NURS 3150 Week 5 Assignment – Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Researching this week’s discussion post, I used Medicare Hospital Compare to look up my facility. Consumers and healthcare professionals can access Hospital Compare to find information pertaining to over 4,000 hospitals nationwide that are classified as Medicare-certified hospitals. This website allows patients to select hospitals that have the quality of care they are searching for. I was pleased to note that my hospital had received an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars that are reviewed by approximately 57 quality measures. However, even with this high rating, improvements can always be made to the quality of care, and continued vigilance is key to keeping patients safe.
The three variables that I identified for my facility that could benefit from attentiveness and improvement are timely and effective care, complications, readmissions, and death. Timely and effective care demonstrates how well the hospital provides the recommended treatment to patients for common ailments in a well-timed manner. One subcategory of timely and effective care that is of most interest to me in my field of nursing is pregnancy and delivery of care. This quality measure applies to elective deliveries before 39 weeks gestation by either cesarean section or vaginal delivery and adheres to best safety practices for both mothers and babies. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AGOG) states risks such as infection, uterine rupture, hemorrhage, and anesthesia-related problems increase with elective deliveries before 39 weeks. Complications to infants include breathing, temperature, jaundice, hearing and vision issues, and learning and behavior problems. My facility has a 0% rating which is above the national average of 2% for this category. The second variable, complications, include healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) that are no different from the national benchmark, and I believe there is an opportunity for improvement. Patients can develop HAIs in all healthcare locations, and they are preventable if proper infection control measures are used. Readmissions and death are other variables that rate no different than the national rate and could benefit from improvement. Readmission rates are an important aspect of comparison because they indicate how well a hospital prevents complications, provides discharge teaching, and ensures patients have the resources they will need to take care of themselves at home.
NURS 3150 Week 5 Assignment – Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Data
My facility uses this data to improve patient safety and quality of care in several ways. Nurses are highly encouraged to be involved in opportunities for improvement through Shared Governance and Evidence-Based Practice Committee. Through Shared Governance, my unit improved our core measure of no elective deliveries before 39 weeks by initiating a process of scheduling procedures that involves several checkpoints starting with the scheduler, then undergoing rigorous scrutiny through our intake team. Another way data is shared with the employees is through quarterly forums that are held by the hospital’s CEO. This allows all members of the facility to know what areas need improvement and what has been accomplished by their hard work and diligence.
References
Medicare.gov. (n.d.-a). Hospital compare. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/About/What-Is-HOS.html
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (n.d.). Elective delivery before 39 weeks. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.acog.org/Patients/FAQs/Elective- Delivery-Before-39-Weeks
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Question 
NURS 3150 Week 5 Assignment – Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Data
Examine the analysis of data, including a focus on common statistical techniques: (a) descriptive analyses (e.g., frequency distributions and mean scores with standard deviations) and (b) comparative analyses (e.g., t-test, chi-square). You will also consider the importance of using existing quantitative healthcare data to address clinical questions in nursing practice, including electronic medical records and local, regional, and national quality and safety databases. For qualitative research, you will explore an overview of the common techniques used to understand themes and patterns in narrative data.