Adopting a new method of quality management in healthcare can help to improve nursing safety and patient satisfaction in radiology, according to a new study.

Referred to as the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” (or Deming) cycle, the approach is widely used to help standardize nursing management. One hospital in China recently tested out this method, sharing their findings Feb. 28 in the Journal of Radiology Nursing [1].

They found that scores for quality management and nursing satisfaction were higher among patients treated under the Deming cycle versus those who were not. Meanwhile, wait times and adverse events decreased, with “statistically significant” differences between the intervention group (160 patients) and control group (160 more).

“Taken together, the application of [Plan-Do-Check-Act] process management can effectively improve the nursing quality and safety of the radiology department, elevate patient satisfaction and reduce waiting time and adverse event occurrence,” Xue Bai, RN, with the Jingzhou First People's Hospital in Hubei, China, concluded.

The analysis included a total of 320 patients who underwent an imaging exam at the institution during a three-year period. Patients in the control group received routine nursing management between December 2019 and February 2020 while the others were treated under a PDCA approach. The method involves four stages including planning ways to address safety issues, implementing preventive measures, inspecting the effect of these actions and then adopting corrective measures and targeted guidance.

“These four stages can be carried out successively or at the same time,” Bai noted.  “New problems can be found in each cycle, goals can be set again according to the new problems, and efforts can be made to complete in the next cycle to achieve a spiral rise.”

Comparing the two groups revealed noteworthy differences. Scores for nursing management quality—including preparation of equipment, cooperation skills, disinfection and isolation, quality and safety—were higher in the PDCA group. Patient satisfaction scores—covering nursing communication, attitude, environment, etc.—also were higher. Wait times decreased, too, with adverse events such as contrast agent leakage dropping.

“It is suggested that after the implementation of PDCA management mode, nursing staff can truly establish the concept of scientific service, and provide patients with detailed psychological counseling and comprehensive health education, thus effectively enhancing quality and safety of nursing and improving the nurse patient relationship and nursing satisfaction,” Bai noted.