Leadership Competencies: Defining Quality in Healthcare - Week 1

This assignment delves into the concept of quality within the healthcare sector, specifically from a nursing perspective. It begins by defining quality care as the delivery of safe, healthy, equitable, and patient-centered services, emphasizing patient safety, cultural respect, health improvement, and evidence-based treatment. The assignment then applies Donabedian's model of quality care, which analyzes structure, process, outcome, and balancing to assess healthcare processes. A practice problem related to communication issues in a healthcare setting is identified, highlighting the challenges in understanding and effectively communicating with patients. The solution proposes eliminating wasteful practices through improved verbal and nonverbal communication, including the use of interpreters when necessary. The goal is to enhance the quality of care provided to patients. The document uses references from professional nursing literature to support its arguments and provide context to the concepts discussed.

Leadership Competencies in Nursing and
Healthcare

Table of Contents
Week 1: Defining Quality................................................................................................................2
References........................................................................................................................................4
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Week 1: Defining Quality
Quality care
The delivery of safe, healthy, equitable and patient-centered care is called quality. The quality of
care in a healthcare setting generally defines the fulfillment of patients’ cares expectations from
the healthcare organizations. This includes the patient's safety, cultural respect to the patients, the
observation of a patient's health improvement and the improvement of care techniques, evidence-
based treatment, and effective and unbiased treatment process (McQuestion, 2015).
Donabedian’s model of quality care
As per Donabedin’s model of quality care treatment depends on the measuring healthcare
process. This model is generally used to analyze the structure, process, outcome, and balancing
of the quality care process. All the measures should have a different motif in providing quality
care to the patients (Carter, 2018). It is notable that this process of care services indicates the
safety measure and effectiveness of treatment.
 Structure: The structure states the staff-patient ratio and the ability of the staffs on
quality care
 Process: the process defines the way through which quality care is provided
 Outcome: outcome measures the impact of the treatment process and the situation of the
patient after the treatment
 Balancing: balancing measures wider consequence of the treatment procedure
The significance of the outcome is to define the appropriateness of healthcare indicator. Thus, it
is important to qualify the care techniques and quantify the treatment procedure for the effective
outcome of quality care to the patients. The techniques of quality care also depend on effective
communication, profound understanding on nursing care ethics and unbiased treatment
procedure (Barton, 2018).
Practice problems
The quality of care is the fundamental principle of nursing care ethics. Moreover, diversity must
be maintained in the nursing setting. However, I have experienced some serious communication
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issue in my healthcare setting. I was unable to understand the problems of the patients and it was
getting impossible for me to communicate the patients effectively. (Croft & Seemiller, 2017).
Elimination of wasteful practices
I have observed that I can resolve the communication problem with the implementation of both
verbal and nonverbal communication in our healthcare setting. Moreover, I can also resolve it by
appointing an interpreter who has knowledge of local language. Thus, the development of
effective communication with patients would help me to provide quality care in my healthcare
setting (Croft & Seemiller, 2017).
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References
Barton, A. (2018). Leadership and Communication Competencies in Nursing: What Are We
Missing?. Journal Of Nursing Education, 57(5), 259-260. doi: 10.3928/01484834-
20180420-01
Carter, K. (2018). Promoting self-concept and leadership competencies among frontline nursing
staff. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 49(9), 7. doi:
10.1097/01.numa.0000538922.91277.c8
Croft, L., & Seemiller, C. (2017). Developing Leadership Competencies. New Directions For
Student Leadership, 2017(156), 7-18. doi: 10.1002/yd.20267
McQuestion,M.(2015). Quality of Care. Retrieved from
http://ocw.jhsph.edu/courses/immunizationPrograms/PDFs/Lecture7.pdf
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