Implementation of (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Process of Quality and Measuring its Effect on Nurses' Practice of Patient Safety Goals

Background: Implementing PDCA (plan- do- check – act) management can improve
patient safety and satisfaction. Head nurse should create and maintain their safety management to
increase the quality of nursing practices regarding patient safety goals practice. The aim of the
study was to investigate the effect of head nurses' and staff nurses' use of PDCA on their patient
safety practices.Design: One group pre-post assessment is used to carry out this study.Subjects:
Two study subjects – head and staff nurses‟.Setting: The study was conducted at inpatient units
in Nasser institute hospital, which affiliated to Specialized Medical Centers of ministry of health.
Tools of data collection: four tools were used for collecting data.Namely:Patient safety and
PDCA knowledge questionnaire for head nurses and staff nurses, Observation checklist for
performance of PDCA process related to patient safety goals for head nurses and staff nurses.
Result:head nurses‟:all head nurses had low satisfaction with patient safety .both before and after
the intervention.none of the head nurses had total adequate practice of PDCA before the
intervention, which increased to 86.7% after the intervention (p<0.001).The intervention, was a
significant positive predictor of the practice scores, whereas age, experience in current
department, and attendance of infection control courses were negative predictors.Staff nurses:
none of the" staff nurses had satisfactory knowledge of patient safety before the intervention,
compared to after the intervention (p<0.001).No staff nurse had adequate practice of PDCA
'before the Intervention, compared to after the intervention (p<0. 001).Conclusion:both head
nurses and staff nurses in the study settinghad deficient knowledge and practice of PDCA as
applied to patient safety goals.Recommendations: The PDCA quality improvement cycle should
be implemented in patient safety as well as in various areas of patient care. The training program
should be applied to all head and staff nurses in the study setting, and should be extended to other
similar setting. Creating and sustaining a culture of quality improvement by using PDCA cycle.