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The importance, challenges and prospects of taking work practices into account for healthcare quality improvement

Allen, Davina Ann ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6729-7502 2016. The importance, challenges and prospects of taking work practices into account for healthcare quality improvement. Journal of Health Organisation and Management 30 (4) , pp. 672-689. 10.1108/JHOM-04-2014-0062

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Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to underline the importance of taking work practices into account for quality improvement (QI) purposes, highlight some of the challenges of doing so, and suggest strategies for future research and practice. Patient status at a glance, a Lean-inspired QI intervention designed to alleviate nurses of their knowledge mobilisation function, is deployed as an illustrative case. Design/methodology/approach – Ethnographic data and practice-based theories are utilised to describe nurses’ knowledge mobilisation work. The assumptions about knowledge sharing embedded in patient status at a glance white boards (PSAGWBs) are analysed drawing on actor network theory. Findings – There is a disparity between nurses’ knowledge mobilisation practices and the scripts that inform the design of PSAGWBs. PSAGWBs are designed to be intermediaries and to transport meaning without transformation. When nurses circulate knowledge for patient management purposes, they operate as mediators, translating diverse information sources and modifying meaning for different audiences. PSAGWBs are unlikely to relieve nurses of their knowledge mobilisation function and may actually add to the burdens of this work. Despite this nurses have readily embraced this QI intervention. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited by its focus on a single case and by the inferential (rather than the empirical) nature of its conclusions. Originality/value – This paper illustrates the importance of taking practice into account in healthcare QI, points to some of the challenges of doing so and highlights the potential of practice-based approaches in supporting progress in this field.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Healthcare Sciences
Subjects: R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Publisher: Emerald
ISSN: 1477-7266
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 11 August 2016
Date of Acceptance: 12 June 2015
Last Modified: 07 Nov 2023 18:50
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/93811

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