Quality Improvement Through Auditing.....Do you have the right people auditing?

Okay, so as managers we all know what audits are and what data collection means. We audit the charts, we collect the data and we graph the statistics. Where is this really getting us? After we analyze what we have collected we recognize areas that need improvement and then we relay this message to our staff along with a plan. Sounds great, but does it really work?

Recently, I have given a couple of my nurses "paper days" and provided them with the audit tools so that they could audit and collect the data. It was astonishing to see them come to me with eyes and mouths wide open. "I didn't realize that we had such a problem." "Oh my gosh, does anyone chart anything?" These are just a couple of the responses. My next step was to have them develop an improvement plan. The results have been incredible.....

Try it...it really does work.