Here’s a true story that says a lot about the perception of quality in the United States:
IBM decided to have some of their computer parts manufactured in Japan. In the contract, IBM stated that they would accept three defective parts out of ten thousand. When the parts were delivered from Japan, they arrived with a letter. It said, “In Japan, we have a hard time understanding American business practices. But, the three defective parts you ordered have been manufactured separately and are included with your regular order. We hope this pleases you.”
So, how do the CNAs perceive quality at your workplace? Here are some basics that you might want to cover with them at your next inservice meeting:
What Is Quality?
Quality is doing the right things to the right people at the right time…and doing things right the first time.
Quality saves money. Doing things right the first time requires less money than having to deal with the consequences of poor client care.
Quality means doing the right things right. When each employee strives for 100% quality, everyone benefits.
Quality focuses on the results of your client care—not just on getting the care done.
Quality is everyone’s responsibility. (It’s possible to measure quality so that every health care worker understands what “good care” means.)
What Are the Benefits of QI?
Have you ever heard the saying, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it”? So why bother trying to improve when the quality of care may already be good? Health care organizations that focus continuously on quality benefit in many ways:
- The clients receive the best possible care.
- The employees have a clean and safe workplace.
- Problems can be identified and solved before they become serious or widespread.
- Staff members from different departments work together to solve problems.
- The organization avoids wasting resources…including supplies, money and employee’s time.
- Surveys from the state or from JCAHO are less stressful because meeting (or exceeding) standards is a way of life for every employee.
- The workplace gains a positive image in the community.
And Remember…
In health care, quality can’t always be measured by how quickly clients get well. No matter how hard they try, health care workers are never in complete control over their clients’ health status.
For example, hospice employees care for people who are dying. It would be unfair to measure the quality of hospice care based on how many clients get well and go home! Instead, there need to be other measurements such as: Is spiritual counseling offered to every hospice client and his family? How many clients at the hospice die free from pain?
The methods for measuring quality vary somewhat from one health care workplace to another.
Spending a lot of money on client care does not guarantee good quality. Poor client care can be just as expensive—if not more so—as quality improvement programs. Think about it. It can cost up to $30 thousand to heal just one bed sore. And, if a client falls and breaks a hip, it can cost up to $35 thousand! Preventing these problems would cost much, much less.
Changing the way things are done does not necessarily mean the old way was “wrong”. It could mean that a QI team at your workplace has come up with a better way to do something…or an easier way…or a quicker way…or a cheaper way. There’s always a reason for change. If you’re not sure what that reason is…ask!
Quality improvement is the responsibility of every employee. Even if a workplace has a special QI nurse or a large QI committee, all employees are still responsible for doing their part to improve quality of care.
Get Excited about Quality Improvement
Share the results of any quality improvement studies for your workplace with your nursing assistants.
Suggest that some of your CNAs volunteer for the QI committee at your workplace.
Remind all your CNAs that they are the experts at the tasks they perform every day. If they see ways to make their job—or their client care—better, it is their responsibility to share their ideas.
For more information about quality improvement, please check out our inservice, Understanding Quality Improvement.
Happy Teaching!
Linda
