Workflow and patient concerns

Flowchart tool to depict a workflow is used to describe a process and how it is done. You can use MS Word to create these boxes that illustrate the process. Remember, there needs to be a start and an end to the flowchart diagram and all processes should finish at your end point. This is very effective method to identify gaps and expose inefficiencies in a given process. Sometimes we just do things; however, we find difficulty in putting all the processes involved if were to write down the description of the process. In this assignment, you are to draw the process using flowchart boxes. Arrows are used to connect the boxes and a diamond is used to describe a decision point. Remember; all processes need to terminate at the end point. Your workflow, needs to have a decision.

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Assignment: Creating a Flowchart

Workflow analysis aims to determine workflow patterns that maximize the effective use of resources and minimize activities that do not add value. There are a variety of tools that can be used to analyze the workflow of processes and clarify potential avenues for eliminating waste. Flowcharts are a basic and commonly used workflow analysis method that can help highlight areas in need of streamlining.

In this Assignment, you select a common event that occurs regularly in your organization and create a flowchart representing the workflow. You analyze the process you have diagrammed and propose changes for improvement.

To prepare:

Identify a common, simple event that frequently occurs in your organization that you would like to evaluate.

Consider how you would design a flowchart to represent the current workflow.

Consider what metrics you would use to determine the effectiveness of the current workflow and identify areas of waste.

To complete:

Write a 4- to 5-page paper which includes the following:

Create a simple flowchart of the activity you selected. (Review the Sample Workflow of Answering a Telephone in an Office document found in this week’s Learning Resources for an example.)

Next, in your paper:

o Explain the process you have diagrammed.

o For each step or decision point in the process, identify the following:

 Who does this step? (It can be several people.)

 What technology is used?

 What policies and rules are involved in determining how, when, why, or where the step is executed?

 What information is needed for the execution of this step?

o Describe the metric that is currently used to measure the soundness of the workflow. Is it effective?

o Describe any areas where improvements could occur and propose changes that could bring about these improvements in the workflow.

o Summarize why it is important to be aware of the flow of an activity.

Remember to include a cover page, introduction, and summary for your paper

ASSIGNMENT 2

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.

Chapter 23, “Research: Data Collection, Processing, and Analytics”

The authors of this chapter relate nursing research to the foundation of knowledge model. The chapter assesses informatics tools for collecting data, storing information, and processing and analyzing data.

Chapter 25, “Translational Research: Generating Evidence for Practice”

In this chapter, the authors differentiate evidence-based practice and translation research. They also describe models used to introduce research findings intro practice.

Hynes, D. M., Weddle, T., Smith, N., Whittier, E., Atkins, D., & Francis, J. (2010). Use of health information technology to advance evidence-based care: Lessons from the VA QUERI program. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(Suppl. 1), S44–S49.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article presents a study that evaluated the role of health information technology (HIT) in the Department of Veteran Affairs’ Quality Enhancement Research Initiative. The authors convey their findings on how HIT provided data and information to aid implementation research, and how implementation research helped further HIT development. Additionally, the text details methods of overcoming common HIT barriers to implementation research.

Jamal, A., McKenzie, K., & Clark, M. (2009). The impact of health information technology on the quality of medical and health care: A systematic review. Health Information Management Journal, 38(3), 26–37.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This text details a study that reviews the published evidence concerning the impact of health information technology (HIT) on the quality of health care. The study investigated the use of HIT in medical care and allied health and preventive services. The authors primarily focus on the impact of electronic health records, computerized provider order-entry, and decision support systems.

Umscheid, C. A., Williams, K., & Brennan, P. (2010). Hospital-based comparative effectiveness centers: Translating research into practice to improve the quality, safety and value of patient care. JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine, 25(12), 1,352–1,355.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article revolves around the usage of the hospital-based comparative effectiveness (CE) center model. The authors highlight the model’s benefits and the increasing usage of CE evidence. The article also reviews solutions to overcoming many of the challenges to operating hospital-based CE centers.

Optional Resources

Chlan, L., Tracy, M. F., & Grossbach, I. (2011). Pulmonary care. Achieving quality patient-ventilator management: Advancing evidence-based nursing care. Critical Care Nurse, 31(6), 46–50.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Discussion: Using Health Information Technology as a Source of Evidence-Based Practice

Before the digital revolution, health information technology supplied very limited support for evidence-based practice. If nurses wanted to be informed about cutting-edge research, their best bet was to either subscribe to leading journals or make periodic trips to the library. With the establishment of research databases, however, nurses became empowered to learn about and facilitate interdisciplinary and translational research. Databases are just one example of how health information technology supports evidence-based practice.

To prepare:

Read the following scenario from the text (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 445):

Twelve-hour shifts are problematic for patient and nurse safety, and yet hospitals continue to keep the 12-hour shift schedule. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine (Board on Health Care Services & Institute of Medicine, 2004) published a report that referred to studies as early as 1988 that discussed the negative effects of rotating shifts on intervention accuracy. Workers with 12-hour shifts realized more fatigue than workers on 8-hour shifts. In another study done in Turkey by Ilhan, Durukan, Aras, Turkcuoglu, and Aygun (2006), factors relating to increased risk for injury were age of 24 or less, less than 4 years of nursing experience, working in the surgical intensive care units, and working for more than 8 hours.

Consider how the resources identified in the scenario above could influence an organization’s practice.

Select an issue in your practice that is of concern to you. Using health information technology, locate at least three evidence-based practice resources that address your concern and that could possibly inform further action.

By Day 3

Post a description of your practice concern. Outline how you used health information technology to locate evidence-based practices that address this concern. Cite and include insights from the resources. Analyze how health information technology supports evidence-based practice.