If you listen to my mom, she will tell you when I was two I told her I wanted to be a doctor with ten kids and live with her, two of those things have changed greatly. I still want to be a doctor and I wanted to know what improvements can I come up with to improve the quality of patient care as well as increasing the time and accuracy of diagnosis and results? This is my essential question because it is directly aligned with what I want to do with my future. I eventually want to be a health care professional preferably pediatrics. And so if I am able to come up with an answer to this question it will put me that one step forward of being the best doctor I can be. I am excited to think and possibly come up with a solution as to how I can improve the quality, accuracy and efficiency of all health care aspects because that is something professionals are always seeking to improve. By doing this I will be a better candidate no matter where I end up even if I change from my current path of becoming a pediatrician. This question will leave me with a lot to think about and hopefully I will come up with an answer.
I have learned a lot through my internship but there is still much I do not know as I have not had the appropriate schooling. But one thing I have noticed is that patients feel more comfortable when someone explains their condition to them and they enjoy talking to someone. No matter who they may be, most people in the hospital enjoy the conversation because at times it can seem impersonal because there is just so many patients and so much the doctors, nurses, therapists and other medical personnel have to do.
I have looked through multiple sources trying to find my answer to how I coukd best improve. Including reading articles that talked about decrease in mortality rates after individualized rooms post surgery. To the increase in quality and effeiceny of lab results throught he use of automated machines allowing for better patient care. I also read another talking about the imrpovements in ICU care that occured after simple lists were in placed in the rooms to make sure all details were tended to. This lead me to ask other people what they thought would possibly improve patient care. The following is an interview I had with one of the inpatient therapists.
Me:Ok so what made you go into physical therapy?
Jessica: Well, I knew I wanted to go into the medical field, but after my first four years, I realized I did not have the stamina to go through medical school and so instead I went to graduate school for physical therapy.
(Ok, I have now noticed there are many paths to medical school, i have met lab techs, nurses, physical therapists and people who have just gone straight to med school to become doctors.)
Me: What did you major in to begin with?
Jessica: I majored in exercise science and then went to PT School.
(I have never heard of that major before but I had to look into it, it is apparently popular for PT's, OT's, athletic trainers and others who deal with lots of physical activities with patients or sports players.)
Me: Are there many people or not many people who go from PT to medical school?"
Jessica: Not many, but some do, Darrin, you met him, he is one of the aides, he is leaving in a few months, because he has been accepted into medical school.
(Ok so once again, not many but it is one of many routes to medical school.)
Me: What is the hardest part of this job do you think?
Jessica: Seeing the people who are not fully there mentally, its rough it makes me think about what would happen if I lost that. Physically is bad but you can work on physical strength much easier than mental strength.
(I personally would hate to lose my ability to think like I do now, I would much rather be bed confined and able to think than the other way around. Because my thinking is a big part of me.)
Me: What is your favorite part of the job?
Jessica: Seeing people being discharged because they have recuperated. Unfortunately though they do not always recuperate as much as you hope.
(So there are ups and downs but the ups make the job worth the downs and the fact that even with the downs you are still making a difference in someone's life.)
Me: If you had to do it over again, would you still go into physical therapy?
Jessica: Yes, 100%.
(Most of the people whom I have met in rehabilitation love it and that is good, you want someone taking care of you who loves and cares about their job.)
Me: What do you think is the best way to improve the hospital function?
Jessica: I am not sure, I would say either digitize everything or keep it all paper right now its in between and it can be confusing.
(So right now, there is a lot of confusion due to the multiple mediums of information but if everything were to be digitized it would be a lot more accessible and efficient but it would probably be hard to do all at once which is why I think Northside is in that transition phase from paper to electronic.)
Me:If you were to digitize everything what could be some consequences you can think of?
Jessica: The only one I can really think of is if power goes out, but the hospital has back up generators in case of emergencies so if during an ice storm and the power goes out, the hospital can still function.
(So there are not many repercussions to digitizing, and the ones that would be most commonly thought of there is already a solution because the rest of the hospital still has to be able to run if power were to go out, so they have those back up generators which power the whole hospital.)
Me: So you think if they digitized it all that would be preferable and more efficient?
Jessica: Yes I think so.
(Most people who I have talked to have mentioned they believe digitizing everything would be very helpful and would promote better patient care.)
Me: Why did you come to work at Northside compared to other hospitals?
Jessica: Well I worked at other hospitals before but then I moved here and Northside is one of the best I have worked out, the people I work with are very capable and very friendly.
(everything I am seeing working and talking to people at Northside, patients and employees both I have come to realize how lucky we are to have it in our backyard.)
After all that research and my time interning, there is one constant I have noticed; patients love to have conversation to just talk, the hospital can sometimes seem cold and sterile and having that conversation with a patient can brighten their day. Just by improving mood, it can actually help improve recovery and quality of patient care. So one thing I would suggest that may seem simple to improve patient care, is to get more interns and student volunteers, people able to just spend time with patients, talk to them and make them feel comfortable. Another thing that Northside is implementing is fully digitizing all documents which will increase efficiency, but as that is already being implemented it is null to mention it. The main thing I would promote to increase quality of patient care is increasing the amount of time available to spend with the patient just to speak and explain their situation or just talk to increase their comfortably.
Works Cited
Leaven, L.T. (2015). Improving Hospital Laboratory Performance: Implications for Healthcare Managers. Hospital Topics, 93(2), 19-26 doi: 10. 1080/00185868.2015.1052267
The Oxford University book highlights the problems with lying prostrate for long periods of time while being in the hospital. As how it increases your chance for sepsis, which is the widespread of bacteria throughout the entire body. Commonly is Pneumonia in older patients whom are restricted to the bed after surgery or other illness, especially if always lying prostrate on their back. When he enforced their thorough washing, the maternal mortality fell from 9.9% to 1.3%.” showing the first time sepsis was first truly noticed. This article talks about the negative effects of staying prostrate for long periods of time in the hospital and the increase of infection that has been confirmed. Which I will use to support my ideas for improvements in patient care.
LYING-IN-HOSPITALS. (2001) Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine 477
The Oxford University book highlights the problems with lying prostrate for long periods of time while being in the hospital. As how it increases your chance for sepsis, which is the widespread of bacteria throughout the entire body. Commonly is Pneumonia in older patients whom are restricted to the bed after surgery or other illness, especially if always lying prostrate on their back. “In 1846 when working at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna, Semmelweiss noted that the maternal mortality in the ward attended by students was far higher than in that staffed by nurses. He suspected the difference was due to the students coming directly from the dissection room and infecting the parturient women they examined.This is from the Oxford University which is a world renowned leading medical university known for both its research and excellent care. This article talks about the negative effects of staying prostrate for long periods of time in the hospital and the increase of infection that has been confirmed. Which I will use to support my ideas for improvements in patient care.
Simpsons SQ, Peterson DA, O’Brien-Ladner Ar. Development and Implementation of an ICU Quality Improvement Checklist, AACN Adv Crit Care, 2007
This article covers the improvements made in ICU care, the main thing that has allowed a decrease in fatalities was implementing a checklist for nurses and other personnel who interact with the patient. “The checklist augments our daily, multidisciplinary quality rounds and informs all personnel when important items have been missed.” This article is highly reliable for it came from the National Institute of Health’s Website and is an approved peer reviewed journal. I will use this article to help me, think of other possible ways to improve patient care and to use examples of ways that patient care has already been improved.