Workflow Issue Needs Assessment

Workflow Needs Assessment: Postpartum Discharge The goals for this needs assessment endeavor will include determining the primary causes of slowdowns in discharge proceedings for postpartum patients and newborns, determining methods by which these causes can be avoided or their effects mitigated, and determining what effect these changes would have both on the individual patients and on the overall functionality and operation of the maternity ward and the hospital as a whole.

Understanding the current capabilities of the system as designed and the feasible level of re-design and differentiated/innovated processes, software, etc. that can be utilized in achieving the desired changes will form a secondary part of the needs assessment's goals. By fulfilling these goals, an effective new system of discharging postpartum patients and their newborn children can be developed and ultimately implemented, increasing efficiency.

Data Collection Methods and Environment Direct observation is as straightforward and simple a means of data collection as it sounds: it consists of watching a process/action/person/etc. And taking systematic records of what occurs (NOAA 2011). This method is desirable in this situation as it allows for the gathering of information form a multitude of perspectives without requiring different theoretical frameworks or detailed understandings of the observed roles prior to the observation.

Instead, the simple and direct recording of empirical data can occur, and a fresh perspective that unifies the roles of nurses, physicians, and patients in the discharge process can be achieved. Interviews are another data collection method that can be especially useful in this needs assessment, as this methodology will allow for a more in-depth understanding of the experiences, needs, and desires of the main stakeholders in the discharge process through open-ended though perhaps leading questions (NOAA 2011).

Interview techniques have been specifically recommended by some researchers as tools that can be sued to aid in the ongoing self-modification of healthcare organizations, so as to provide greater efficiencies and qualities of care (Browne et al. 2004). This provides an even stronger incentive for the utilization of this methodology in the data collection process, as there is strong evidence in previous research that this technique can be useful for solving workflow-issues in a goal-focused manner in healthcare organizations in particular, making it highly applicable (Browne et al. 2004).

The environment in which the data collection will take place is he maternity ward and, to a limited extent, certain individuals occupying key roles outside the maternity ward in a mid-sized hospital facility.

The vast majority of the individuals observed and interviewed, including patients, are expected to be college educated -- this will necessarily be true of all physicians, nurses, and administrators observed and interviewed -- though experience levels with the specific discharge procedures in the maternity ward are expected to vary substantially not only between patients and other groups, but also within nurse, physician, and administrator groups.

It is expected that at least thirty and possibly closer to fifty individuals in total will be observed and/or interviewed during the entire needs assessment process. Plan and Implementation Observation will begin in a centrally-located area, such the main nursing desk in the maternity ward.

Throughout the observation, it will be important to remember the importance of all team members and stakeholders that are involved in the discharge procedures and processes following a delivery and subsequent monitoring, so only with such an overview observation and understanding will meaningful change be achievable (Adler 2007). The researcher will be positioned so as to remain as unobtrusive as possible, while allowing for clear observation of conversations regarding discharge, computer communication or data-entering processes that occur as part of the discharge process, etc.

Specific observations and interviews will be conducted in patient rooms (with permission and as appropriate), with physicians, and with administrators that are affected by discharge rates. The design of the data collection instruments will be rather loose and open-ended very much on purpose, as a way of letting the specific needs that actually exist in the situation come to the foreground without preconceived notions getting in the way.

After observations have been made and the preliminary data has been collected, the creation of certain charts, graphs, and value stream maps can help to quantify and clarify the information, presenting it in more useful and conclusive manners (AHRQ 2011). This will establish the basic trends and architectures in place that have an impact on postpartum discharge procedures, and will hopefully provide potential methods for improvement in identified needs areas.

In order to conduct this research and the necessary observations and interviews in a way that is minimally disruptive to the work going on, approval will be gained well in advance for the reasonable places of observation and interview times, and questions will not be asked during observational periods unless there is a clear lull in activity. The needs assessment project will be openly explained to the workers being observed, as such explanation should not create any significant or meaningful bias in the collected data or its interpretation.

In order to further ensure that bias does not enter into either the data collection or.