select advantages of the proposition and financial reserves from the strengths quadrant. Elaborate on the advantages of following the recommendations, for example, following professional standards of equal care, decreasing cost by not ordering unnecessary diagnostic tests, and increasing revenue from shorter visit times.
Items you may identify from the weakness quadrant could include processes and systems, and morale commitment and leadership. These items are weaknesses due to the need to train providers on national recommendations and create a system within the EMR to track PAP smears.
You should then choose two items from both the opportunities quadrant and the threats quadrant and include them in your reply post.
Response 1
One of the competencies identified in my clinical practice setting presenting a quality/safety issue is the competency of teamwork and collaboration. This is defined as the ability to function effectively within interprofessional teams, fostering open communication, mutual respects, and shared decision making to attain quality patient care (QSEN, 2012). Many of the patients in the clinic are being evaluated for chronic condition requiring laboratory work or imaging prior to the visit. The patient will be seen in January and told to follow up in 6 months. The patient is given laboratory orders to be performed prior to their next visit in June. There has been a clear breakdown in communication between ordering diagnostic test and the communication between the clinic and the patient to perform the required tests for the follow up visit. The result is patients being evaluated for conditions including; diabetes and anemia etc., without the proper laboratory data needed to make clinical and safe decisions for the patient. This break in communication and systematic efficiency results in frustration as a provider, in addition to patient dissatisfaction and safety concerns. Patient are essentially receiving inadequate care due to system and collaboration deficiencies. Communication failures not only fail the patient, but also the multidisciplinary team involved in the care (Hayward, 2021).
The skills needed to improve these deficiencies are achieved through choosing communication styles that diminish risks associated in this area. There needs to be an attitude focused on committing to interprofessional and intraprofessional collaboration (QSEN, 2012). Good interprofessional communication and collaboration requires the recognition of clear roles and responsibilities. Lessons must be learnt from past conflicts to ovoid them reoccurring (Hayward, 2021). The current system must incorporate a clear and detailed follow up communication resource prior to patient visits. Achieving communication with the patient will decrease the current issue and provide more coordinated and efficient care.
Response 2
The QSEN identifies quality/safety as one of the major competencies (QSEN, 2012). There are quality and safety issues that can be identified within the organization that I work for. According to the QSEN (2012), safety minimizes the risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance. In a busy level one emergency department, I have seen a lack of diagnostic testing on certain patients, for example, behavioral health patients. This is concerning because up to half of the patients with a mental health complaint have coexisting non-psychiatric medical diseases that could be causing or exacerbating their psychiatric condition (Thrasher et al., 2019). Unfortunately, if patients have a psychiatric history or symptoms such as depression, the patient is undertreated by the attending physician. With a lack of diagnostic testing for individuals with a mental health component, there is a risk of misdiagnosis, leading to poor patient outcomes (Zun, 2016).
One would expect a compromise in the patient’s quality/safety if a misdiagnosis occurred. The best-practice of care is not being completed for the patient, and there is a lack of optimal health care service by the provider and collaborating team. It is important for the provided to provide quality care based on evidence-based decisions and to value the process of risk reduction in health systems (QSEN, 2012).
