Introduction: Statement of the Project
The current project is intended to help the researcher investigate some of the quality measures related to healthcare. The database is going to include information on patient satisfaction (rated from 1 to 10), patient admission-discharge (timestamps), and nurse rotation schedule (timestamps). This information is crucial for a better understanding of how the process of care provision could be improved.
Database Users
In order to achieve the best possible outcomes for both patients and care providers, it can be recommended to give access to the database to all the nurses who are directly engaged in contact with patients. They should have at least minimal background in information technologies to be able to input and export relevant data or share important insights from the database. Nurse administrators and other executives should have access to the database as well in order to monitor the improvements and point out specific challenges if any problems transpire throughout the process of developing and deploying the database.
Types of Data
The types of data that the author intends to collect for the proposed database are numeric and timestamps. The first report will be generated to evaluate patient satisfaction upon discharge and see how patients assess the overall quality of care at the facility. This is going to be the central element of the database because patient feedback is a crucial variable that has to be reckoned with when seeking ways to improve care processes (Bombard et al., 2018). Another report that is going to be generated is the occurrence of overlapping nurse rotation times. The administration should strive to reduce the number of overtime shifts in order to prevent nurses from burnout and accumulated fatigue (White et al., 2020). The ultimate report to be generated by the database is the amount of time that was necessary to guide a patient from admission to discharge. In line with Molla et al. (2018) and Ofoma et al. (2018), this variable represents the best way to spot certain challenges in human resource management and care provision, especially if all three reports will be considered simultaneously
Project Goal and Objectives
The fundamental goal of the current project is to develop and deploy a database project that would provide the administration with a tool for storing and analyzing vital performance indicators linked to the quality of nursing services.
- O1: Track patient satisfaction and outline the potential ways of meeting patient needs in the long run. To attain this objective, it will be necessary to collect relevant data for several months and then analyze it to point out specific trends in patient care.
- O2: Investigate the effectiveness of collecting information on relevant timestamps and improve patients’ in-hospital experience. To attain this objective, the team will be responsible for establishing average time values for both admission-discharge and rotation overtime variables. Then, it will be crucial to compare pre- and post-implementation data sets and make conclusions that are going to authenticate the benefits of the proposed database.
Potential Problems/Barriers
One of the barriers to the current project could be the lack of past data that have been collected in regard to the three potential reports described above. Some of the employees could display reluctance when facing a new database project where they have to contribute by collecting and analyzing data. The assumption for the proposed database project is that some of the potential database users will require additional training.
Data Communication Protocols
For the proposed database, it is recommended to utilize the ODBC protocol. In line with Rehman et al. (2021), this protocol represents the best option because it allows for more than one parallel connection and provides end-users with a consistent interface. Additionally, the high level of interoperability could benefit the administration when deploying the new database and connecting it to the existing applications.
Conclusion
This database project emphasizes the importance of data for care quality. Thus, the author of the proposal expects to see potential improvements in the quality of care provision. The latter is going to be based on the information stored in the projected database.
References
Bombard, Y., Baker, G. R., Orlando, E., Fancott, C., Bhatia, P., Casalino, S.,… & Pomey, M. P. (2018). Engaging patients to improve quality of care: A systematic review. Implementation Science, 13(1), 1-22.
Molla, M., Warren, D. S., Stewart, S. L., Stocking, J., Johl, H., & Sinigayan, V. (2018). A Lean Six Sigma quality improvement project improves timeliness of discharge from the hospital. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 44(7), 401-412.
Ofoma, U. R., Dong, Y., Gajic, O., & Pickering, B. W. (2018). A qualitative exploration of the discharge process and factors predisposing to readmissions to the intensive care unit. BMC Health Services Research, 18(1), 1-9.
Rehman, A., Naz, S., & Razzak, I. (2021). Leveraging big data analytics in healthcare enhancement: Trends, challenges and opportunities. Multimedia Systems, 1-33.
White, E. M., Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., & McHugh, M. D. (2020). Nursing home work environment, care quality, registered nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction. Geriatric Nursing, 41(2), 158-164.