Lesson 11: The Nurse Manager’s Role in Quality Control

What do you consider elements of quality care when receiving healthcare services?

 The biggest element of quality care when I am the patient is how the nurse makes me feel. Being the patient puts you in a very vulnerable position. I've had surgeries, emergency room visits, lots of tests,  and hospital stays and the thing I always remember is how the nurse treated me. A long wait in pre-op is made bearable by an attentive and caring nurse. The fear of tests that can be painful is lessened when the nurse really cares. The entire situation is affected by the nurse.

What do you consider elements of quality care as a professional nurse?

I think the biggest element of quality care on the nursing end also has to do with the attitud e of the nurse. Ensuring the patient receives the best care possible is my number one goal as a nurse, and I believe the core of the care is the atmosphere that is set by my attitude as I provide that care. I understand, more than I would like to, that medical care is a business and as such there are certain responsibilities. However, my patient does not care about that. All they care about is that they are being taken care of at a vulnerable time in their lives.

Are the two similar or different?

Obviously, I feel that the two are pretty much the same. I think what I consider as the keystone of quality of care as a patient greatly influences the care I give as a nurse and what I see as key to delivering quality care. I think had I not needed to be cared for nurses throughout my life, I would probably see things differently, and perhaps on a more clinical side of things. But the care I received greatly influenced the care that I give.