Significance of Healthcare Issue
Healthcare is the field that requires quality to be part of the service delivery, as clients are more focused on a patient-centered approach and using evidence-based practices when providing treatment to the patients. A standard intervention used by most nursing practitioners is a peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC), which is widely applied in the clinical sector. In Australia, most nurses in acute settings ignore the measurement and monitoring of the patientsâ PIVC, resulting in increased infection and signs of phlebitis, meaning that such an area requires quality improvement. This will entail improving on data as well as analytics which focuses on the choices of the patients as well as the decisions they will make regarding healthcare (Department of Health 2021). The primary focus priority of this particular issue is to ensure that there is the delivery of care in clinically recommended times. That is, to ensure that the registered nurses can provide quality care that is sustainable to the patients during their stay in the hospital. To ensure that quality remains the central concern of the healthcare organization, protocols must be established and ensure that nursing practitioners adhere to them without any compromise. There is the continued application of technology to ensure that PIVCs application in the healthcare sector is safe from being consumed (Platt & Osenkarski 2018). Continuous quality improvement will mean improved communication among the patients and the nurses, referrals, and priorities set in the clinical sector.
Economic Benefits of Quality Control in PIVC
By implementing the quality improvement policies and strategies in the healthcare setting, it is clear that patients will have to incur little costs when receiving care and that PIVC will be managed easily in the nursing centers. Having evidence-based practices in the organization will save a lot, especially when dealing with acute diseases and phlebitis. When aiming to treat the patient, it is always important to consider the costs associated with treatment. PIVCs are always required in various healthcare settings as the patients need them to deliver therapies, including food and drugs. There should always be regular review of the PIVC as well as the access is maintained during the cause of their usage Australian Commission on (Safety and Quality in Health Care 2021). Quality improvement, therefore, is a significant concern, and such should focus on the economic benefits.
When there is application of quality improvement program, it will be beneficial to the hospitals in various ways. Quality improvement will save the hospitals money which is spend on the purchasing of the anti-biotics when infections or phlebitis occur. As earlier noted, during the stay of the patients in hospitals, they always received PVIC, and such can be evidenced through the increased number of healthcare centers that are applying the same. Over one billion annual number of patients are always subjected to gallery (Ray-Barruel et al. 2019). There are various complications which are related with the application of PVIC, which include the conditions of the veins, the kinds of drugs that are being administered, and the length in which a particular patient is staying in the hospital.
This happens in the hospital settings because there are no quality measures in place to see how the PIVC is efficient in working. As a result, the hospitals will spend more cash on antibiotics when infections occur. Phlebitis is the most common risk which results from failure of PIVC, which is an inflammation that will cause the healthcare sector to cater for more costs. Such, in turn, affects the quality of healthcare services. Poor quality will be painful to the patients especially those suffering from the serious illness (Keogh et al. 2020, p. 4). When there is a quality improvement program, it is a clear indicator that there will be little problems that will be experienced during the stay of the patients in the hospitals.
Another economic benefit will be that it will prevent the origin of sepsis which is one of the evidence-based practices for insertion. Having a quality control program in the hospital setting will ensure that the PIVC is safe for use by patients. When the PVIC is well evaluated and assessed that it meets all the qualities to be used in the healthcare setting, it will help to reduce the rate at which the body is subjected to the infection. It is a consideration that should be given concern because cases of sepsis are life-threatening, and it is a medical emergency (Oh et al. 2020, p. 112). Having a focus on quality will ensure that the standards are met for it to be applied in the clinical setting.
Quality improvement in PIVC in the healthcare sector will help in addressing the issues of prolonged stay in the hospitals. Sometimes, the failure in PIVC results in an increased stay in the hospitals as the patients will have to receive specialized care due to failure in the PIVC. Having quality improvement to assess how the intervention is working will ensure that the period at which the patients will have to stay in the hospitals will be reduced. In most cases, when there is a failure in the intervention plan, it is a clear indicator that patients will have to stay longer as other methods will have to be applied when treating them. Such has impacts on the costs that a given single hospital will have to use when treating a patient (Ray-Barruel et al. 2018). The clinical sector will therefore have to incur more costs when dealing with a patient as they may purchase new anti-biotics as well as intervention plans that are applied.
Recomendation for Continuous Process Improvement
It is important to ensure that such issue is raised in the clinical setting, and such can be done through having authentic leadership. Therefore, a strategy will best work in this particular scenario. The best strategy that will be suitable for this scenario is through having a customer feedback program. In the customer feedback program, various information will be collected regarding the services that they were offered by an organization. Such will also be related to PIVC intervention (Yasuda et al. 2021). The main focus will be to improve the self-awareness skills, where the organization has to understand where it stands when it comes to the nurse-patient relationship.
Strategy to Raise Awareness
Focusing on patient feedback will play a crucial role in ensuring that the improvements are being sustained. Having patient-centered care that values feedback is important. Such will ensure that the healthcare organization is providing patient-centered care, which is a characteristic that is associated with quality improvement. Continued assessment will see the PIVC application in the treatment environment successful. The major reason is that most of the patients are based on the intervention services they get after a surgical process. It is, therefore, crucial to know what the patients feel to make any necessary adjustments and or improvements that will help the company remain on top of competition over time.
Reference List
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2021). Management of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters Clinical Care Standard. Web.
Department of Health (2021) Strategic Priorities 2021â23: Improving the Health and welllbeing of all Tasmanians. Web.
Keogh, S., Shelverton, C., Flynn, J., Mihala, G., Mathew, S., Davies, K.M., Marsh, N. and Rickard, C.M., 2020. âImplementation and evaluation of short peripheral intravenous catheter flushing guidelines: a stepped wedge cluster randomized trialâ, BMC medicine, 18(1), pp.1-11. Web.
Oh, J.H., Shelly, M., Nersinger, S., Cai, X. and Olsan, T., 2020. âImplementing clinical practice guidelines for replacing peripheral intravenous cathetersâ, Journal of nursing care quality, 35(2), pp.108-114. Web.
Platt, V., & Osenkarski, S. 2018. âImproving Vascular Access Outcomes and Enhancing Practiceâ, Journal of Infusion Nursing, 41(6), 375. Web.
Ray-Barruel, G., Cooke, M., Mitchell, M., Chopra, V. and Rickard, C.M., 2018. âImplementing the I-DECIDED clinical decision-making tool for peripheral intravenous catheter assessment and safe removal: protocol for an interrupted time-series studyâ, BMJ open, 8(6), p.e021290. Web.
Ray-Barruel, G., Xu, H., Marsh, N., Cooke, M. and Rickard, C.M., 2019. âEffectiveness of insertion and maintenance bundles in preventing peripheral intravenous catheter-related complications and bloodstream infection in hospital patients: a systematic reviewâ, Infection, disease & health, 24(3), pp.152-168. Web.
Yasuda, H., Yamamoto, R., Hayashi, Y., Kotani, Y., Kishihara, Y., Kondo, N., Sekine, K., Shime, N., Morikane, K., Abe, T. and Takebayashi, T., 2021. âOccurrence and incidence rate of peripheral intravascular catheter-related phlebitis and complications in critically ill patients: a prospective cohort study (AMOR-VENUS study)â, Journal of intensive care, 9(1), pp.1-12. Web.