Perioperative Management

Perioperative Management

Introduction

The health care industry is an asset for all mankind. With individuals committed to the welfare of their patients, the general population is proud to have these people as a part of society, as our friends and as our colleagues. This paper looks at ACORN standards of 2010-2011, departmental goals and how they relate to the hospitals strategic plans. Conclusively, a managerial perspective of one departmental KPI is also provided.

ACORN

The Australian College of Operating Room Nurses Standards of 2010-2011, or more commonly referred to as ACORN 10-11 is a body that developed certain standards of operation in an attempt to improve and perfect perioperative nursing. Using evidence based practices; the standards and quality of health care are greatly improved. The standards provide professional guidelines and specific recommendations regarding practice, role expectancy, helping nurses become valuable resources and benefit the general public by helping professionals provide better care to the general public. More information on ACORN Standards can be found on their webpage. With the standards in mind, the department has proposed a few goals and improvements that are in line with the hospitals strategic plans for the future. They directly benefit the hospital and the quality of care provided to the general public (www.acorn.org.au).

What Are Key Performance Indicators?

Performance indicators, or often call key performance indicators (KPI), is a term used by professionals whose job is to analyze performance and measure it for purposes of growth, productivity, cost cutting and diversifying (Neal & Hesketh, 2001, pp. 8-25). Key performance indicators are primarily used by organizations for evaluating or precisely judging the effectiveness and success of specific activities that have been initiated in departments. Key performance indicators are also employed when trying to assess how well strategic goals are being approached. Success is often confused by people. Some see it as purely financial growth where as others see it as successfully attaining achievements and fulfilling goals. At times, success is simply the reproduction of simple goals that must be achieved in order to keep the organization afloat (Bouckaert & Halligan, 2006, pp. 444-60). The different meanings of success thus make it necessary to choose the right key performance indicators. Furthermore, a proper understanding of key performance indicators is required to effectively use the analysis. This is because key performance indicators used for finance will be entirely different from those used for sales.

To choose the right KPI, with respect to the requirement, it essential that the present state of the organization, its activities and products. If key performance indicator analyses are properly done, the results can highlight areas that are in need of improvement. Knowing which areas need more improvement than others is vital to the success of the organization. It can save the unneeded expenditure of improving an already well oiled activity and focus the attention to areas that are lagging behind predefined goals, targets and assumptions of progress. A frequently employed method for choosing the proper key performance indicator is applying balanced score cards, among other management ...