Training Staff in Quality Improvement (QI) Concepts and Techniques
One requirement for successful quality improvement initiatives is a staff that is familiar with the reasoning that underlies these efforts and comfortable using the required tools and techniques. Many resources and educational programs are available to help organizations accomplish this.
This topic brief reviews the kind of investment in training that you might want to make as you lead your healthcare organization down the path described in this guide.
Teaching the Rationale
Start by educating clinical and administrative staff on the central principles of QI and how it can benefit the organization and its members/patients. Training programs should address the “why” of QI as well as the “what” and the “how.” It can be especially useful to share information on how others have used this approach to improve patients’ experiences with care and what their responses have been. Strategies to improve patient experience and engagement can also have an important effect on clinical outcomes and physician and staff satisfaction.
Related topic brief: Why Improve Patient Experience with Healthcare?
Teaching Concepts and Methods
To participate effectively in patient experience improvement teams, staff members need basic training in specific QI concepts and methods.2 Teams that have had basic training in QI techniques, group work, and team building are usually able to achieve success much faster than teams that have had no such previous training or experience.
Related topic brief: Learn about these concepts and methods in Using Established Improvement Models to Improve Patient Experience.
Depending on their role in the team, many staff will also benefit from more advanced training in the effective use of statistical methods, graphic analysis, and multidisciplinary teams.2 However, sometimes teams focus on the training, rather than improvement in healthcare quality, as the “end goal.” For that reason, it is important to set clear aims at the outset for the success of any QI project.
Training for clinicians. Physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), and nurses may also benefit from training in QI concepts and methods.,3,4 Few healthcare professionals and managers receive any kind of QI training in their basic education. Doctors are trained to succeed as individuals but not as members of a team, despite the reality that almost everything they aspire to accomplish is dependent on successful relationships with their patients and other staff.
Visit the Resource Library
- Put Quality Improvement into Practice, a video from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
- Quality Improvement in Healthcare, a video from Dr. Mike Evans, St. Michael’s Hospital.
- QI Basics – Introduction to Quality Improvement, a video from Stratis Health.
Sources of training on quality improvement
1. Kazana I, Dolansky M. Quality improvement: Online resources to support nursing education and practice. Nurs Forum 2021 Apr;56(2):341-349. doi: 10.1111/nuf.12533. Epub 2021 Jan 2. PMID: 33386750.
2. Brugman IM, Visser A, Maaskant JM, Geerlings SE, Eskes AM. The Evaluation of an Interprofessional QI Program: A Qualitative Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022 Aug 15;19(16):10087. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191610087. PMID: 36011718; PMCID: PMC9408409.
3. Prochnow L, DiClemente L, Riley P, Tschannen D. Examining QI Knowledge Among Frontline Nurses and Nurse Leaders. J Nurs Care Qual 2023 Apr-Jun 01;38(2):152-157. doi: 10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000672. Epub 2022 Oct 10. PMID: 36214701.
4. Alkahtani AS, Abbas AH, Bin Rsheed AM, Alabood AF, Alqahtani AA. Assessing the Impact of a Service Excellence Program on Improving Patient Experience at Primary Health Care Centers. Cureus 2023 Aug 19;15(8):e43749.
