the time, but pay more attention to lifelong learning and the possibility to discover new aspects of health and nursing care.
Improving Nursing Quality in the Healthcare Setting
Nursing quality in healthcare settings has to be regularly evaluated and improved. For example, many organizations demonstrate regular failures in their intentions to promote organizational change projects because of poorly developed implementation attempts (Coleman, 2015). In fact, success in improving the quality of health care depends on how well nurses and other stakeholders develop their plans and explain their steps (Hood, 2014). When people know what they have to do and why, they have more chances to achieve success.
Other approaches to improve quality include self-assessment and information categorization. In some organizations, much time is required to promote change and improvement. Some facilities are able to cope quickly and prove their experience and knowledge. Communication, evaluation, and hard work are the keys to positive changes in health care.
Conclusion
In general, quality improvement in healthcare settings is an important aspect that cannot be ignored either by nurses or other medical workers. The level of knowledge and practice make nurses responsible for numerous organizational changes in their settings that lead to quality improvement. Though nurses can lead and motivate people, presenting new ideas and taking new steps, they may also need additional help and support. The improvement of nursing quality depends on how well they develop action plans and communicate all changes.
References
Coleman, C. (2015). Stimulating a culture of improvement: Introducing an integrated quality tool for organizational self-assessment. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 19(3), 261-264.
Hood, L. (2014). Leddy & Pepper’s conceptual bases of professional nursing (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven Publishers.