Achieving excellence in thrombolytic therapy.
Hospitals today are challenged to provide high-quality, high-technology, cost-effective care while maintaining a humanistic approach toward patients and their families. Thrombolytic therapy for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) can present challenges to emergency department and critical care nursing staff members. The areas of concomitant medications, screening checklists, associated laboratory studies, and overall time to treatment presented opportunities for improvement at a Florida hospital. The clinical process and the existing quality improvement activities were reviewed by a multidisciplinary continuous quality improvement (CQI) team. The outcomes of the CQI process were extremely favorable; 100% compliance was achieved in all aspects of care for patients with AMI.
Broward General Medical Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA.
R
R
Whitcomb
D
D
Aleman
D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004282:Documentation; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005431:Florida; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy; D009737:Nursing Records; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards*; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000379:methods*