Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quality - Essay Example Improving the performance of trauma units is something that includes ensuring that there is constant monitoring to ensure that beneficial medical techniques are used while also always seeking to identify opportunities that can be used to effect improvements. Some progressive factors that could be used in effecting performance improvement in trauma units include patient satisfaction surveys, keeping records on the incidence of falls in the trauma unit and their consequences, and monitoring the incidence of decubitus wounds in an effort to avoid them from becoming additional threats to a patient’s health. Patient satisfaction-measured with surveys In many medical institutions today, it is an accepted fact that patient satisfaction is one of the principal determinants of quality related issues (Thrasher & Purc-Stephenson, 2008). Moreover, patient satisfaction can be quite challenging for medical practitioners to confront because it tends to be is multifaceted. The reality is that patients’ expectations of what they expect in terms of care are what contribute to their satisfaction. Their expectations may be influenced by different factors such as psychosocial factors like depression and pain. In the trauma unit, issues concerning patient expectations can be even more challenging as the patients may expect doctors and nurses to allocate them more time and empathy than the medical practitioners are willing to give. This is because the trauma center has critically ill patients, and practitioners tend to be more inclined to ensuring that the different methods of treatment are well performed; other than in the importance of being seen to be empathetic to their patients. There may also be time constraints that make it impossible for trauma nurses to allocate time to each and every patient in the unit (Thrasher & Purc-Stephenson, 2008). Moreover, ensuring patient satisfaction is still an important function that ought to be performed regardless of such realit ies. Data Collection Quantitative surveys are the best method of collecting data on patient satisfaction in the trauma unit. In the first place, they are not open-ended and so will not be strenuous for patients who are critically ill and require rest. The questions in the survey can cover different subjects such as the patient’s communication with trauma unit nurses, pain management techniques, the responsiveness of staff in the medical facility, discussion with the medical practitioners about medicinal prescriptions, the cleanliness of the room of the patient, discussions on discharge information, transition of care, and the quietness in the trauma unit (Thrasher & Purc-Stephenson, 2008). Using surveys in collecting such information from patients is beneficial because it allows the patients to understand that their ideas and feelings about their hospital environment are important. Surveys can also allow medical practitioners to be able to quickly correct issues that are conc erning their critically ill patients while also identifying new opportunities to effect new changes that will contribute towards better standards. Hospitals are likely to benefit from making such changes based on patient satisfaction surveys because their patients might recommend them to other people. One disadvantage of using