5 Tips to Improving Patient Care and Outcomes as a Nurse

• No matter your position, there are always things nurses can do to work toward improving patient care.
• Consider individualizing your patient experiences and care plans.
• Strengthening interprofessional collaboration among staff is another avenue for improving patient care.

Tip 1: Evaluate Your Patient Education Delivery: Could a Change Help with Improving Patient Care?

We’re sure you’ve heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.”  

It is very true, and it is applicable in healthcare, too. 

Patient education must be a priority when improving patient care. If your patient doesn’t leave the facility knowing the potential health risks of their condition, or if they do not follow the treatment plan, then why would they bother to comply or follow it? This is something you must outline.

There are direct connections between thorough patient education and positive outcomes. 

Tip 2: Individualize Your Patient Experiences and Care Plans

Not every patient you meet is going to have the same wishes and desires with their treatment plan; this is a given. We are all different, and accepting this as a healthcare professional is essential for a successful career. 

Individualized patient care plans will not only show the patient that you are respecting their wishes, but also that you are going the extra mile to ensure that they are taken care of.  

Tip 3: Utilize Therapeutic Communication

When you’re seeing 20-plus patients per day, it’s easy to get caught in a routine where you are less focused on connecting with the patient. One example of where we may lose touch is how we communicate with patients.    

Have you caught yourself saying things like, “I need to get your blood pressure,” or “It looks fine?”  

It is OK if you have, we have all been there. However, we must understand the power our words have and begin using uplifting, energizing, and comforting words when delivering care. 

Therapeutic communication in nursing has been proven to have many benefits in the clinical setting, from increasing diagnostic accuracy to strengthening collaborative care and treatment plan decision-making with patients. 

A perfect example of utilizing therapeutic communication would be rather than saying your patient’s BP ‘looks fine,’ try using phrases such as, “Your BP is 135/75; that is great!”  

Not only does this promote comfort before the patient interacts with the physician, but it implies that you genuinely care about their vitals. 

Truly, there are no cons to this form of communication, and if applied correctly, it can be a major factor in improving patient care.  

Tip 4: Strengthening Interprofessional Collaboration Among Staff

As you can imagine, if everyone on the healthcare team is not on the same page with a patient’s protocol, the implications could be fatal.  

The Nurse Speak offers several suggestions for strengthening interprofessional collaboration in your unit or facility: 

1. Improving communication practices.
2. Increasing mutual respect and trust among all members of the healthcare team.
3. Creating a culture that supports equal power and autonomy.
4. Incorporating more resource personnel to help cover patient needs.
5. Holding nurse leaders and administrators accountable.

Tip 5: Reviewing Your Facility’s Publicly Reported HCAHPS Results and Pursue Potential Improvements

Do you ever check a restaurant’s reviews before visiting? Or perhaps check the product reviews before making a purchase? 

We often find ourselves doing this before we dedicate any time or money to something – in some cases, this is no different for a healthcare facility.  

Prospective patients or employees have access to public, quarterly reports from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) Survey.  

This survey evaluates patient perspectives regarding the quality of care that was delivered to them up until discharge. It covers various subjects, including:  

• Communication with doctors and nurses.
• Responsiveness of hospital staff.
• Cleanliness of the hospital environment.
• Quietness of the hospital environment.
• Pain management.
• Communication about medicines and discharge information.
• Overall rating of hospital.
• Recommendation of hospital.
  

The Bottom Line

Of course, not all these topics are something you can improve on an individual scale. However, if there are points that you believe can be worked on, try discussing them with your superior or an administrator. Your voice is more powerful than you think and change will not happen if you do not try.

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