Simplifying Quality Improvement on ESP

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Monica Mewshaw

Simplifying Quality Improvement. You don’t see those words together very often.  

Here’s one way AAMC nurses are changing that – the 2-2-2 Quality Improvement Principle.

Recently, our units were tasked with simplifying their quality goals. Nia Wright, RN, clinical director of the Edwards Surgical Pavilion, conveyed the concept to her staff and they started by working through their goals and discussing ways to improve on them.

“We are all striving towards outcomes excellence at AAMC,” says Nia. “There are many initiatives being implemented throughout the hospital. In nursing services, we’ve decided to in fine tune our focus so that our improvement strategies are is easier to understand, embrace and articulate. The 2-2-2 Quality Improvement Principle helps us clearly define what we are doing, why we’re doing it and what we expect to accomplish in the process. It’s a totally collaborative effort involving all members of the health care team.”

Using the 2-2-2 Quality Principle, the Edwards team will focus on two goals for each indicator:

Quality indicators: 1. Antibiotics administered within 60 minutes prior to incision; 2. Normothermia for all patients.

Patient satisfaction Indicators: 1. Reducing anxiety (managing delays & patient education); 2. Pain management

Work environment / Staff Satisfaction Indicators: 1. Decision making; 2. Autonomy

To illustrate their work, ESP educators Denise Matteson and Terri Ridel created this bulletin board.

Way to keep it simple, ESP!