Quality healthcare is one of the most important elements of the right to health and a statement to this effect is found in many mission statements of most healthcare facilities. This is also embodied in the ethical principles where medical practitioners are expected to do no harm to and to do all that is within their power to for the benefit of patients (Donabedian et al. 2003). Quality of care is absolutely vital when to reduction of mortality and realizing positive patient outcomes. In addition to this it also raises the accountability of practitioners, helps increase efficacy of resource utilization and minimize medical errors. There are various theories used to assess the quality of healthcare and in this paper we will focus on the Donabedian model.
The Donabedian model strives to eliminate wasteful practices by assessing three main areas being structure, processes and outcomes. When looking at structure we talk of buildings, equipment, staff, training methods and payment options. Some of the observed wasteful practices include spending money on activities that are not proven to provide better outcomes, incurring costs in handling avoidable injuries and preventable infections in hospital ( Lallemand et al., 2012). The second component involves measuring processes. The processes simply mean the collective activities that combine to drive preferred outcomes. It involves something as simple as washing of hands by practitioners, diagnosis, patient education, recording any occurrences to how care is meted out. This can be measured through conducting interviews, observation or going through records ( Lallemand et al., 2012) . It can help curb the underrated problem of overtreatment by recognizing it and offering solutions to the problem. The third component is outcome. This means looking at the effect that the structure in place and the activities of the healthcare practitioners have on the patients and the community. Some of the common desirable outcomes include mortality rates, reduction in hospital acquired infections and positive patient experience.
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Generally, definition of high quality nursing falls within that the indicators envisioned by the American Academy of Nursing being attainment of suitable self-care, adoption of a health conscious disposition and having a healthy lifestyle. I believe that when seeking to promote and attain the highest possible standards of patient safety the rest will easily fall into place.
References
Donabedian, A., & Bashshur, R. (2003). An introduction to quality assurance in health care . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Flower, J. (2012). Healthcare beyond reform: Doing it right for half the cost . Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis.
Lallemand, N. C., Robert Wood Johnson Foundation., & Project Hope. (2012). Reducing waste in health care: A third or more of what the US spends annually may be wasteful. How much could be pared back-and how-is a key question . Bethesda, Md: Project HOPE.
