Quality improvement project in respiratory care department management

Improvement of Human Resource Management in a Respiratory Care Center

When individuals play as a team they tend to achieve greater clinical and organizational outcomes in a healthcare institution like the respiratory care center. Clinical and financial improvements have been reported in cases where there has been teamwork between the healthcare team. Whenever there is an organizational breakdown, the departments in any organization can conspire to sabotage each other and this hampers the progress of any care giving institution (Hoff 2004).

Overall patient care is achieved whenever there is total cooperation and teamwork between the workers, this is because each worker works with only one sole aim and that is to meet the needs of the patient. In such a case the main goal is to achieve an improved respiratory care. Teamwork exist in two levels in any respiratory care center, the first instance is when there is cooperation between the patients and the care providers themselves, the other instance is when there is cooperation between a worker and the fellow worker. A good example is when care givers perform respiratory therapy to a patient, the care giver shares with the patient any change in their health status be it an improvement or deterioration.

Teamwork in patient care can occur when the therapist in charge effectively discharges his or her duties the physician in charge. In such cases each team member plays a very significant part in the provision of the overall care management, in other words working as a team improves the ability of the care providers and other nurses to render high quality care to the clients (Baker 2005).

Process mapping

Process mapping ensures that there is total utilization of time and energy. In essence it brings about actual improvement in the organization

In a set up like the one for the respiratory care center, the provision of services can be very complicated; therefore every team member's contribution is required to achieve the desired goals. Process mapping has the following advantages;

The whole understanding and completion of the process is achieved

The areas that needs improvement are highlighted

It determines which process is the best

The steps to be followed are clearly stated (process map)

Among the specific benefits of process mapping include:

i) It enables the team members to know the actual condition on the ground rather than what they were thinking

ii) It enables the team members to focus on the end results. It places more emphasis on the patient satisfaction.

iii) It explores the relationships between the workers within an organization and the patients

iv) Gives chance to every care provider to exercise his or her duty

v) It specifies the responsibilities of the individual care providers

Six sigma philosophy

A key way to improve quality in a respiratory care center is by use of the six sigma philosophy. The philosophy is known to reduce errors by bringing down the variations in the particular processes that lead to defects. Six sigma philosophies rely strongly on analysis o f statistical data. When the six sigma are achieved the failure rate is greatly reduced.

When six sigma philosophies are applied successfully it helps greatly in the reduction of cost and improves service provision by a given organization. In this case it improves employee quality and performance. It can also improve the retention ability (Gagnon 1998).

In respiratory care collaboration between workers is a continuous process since the workers strive to provide care the respiratory patients.

Collaboration also comes with a variety of obstacles. The hierarchical culture of the respiratory care is the most prominent obstacle. Entrenched attitudes about scopes of practice, professional "turf" and historical power structures can sabotage the essence of what teamwork is. Providers need to address their personal power issues, adopt common goals, break down hierarchies and then educate patients about how each team member contributes to their care (Baker 2005).

Formidable barriers that arise out of this culture include the self-regulation of professions, current malpractice and liability laws and funding and remuneration models. All these discourage and deter the establishment of teams. For instance, current malpractice legislation places responsibility solely on individuals. Regulations that support teamwork, on the other hand, would refocus this "culture of blame" to a culture of patient safety and risk management. Much work needs to be done to clarify the accountability for non-physician team members in performing shared tasks. As for remuneration models, traditional fee-for-service payment systems for physicians impede movement toward collaborative care. What is more, no financial incentives exist that tie funding to collaboration and teamwork efforts, unlike initiatives in other countries such as England.

Respiratory care improvement

The main aims of respiratory care quality improvement include;

Effectiveness

Safety

It is patient oriented

Efficiency

Timeliness

Accountability in respiratory care

Accountability involves the processes whereby an individual takes responsibility of his or her actions. There are several models of accountability that can be applied in respiratory care organizations. These models include:

Economic model

Professional model

Political model

A single model may not be appropriate to guide the patient- physician relationship. The most important step that has to be taken to maintain accountability is the elimination of arrogance within the respiratory care providers. Many patients are suffering because of the arrogance of those who are supposed to be caring for them.