Organizational Systems Theories
NOTE: Read Chapter 5: Armstrong & Sables-Braus (2020). Please answer the following questions in the form of a written paper.
Case Study
Y.H. is a family nurse practitioner (FNP) pursuing her DNP. She practices in a nurse-run primary care clinic. Y.H. has finished her coursework and is planning
her DNP project. Y.H.’s primary care clinic has gathered patient-satisfaction data for approximately 24 months, and the clinic manager informs Y.H. that
excessive waiting times in the waiting room and in the exam room before the FNP enters for the visit are a common cause of complaint among the clinic’s
patients. Y.H. decides to employ multiple process improvement approaches to address this patient dissatisfier.
Read Chapter 5: Armstrong & Sables-Braus (2020). Please answer the following questions in the form of a written paper.
Specifics: Scholarly writing, APA 7th Edition, and limit to five pages (including references and title page).
1. Who would be members of Y.H.’s ideal team to improve patient wait times in the FNP clinic?
2. What process improvement tools lend themselves to assessing the current state of waiting times at the FNP clinic?
3. What might be some processes occurring before the FNP begins the visit that might be contributing to long wait times?
4. What data would Y.H.’s team track to assess whether changes that were implemented were actual improvements?
Sample Solution
Y.H. is a family nurse practitioner (FNP) looking to improve patient waiting times in her clinic with a DNP project. In order for this project to be successful, she needs to form an ideal team of members who can assist her in identifying the problem and creating solutions to address it. The ideal team would need include members from both inside and outside of Y.H.’s clinic; this will ensure that all perspectives are taken into account during the development process and that any changes implemented have maximum impact on patients’ experiences.
The first member of Y.H.’s team should be someone from within the primary care clinic itself – such as the manager or another FNP — as they understand how the office runs best, what resources are available, and who should be involved when making decisions regarding operations and procedures (Armstrong & Sables-Braus 2020). Furthermore they know where issues may lie within their own workflow processes which could potentially contribute towards wait times being longer than expected.
A second addition would be someone knowledgeable about process improvement tools – either internally or hired externally – so that data driven assessments can occur throughout each stage of development (Armstrong & Sables-Braus 2020). Tools such as flow charts and value stream mapping are particularly useful for understanding how current processes operate; while run charts provide insight into patterns over time which could indicate areas in need of attention or adjustment.
Finally, other key players might include those representing patient voices; these stakeholders bring invaluable input by providing feedback on existing conditions based off their own personal experiences which further helps inform planning stages going forward (Armstrong & Sables-Braus 2020). Thus having members from diverse backgrounds but united towards a common goal brings unparalleled benefits towards achieving success not just now but also far into the future too.
