The Importance of Patient Satisfaction, Essay Example

Identify two nurse-sensitive indicators of quality relevant to your practice setting and analyze the influence of early quality improvement theories and philosophies on the development of those indicators.

I work for a health care agency; within this setting we provide a variety of services. One of our specialty services is home health care which includes monitoring serious illness and unstable health status, intravenous or nutrition therapy, wound care for pressure sores or a surgical wound, patient and caregiver education, injections and much more. We provide home care services for pediatrics, adolescents, young adults and the elderly with a variety of ailments and chronic health conditions. The two nurse-sensitive indicators currently being monitored in my practice setting are patient falls with and without injury and patient satisfaction with overall care. These two nurse-sensitive indicators of quality have been influenced since Faye Glenn Abdellaha pioneer in nursing research and the first women in nursing honored to serve our country as Deputy Surgeon General(Brent, Alex and Manish, 2014).

Cite the research articles you located and evaluate how these indicators influence your practice setting

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reviewed and identified community-based fall prevention interventions that have strong scientific evidence of effectiveness.According to the CDC, falls are a major threat to the health and independence of older adults, people aged 65 and older. Each year in the United States, nearly one-third of older adults experience a fall.About one out of ten falls among older adults result in a serious injury, such as a hip fracture or head injury, that requires hospitalization(Berg, 2012). In addition to the physical and emotional pain, many elderly patients need to spend at least a year recovering in a long-term care facility. Some never return to their homes. Today, there are effective fall prevention interventions that can be used in a variety of settings. By offering effective fall prevention programs in all settings of health care we can reduce falls and help older adults live better, longer lives. Patient falls among the older adults is estimated cost the economy billions of dollars about 30 billion in 2012. It is on this basis that nurses need to address preventive measures rather than attending to negative complains. Preventive measures will help reduce fall injuries and deaths. Falls accounted for 22,900 deaths among older adults in 2011(Brent, Alex and Manish, 2014). Preventive measures like regular exercises, review of medicine prescriptions, regular eye checks and making homes safer by reducing health hazards will go a long way in helping these patients find satisfaction.

Explain how the metric you have chosen from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) measure set connects with your chosen definition of quality.

The American Association for Critical Care Nurses launched a model campaign that involved designing of a logo; Falls prevention deserves your attention and slogan; protecting our patients at risk for Falls. They designed t-shirts and pens with the logo and slogans. The campaign aimed at reducing falls by 50 percent in health facilities and sensitizing medical professionals on the importance of fall prevention. Falls prevention is every medical practitioner’s concern (Wu et al., 2011).

Patient satisfaction leads to increased productivity. Nurses often spend a lot of time reacting to complaints and dealing with non-compliant patients, which negatively impacts efficiency. Satisfied patients are easier and more rewarding to care for, take up less nurses and other home care staff time and are more compliant(Berg, 2012). Patient satisfaction decreases the length of patients’ visits, reduces treatment costs and increases patient volume in the long run.Patient satisfaction is a determinant of quality care and a component of pay-for performance metrics. It is a performance evaluationtool for health care workers and practitioners. A satisfied patient finds it easy to pay for the services rendered. This builds confidence in both the patient and medics.Research is required in order to improve patient satisfaction levels in health facilities (Davis, 2012).The American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons has been improving its patient satisfaction policy. The association says that patient satisfaction leads to better recovery and trauma management for patients who undergo multiple or complicated surgeries.

References

Wu, S., Keeler, E.B., Rubenstein, L.Z., Maglione,M.A., &Shekelle, P.G. (2012). A costeffectiveness analysis of a proposed national falls programs. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine No. 26 (751), 69-76.

Davies, E, (2012).Part I: The Importance of Patient Satisfaction,Patient Satisfaction and How it Relates to Professional Development.

Brent, J.M., Alex, A.J., and Manish,K.S.(2014). American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons: AAOS Now Dec. 2014, Medical centers journal,8(2), 1-12.

Berg, K.(2012).  Identification and evaluation of existing nursing homes quality indicators. Health Care Financing Review, 2(3),19-36.