The Process of Continuous Improvement

The Process of Continuous Improvement
The continuous improvement process is a practical approach to enhance patient experiences in healthcare settings. Implementing continuous improvement culture in the healthcare organization is an increasingly complex and multifaceted task that requires investments, persistence, and commitment. From the perspectives of better patient experiences to staff satisfaction improvements, implementing well-established and proven continuous improvement approaches constitutes a feasible opportunity for hospital-wide changes (Guler, 2017). The primary objective of continuous improvement efforts to realize operational excellence – creating a working methodology to ensure delivery of effective and efficient care by routinely utilizing continuous improvement approaches (Burrill et al., 2019). It is a concept tailored to deliver care safety and quality improvements through routine, ongoing improvement methodologies owned and driven by frontline healthcare staff. In addition, implementation of the continuous improvement process requires complete support from the whole hospital and board, by ongoing and specialized training, and, when necessary, by external supporters and facilitators.
The continuous improvement process is important in enabling hospitals to establish problems within its processes and systems, and empower and encourage healthcare professionals to point out the key causes and develop as well as execute solutions to address them (Burrill et al., 2019). Achieving continuous improvement objectives requires a culture shift. It is a learning process for the hospital to establish ways to improve constantly by being self-critical and self-analytical. Regarding patient experience improvement, culture change is a key priority for the healthcare organization. For example, an organization should master employee culture before implementing tactics or practices of patient experience interactions, including hourly rounding (Guler, 2017). In this vein, instituting a culture of sustained excellence in patient experiences might require hiring employees with team- and service-oriented perspectives to support their clinical competencies.
As a nurse administrator, I will use this knowledge to implement a culture that supports continuous improvement. Noteworthy, continuous improvement efforts create an emergent culture to replace the existing systems and philosophies with innovative techniques, tools, and behaviors tailored to ensure patient experience improvements (Guler, 2017). I will use this knowledge to support healthcare workers in establishing and solving challenges related to implementing a new culture. In the preceding discussion, it was established that a change in organizational culture does not always come easily. A nurse administrator should design training and mentorship programs to equip frontline staff and nurse managers with the necessary skills to operate within the new system. It is necessary to ensure employees have the right discipline to work over extended timescales and sustain the new ways of working. In addition, I will use this knowledge to enhance patient experiences by capturing direct accounts and comments from patients and their families (Guler, 2017). Nurse administrators must lead ...