title: Leadership, a central ingredient for a successful quality agenda: a qualitative study of Canadian leaders' perspectives.
abstract: Quality and safety (QS) teams have emerged as one strategy to improve the quality of care and safety. This article aims to enhance understanding of, and identify implications for, leaders in implementing successful QS teams. Research findings from the authors' study that explored barriers and facilitators of Canadian QS teams highlight the need for delineated leadership and accountability, focused strategic plans, available data, dedicated resources and targeted messaging to engage staff and physicians. While top-down leadership strategies were predominantly reported, developing leaders at all organizational levels was acknowledged as key to sustaining a quality culture and advancing the quality agenda.
authors.affiliation: Associate professor and is the associate dean of research for the Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, in Calgary, Alberta. You can contact her at 403-210-9627 or by email at dwhit@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Deborah E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Senior research and evaluation consultant with Workforce Research and Evaluation, Alberta Health Services, in Calgary, Alberta.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.affiliation: Scientific writer for the Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary.
authors.forename: Jill M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Norris
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D002170:Canada; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007857:Leadership; D015279:Organizational Culture; D036301:Qualitative Research; D058996:Quality Improvement