Evidence Based Practice and Quadruple Aim
Evidence-Based Practice and the Quadruple Aim is what you need to do.
Healthcare organizations are always trying to improve how well healthcare works. The Triple Aim, a three-pronged approach that was used for many years, focused on improving the health of the population, making the patient experience better, and lowering the cost of health care.
More recently, this approach has changed into a Quadruple Aim, with a focus on making healthcare providers’ jobs better. Each of these measures is affected by decisions made at the organizational level, and organizations are turning to evidence-based practice (EBP) more and more to help them make and defend their decisions.
To Prepare:
Read the articles written by R. Sikka, J. M. Morath, and L. Leape (2015). The Quadruple Aim: care, health, cost, and meaning at work. 24:608–610 in BMJ Quality & Safety. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004160. Retrieved from https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/qhc/24/10/608.full.pdf, which is listed in the Resources. (If you click on the link above, the article will open)
Reflect on how EBP might impact (or not impact) the Quadruple Aim in healthcare.
Consider the impact that EBP may have on factors impacting these quadruple aim elements, such as preventable medical errors or healthcare delivery.
To Complete:
Write a brief analysis (no longer than 2 pages) of the connection between EBP and the Quadruple Aim.
Your analysis should address how EBP might (or might not) help reach the Quadruple Aim, including each of the four measures of:
Patient experience
Population health
Costs
Work life of healthcare providers
Written Expression and Formatting—Paragraph Development and Organization:
Paragraphs make clear points that support well-developed ideas, flow logically, and demonstrate continuity of ideas. Sentences are carefully focused—neither long and rambling nor short and lacking substance. A clear and comprehensive purpose statement and introduction is provided which delineates all required criteria.
Evidence based practice is an approach of making decisions and solving problems about patients’ care. Initially it had three objects; to minimize the cost of care, improve the population health and to enhance the patients experience (Fleiszer et al., 2016). The Triple Aim was about the patients concern until another aim which is to improve the life work of the health workers was added making quadruple aim.
There are many challenges affecting the implementation of evidence- based practice in reaching the quadruple aim, and among them are: firstly, inadequate knowledge and skills on its use by healthcare workers for example by them not integrating researched findings in their daily practice (White et al., 2016). This will result in poor quality of care since there is no use of current data in care of the patients. Secondly, negative attitudes of health care workers where most of them are against research believing that it is time consuming. Most health workers therefore end up disliking evidence based care and may even lack clue of what it entails. Failure to use up to date data in provision of care results into low quality of care.
Besides, patients’ expectations about the care being provided in health facilities (Fleiszer et al., 2016). Majority of them visit hospitals preoccupied with ideas about the type of care to receive for instance the type of medications to be administered with. This makes the nurses reluctant of using the evidence- based care and may affect the work life of health providers since they will not be confident while looking after the patients.
Additionally, inadequate resources for planning and budgeting for the research. The undeveloped countries will be affected negatively for the treatment costs will be high hence eliminating comorbid illnesses such as Diabetic Mellitus will not be easy (Zaccagnini & White, 2015). Also, patients have high hopes for the care they receive in hospitals and clinics (Fleiszer et al., 2016). Most of them go to hospitals with ideas about what kind of care they want to get, like what kind of medicine they want to be given. This makes nurses less likely to use evidence-based care and could make it harder for them to do their jobs, since they won’t be sure of what to do when taking care of patients.
Also, there weren’t enough resources to plan and budget for the research. Lastly, nurses are overloaded with daily tasks affecting the achievement of quadruple Aims. Nurses will lack time to practice the evidence- based practice for each patient for example when there is one nurse on duty to care for around seventy patients (White et al., 2016). The nurse will use the shortcut to care for the patients and therefore many will go back home not satisfied with type of care they have received.
Reference
Fleiszer, A. R., Semenic, S. E., Ritchie, J. A., Richer, M. C., & Denis, J. L. (2016). Nursing unit leaders’ influence on the long‐term sustainability of evidence‐based practice improvements. Journal of nursing management, 24(3), 309-318.
White, K. M., Dudley-Brown, S., & Terhaar, M. F. (Eds.). (2016). Translation of evidence into nursing and health care. Springer Publishing Company.
Zaccagnini, M., & White, K. (2015). The doctor of nursing practice essentials. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
