scholarly journals Structure Please; Continuous Improvement and Employee Consequences in a Dynamic Task Environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (20) ◽  
pp. 5564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Benders ◽  
Michiel Bal ◽  
Lander Vermeerbergen
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Home ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Dynamic Task ◽  
Employee Wellbeing ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Improvement Programs

Whilst continuous improvement (CI) programs have had an enduring appeal for several decades, their sustainability has been a concern for almost as long. Sustaining a CI program requires permanent support of all its stakeholders, particularly of the most important ones—employees. Some authors argue that continuous improvement programs are beneficial for employee wellbeing, while others contest this. We contribute to the small empirical basis for such claims by presenting results from research among care workers in Flemish nursing homes. Questionnaires from 553 care workers in a nursing home applying continuous improvement and in a reference group of nine comparable homes were analyzed to study differences in job demands, job resources, burnout risk, and work engagement. In addition, we have drawn on interviews, site visits, and other qualitative data to assess the extent to which the differences found may be attributed to the CI program used. Overall, the care workers in the nursing home with the CI program evaluated their jobs as better than their colleagues in the reference group. These differences are at least partly caused by the continuous improvement program. We argue that the main effect is that over time, daily work processes become more structured. The work pressure decreases as work becomes less hectic.

QS-9000 – Using the Automotive Requirements to Improve Existing ISO 9000 Systems

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.F. Young
Keyword(s):  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Iso 9000 ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quality System ◽  
General Motors ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Quality Initiatives ◽  
Cost Of Quality ◽  
Improvement Programs

Abstract In this paper, we will discuss how to incorporate several of the QS-9000 quality system requirements into an existing ISO 9000 quality system. This expansion of the existing quality system will be cost effective and ensure that the continuous improvement program will meet its goals. The QS-9000 quality system was developed in 1994 by the "Big Three" automotive and truck producers in Detroit, Michigan. This document, originated in the United States, is based upon the International Standard: ISO 9001-94. It is mandatory that any supplier of goods and/or services to either Chrysler, Ford or General Motors must have their quality system registered to the QS-9000 standard. We believe that there can be benefits to non-automotive organizations if they will incorporate some of the QS-9000 clauses into their current ISO 9000 quality systems. We will discuss actual cases in the following areas: purchasing, safety, process control, training, business management and continuous improvement. We will show how these examples of quality system enhancement are both effective and efficient ways of driving cost reduction and process improvement programs. Cost of quality initiatives can be better managed.

scholarly journals Welfare Technology – You Need to do it Right! A Qualitative Study of the Work of Care Workers to Provide Patient Safety at Home through Technology.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randi Stokke ◽  
Aud Obstfelder ◽  
Hege Kristin Andreassen ◽  
Line Melby ◽  
Jørn Isaksen
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Safety Work ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Welfare Technology

Abstract Background In health care, the work of keeping the patient safe and reducing the risk of harm is defined as safety work. In our digitised and technology-rich era, safety work usually involves a relationship between people and technologies. Welfare technology is one of the fastest-growing technology-domains in western health care systems. In the marketing of welfare technology, the expectation is that safety is provided simply by being present in patients’ homes. Whilst both research and health authorities are concerned with developing cost-benefit analysis and measuring effects, there is a lack of attention to the daily work needed to ensure that technologies deliver patient safety. This paper aims to describe how patient safety in home care is performed through and with welfare technology. We base our exploration on the social alarm, an established technology that care workers are expected to handle as an integrated part of their ordinary work. MethodsWe draw on empirical data from three case studies, involving five Norwegian municipalities that use social alarm systems in home care services. Building on a qualitative explorative design, we analyse observations of practice and interviews with the actors involved, in accordance with King's outline of template analysis.ResultsOur analysis illuminated three co-existing work processes where patient safety is secured: “Aligning people and technologies”; “Being alert and staying calm”; and “Coordinating activities depending on people and technology”. Attention to these work processes exposes the detailed practices of safety, and how it is produced in relational practices involving multiple people and technologies.ConclusionsWe conclude that the three work processes identified are essential if the safety alarm is to function for the end-user’s safety. Home-dwelling patients' safety is reliant on the people involved with technologies, and technologies do not create this on their own. The efforts of care workers are a central feature of creating safety in a patient's home, and in doing so, they utilise a repertoire of skills and knowledge.

scholarly journals A qualitative study of what care workers do to provide patient safety at home through telecare

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Randi Stokke ◽  
Line Melby ◽  
Jørn Isaksen ◽  
Aud Obstfelder ◽  
Hege Andreassen
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Safety Work ◽  
Care Workers

Abstract Background In health care, the work of keeping the patient safe and reducing the risk of harm is defined as safety work. In our digitised and technology-rich era, safety work usually involves a relationship between people and technologies. Telecare is one of the fastest-growing technology-domains in western health care systems. In the marketing of telecare, the expectation is that safety is implicit simply by the presence of technology in patients’ homes. Whilst both researchers and health authorities are concerned with developing cost-benefit analyses and measuring effects, there is a lack of attention to the daily work needed to ensure that technologies contribute to patient safety. This paper aims to describe how patient safety in home care is addressed through and with telecare. We base our exploration on the social alarm, an established technology that care workers are expected to handle as an integrated part of their ordinary work. Methods The study has a qualitative explorative design where we draw on empirical data from three case studies, involving five Norwegian municipalities that use social alarm systems in home care services. We analyse observations of practice and interviews with the actors involved, following King’s outline of template analysis. Results We identified three co-existing work processes that contributed to patient safety: “Aligning people and technologies”; “Being alert and staying calm”; and “Coordinating activities based on people and technology”. Attention to these work processes exposes safety practices, and how safety is constructed in relational practices involving multiple people and technologies. Conclusions We conclude that the three work processes identified are essential if the safety alarm is to function for the end user’s safety. The safety of home-dwelling patients is reliant on the person-technology interface. The efforts of care workers and their interface with technology are a central feature of creating safety in a patient’s home, and in doing so, they utilise a repertoire of skills and knowledge.

Continuous improvement in product development

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 753-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Nilsson‐Witell ◽  
Marc Antoni ◽  
Jens J. Dahlgaard
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Improvement Program ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Principles ◽  
Development Context ◽  
Improvement Programs

PurposeContinuous improvement has become an important strategy in improving organizational performance. Unfortunately, product development is often excluded in continuous improvement programs due to the special characteristics of product development activities. The overall purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of continuous improvement in the context of product development.Design/methodology/approachA central aspect in this context is that many organizations find it difficult to improve and learn if work is carried out in the form of projects. In this paper, a quality perspective on continuous improvement is introduced and its usefulness is tested empirically through three case studies in Swedish organizations. The focus is on the improvement programs used and the quality principles displayed in a product development context.FindingsThe results show that the three investigated organizations have multiple improvement programs, but that some configurations of improvement programs seem to be more successful than others. For instance, co‐ordination of multiple improvement programs, scope creep, and separating between product development processes and project management models are important success factors for continuous improvement. In addition, an introduction of an improvement program without adoption of a critical mass of quality principles is doomed to fail.Originality/valueThe research initiative is one of the first to conduct an empirical investigation of how organizations design and work with improvement programs in the context of product development. It provides knowledge to both academics and practitioners on how organizations can design and implement initiatives on quality management, especially in the context of product development.

Intricacies of back-office

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sari Yli-Kauhaluoma ◽  
Mika Pantzar
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Daily Work ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Office Environments ◽  
Back Office ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how back-office service staff cope with the intricacies of administrative work. Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies the research approach of “at-home ethnography” in a university back-office. The primary method of data collection was participant listening in the field, either in formal interviews or casual conversations. Photography helped the authors to zoom the conversation in to specific artefacts in administrative offices. Findings – The study identifies both forward- and backward-looking recipes as essential administrative tools that back-office staff develop and use to handle intricacies that emerge in their daily work. Forward-looking recipes are based on anticipatory cognitive representations, whereas backward-looking recipes are based on experiential wisdom. The study elaborates on the different kinds of modelling practices that back-office service staff engage in while building and applying these two different kinds of recipes. Practical implications – The recipes support administrators in knowledge replication and thus help avoid interruptions, reduce uncertainty, and produce consistency in administrative processes. Originality/value – In contrast to existing studies of formal bureaucracies, the study provides a unique empirical account to show how back-office service staff cope with the multiple intricacies existing in current office environments. The study shows how recipes as models contribute to stabilizing or even routinizing work processes in complex administrative situations.

scholarly journals Improving Quality of Life in Nursing Homes: The Structured Resident Interview Approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard B. Degenholtz ◽  
Abby L. Resnick ◽  
Natalie Bulger ◽  
Lichun Chia
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Nursing Home ◽  
Nursing Homes ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Nursing Home Residents ◽  
Care Plan ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Improvement Programs

The quality of life (QOL) of the approximately 1.5 million nursing facility (NF) residents in the US is undoubtedly lower than desired by residents, families, providers, and policy makers. Although there have been important advances in defining and measuring QOL for this population, there is a need for interventions that are tied to standardized measurement and quality improvement programs. This paper describes the development and testing of a structured, tailored assessment and care planning process for improving the QOL of nursing home residents. The Quality of Life Structured Resident Interview and Care Plan (QOL.SRI/CP) builds on a decade of research on measuring QOL and is designed to be easily implemented in any US nursing home. The approach was developed through extensive and iterative pilot testing and then tested in a randomized controlled trial in three nursing homes. Residents were randomly assigned to receive the assessment alone or both the assessment and an individualized QOL care plan task. The results show that residents assigned to the intervention group experienced improved QOL at 90- and 180-day follow-up, while QOL of residents in the control group was unchanged.

ANALYSIS OF THE ROLE OF THE ECONOMIST IN PUBLIC HEALTH

Vestnik ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 313-316
Author(s):  
И.Г. Турсумбай ◽  
Л.К. Кошербаева
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Health Economics ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Care Workers

Одним из последствий осуществления медицинской деятельности в разнообразных хозяйственных формах является изменение экономического положения работников здравоохранения. От количества и качества их труда зависит экономический результат деятельности лечебно-профилактических учреждений (ЛПУ) в целом. В статье приводится сравнительный анализ занимающихся подготовкой экономистов в области здравоохранения по различным критериям. Подчеркивается необходимость непрерывного совершенствования подготовки управленческих кадров в области экономики здравоохранения в современных условиях развития общества. One of the consequences of the implementation of medical activities in various economic forms is a change in the economic situation of health care workers. The number and quality of their work depends on the economic result of the activities of medical and preventive institutions (LPU) as a whole. The article presents a comparative analysis of the health economists who are engaged in training according to various criteria. The necessity of continuous improvement of training of managerial personnel in the field of health economics in the modern conditions of society development is emphasized.

scholarly journals Organisational culture, organisational learning and total quality management: A literature review and synthesis

1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Bloor
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Total Quality Management ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Organisational Learning ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Improvement Programs

As health services face increasing pressure to meet the expectations of different stakeholders,they must continuously improve and learn from their experience. Many fail in attempts at continuous improvement programs because managers have not understood the complexity of making changes in organisations with multiple subcultures and interests. This article examines the related concepts of organisational culture, organisational learning and total quality management and shows how a synthesis of this knowledge can assist in develop ingcontinuous organisational learning and improvement.

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