The continuous quality improvement process in dynamic and rapid change.

Abstract

Patient-focused care is a unique and highly adaptable method of delivering quality patient care. A cornerstone to its success is the use of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). CQI is a cultural change. It requires nurse managers to ask good, solid questions, to collect and analyze patient care data, and to reduce redundant or overly complex steps in caring for patients. Nurse managers are ideally suited to the use of CQI. They see the patient's environment in its larger context. They see the flow of health care professionals, equipment, supplies, and procedures 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Through CQI, the nurse manager can appropriately ask "...what is the best process for the care of this patient?" The old way of doing business is to manage people and focus on quantity. CQI offers a better way: manage processes and focus on quality.