Reflection Essay
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Reflection Essay
Quality in nursing and clinical practice is not a concept that a person just stumbled upon. The service dimension requires comprehensive process monitoring and modification where necessary. Over the years, quality assurance has been perceived as a key success factor in manufacturing. Now, the healthcare industry is also increasingly becoming acquainted with the concept of quality assurance. The course readings and discussions have taught on the importance of being systematic to establish and improve existing quality controls in a healthcare organization. While medical organizations are required to prioritize total quality improvement, it is critical to acknowledge the shared roles and responsibilities in quality assurance for more effective and sustainable process optimization.
The key learning point over the duration of the course was quality assurance is a team effort. An individual nurse of clinician has the professional duty to improve on their skills and knowledge, but overall system optimization stems from multidisciplinary collaborative work. For instance, while performing the site initiation visit, I got to learn the importance of integrating Clinical Research Associates (CRA) in the site quality audit. Even though it is a minor role, the CRA encouraged workers to offer more information (constructive feedback) increasing our ability to identify gaps or errors in the current operating systems. A single-eye or perspective is insufficient in ascertaining quality assurance in health projects or operations.
Risk management and quality assurance require a high degree of critical thinking and resourcefulness to achieve. At the beginning of the course, I was not aware of how interconnected, complex and interdependent health systems are. One point of failure could be catastrophic to the entire system. For instance, during the lesson on risk based monitoring, it was recommended that organizations adopt central monitoring. However, centralized surveillance will fail if there is no on-site monitoring. Both activities have to be in place to ensure risk mitigation. The lesson made me realize that some aspects of critical thinking cannot be developed or refined in the classroom environment. Critical thinking requires actionable scenarios to harness.
I intend to follow what I have learned in the classroom but I also desire to find alternative, external ways to improve my understanding and approach to risk management. The goal is to identify a form of clinical placement that complements my learning experience. Lopez et al. (2019) in a self-reported survey found out that most of the interviewees claimed that practicums were their most valued learning experiences with regards to quality control in the healthcare setting. With a real understanding of the various interconnected components, one can successfully plan for continuous quality improvement. Practicums will prove beneficial in learning to collaborate and in developing leadership skills. A person cannot become effective in controlling risks and enhancing quality if they do not possess self-discipline at the minimum.
The course demonstrated high levels of adherence to best practice, enhancing my understanding of risk management and quality assurance. The class and site experiences aligned with class teachings on total quality management, indicating quality is only achieved through ethics, training, teamwork, leadership and communication. As the human population grows, creating more demand for healthcare services, quality will become a more influential success factor. It is up to the clinician or nurse to keep updated with the latest technologies and best practice to enhance their ability to optimize operations. Overall, the course reinforced in me the need to embrace holistic approaches in patient care, specifically multidisciplinary collaborations.
Reference
López-Entrambasaguas, O. M., Calero-García, M. J., Díaz-Meco-Niño, A. M., & Martínez-Linares, J. M. (2019). Quality assurance in nursing education: A qualitative study involving students and newly graduated nurses. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1), 240. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010240