Optimizing Quality Improvement Methods in Practice : A Case Study Approach.
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2025-01
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Abstract
Background
Quality improvement (QI) initiatives help ensure patients are receiving high-quality care. Iterative Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles are used to test change. Data are evaluated over time, and tests of change can be modified or discarded as needed.Problem
Health care QI teams lack the flexibility to conduct PDSA cycles, often conducting pre/post quasi-experimental research studies instead.Approach
This article reviews a case study of a "personal improvement" initiative as an example of QI methods and data evaluation for an individual trying to lose weight. The purpose of this article is to provide guidance on best practices for conducting QI initiatives; common pitfalls that clinicians may face when leading their own QI initiatives are identified and recommendations to overcome these challenges are discussed.Conclusions
Concepts from this case study, along with supplemental resources provided, can help clinicians optimize QI methodologies in the health care setting.Type
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Reynolds, Staci S, and Julee B Waldrop (2025). Optimizing Quality Improvement Methods in Practice : A Case Study Approach. Journal of nursing care quality, 40(1). pp. 8–14. 10.1097/ncq.0000000000000785 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/32191.
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Staci Reynolds
Dr. Staci Reynolds is a Clinical Professor at Duke University School of Nursing (DUSON). At DUSON, Dr. Reynolds primarily teaches in the DNP program. Previously, she clinically served as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) at Duke University Hospital within the neuroscience inpatient units and Infection Prevention and Hospital Epidemiology department. In January 2023, Dr. Reynolds was appointed the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nursing Care Quality. Before coming to DUSON, she was a neurocritical care nurse and a neuroscience CNS at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital.
Dr. Reynolds received a baccalaureate degree in nursing science from Indiana University (IU) School of Nursing in Indianapolis, Indiana. She earned a Master’s degree as a Clinical Nurse Specialist at IU in 2011, and completed her PhD at IU in May 2016. Dr. Reynolds’ current scholarship interests include evidence-based practice implementation and evaluation, and she is an expert in quality improvement.
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