The chosen article “Effectiveness of quality improvement on occurrence of needle stick injuries (NSIs) in Harare city, Zimbabwe, 2017: A quasi-experimental study” by Sithole follows the relation between implemented quality improvements and the rates of needlestick injuries within Harare City hospitals, medical facilities, and other patient care units (Sithole et al., 2017). On a global scale, health care workers suffer two million cases of needlestick injuries annually (Sithole et al., 2017). In Zimbabwe, it was recorded that needlestick injuries, or NSIs, have increased from 1% to 7% of workplace incidents in just three years (Sithole et al., 2017). The following study examined the quality controls that address NSIs and determined its effectiveness in the reduction of NSI cases among health workers. A quasi-experimental research method was conducted among 83 nurses in the southern district of Harare City. The design of the experiment included an intervention package, which consisted of training, corresponding materials, restructure of the workflow, and steps for change in social-behavioral responses.
The collected data was measured through a four-step method, consisting of planning, implementing, testing, and responding. The gathered information on the intervention package was done six months before the implementation and six months after. This was done through questionnaires. As such, the analysis the researchers were able to gather exposed the frequencies, means, and proportions of the effectiveness of the quality control measures and NSI incidences. The indicator of quality was the fluctuation of NSI cases within the medical facilities over the course of the entire experiment. Additionally, variables such as age, sex, inconsistency in responses, as well as the practitioner’s level of abilities were recorded and taken into account.
The indicators which tracked the effectiveness of the packages were able to determine the causes of certain cases of workplace NSIs. For instance, lack of knowledge accounted for 99% of cases, unorganized care delivery for 60% of incidences, and 59% for restricted working space within treatment rooms (Sithole et al., 2017). Many of the causes overlapped within the study and the incidence of NSI, such as both a lack of space and incorrect administration of care being the cause of a single case of NSIs. The indicators used to monitor quality were beneficial to these discoveries and were effective in measuring the issue. This is primarily because the collected evidence was translated into clear statistics before and after the intervention package. It also exposed the exact decrease in cases of NSI post-implementation of the quality controls, with NSI incidents dropping by 82% (Sithole et al., 2017).
The intervention package was able to save the medical establishments $5777.0 in expenditure during the course of the study (Sithole et al., 2017). The method was able to expose the primary issue behind the high rates of NSI and had formulated a cost-effective technique which has altered the economic process in the examined facilities. The increase in practitioner’s knowledge and performance also greatly reflects on regulatory policies. The study promoted further social-behavioral alterations to increase the competency, confidence, and capabilities of the staff to address other difficulties within the workspace. Not much was changed in the legal aspect of the intervention package, but with further adjustments in workflow and interaction, the policy may also reflect changes for positive outcomes and sufficient quality control.
This study encourages statistically and quantitatively driven data collection that can be directly tied to both the source of the issues and the effectiveness of any implemented solution. As such, in my current practice, I would designate thorough monitoring in such a way to observe effectiveness and cost reduction over the course of time in medical delivery. From a qualitative perspective, it would be essential to track reports or questionnaires and assess them for completeness and accuracy. Such reports should be done frequently to notice short-term and long-term changes or outlying variables (Njeru & Obwatho, 2018). This study inspired me to recognize the importance of tracking the quality of certain practices in order to be able to see the effectiveness and improve health care delivery. This will allow us to observe the time spent collaborating with health care workers and colleagues and the implications on practice outcomes.
References
Njeru, E., M., & Obwatho, S. (2018). Effects of monitoring and evaluation of utilization of reports on Quality of Service Delivery within the Health Sector of Nyandarua County. Journal of International Business, Innovation and Strategic Management, 2(2), 267 – 277. Web.
Sithole, Z., Masunda, K., Madembo, C., Prosper., C., Tapesana., S., Muguza, S., Ajumobi., O., Bulage, L., Juru, T., Gombe, N., T., Shambira, G., & Tshimanga, M. (2017). Effectiveness of quality improvement on occurrence of needle stick injuries (NSIs) in Harare city, Zimbabwe, 2017: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health, 1(1), 1-20. Web.