The CQI paradigm: a pathway to nurse empowerment in a community hospital

Anderson Area Medical Center instituted continuous quality improvement (CQI) hospitalwide two years ago. Three teams were challenged with identifying and improving processes related to accounts receivable. X-ray report turn-around-time, and emergency department patient satisfaction. Nursing participation was sought for all three teams. An eight-step CQI process was used to identify, analyze, and improve these three processes. Substantial nursing participation in these pilot CQI teams led to further participation in many other CQI teams optimizing clinical processes. Nursing personnel gained opportunities to make significant contributions to the enhancement of clinical and administrative processes in a large hospital. Nurses learned to work with other members of the health care team outside of their traditional domains, and this, combined with formalized training in the team process, is empowering.