Statistics in health care refers to the classification of data and information related to health matters. Health statistics procedures include estimates related to health, such as risk factors, mortality rates, and health services available. World Health Organization (WHO) has a crucial role in the dissemination and production of health statistics (Golmohammadi at el., 2019). Healthcare statistics applications have a significant demand for ensuring quality health, safety, health promotion, and leadership.
Healthcare professionals strive to deliver quality, useful, and reliable care in their organizations. Statistics analyses help compare performance and failure in the healthcare sectors. With details of failures, quality improvement managers can predict future outcomes by initiating useful improvements.
Patient safety is a critical factor in delivering quality healthcare. The WHO conducts statistical analysis strategies that aim to identify harmful occurrences in the health sector. This helps the WHO to gather reliable data on the causes of an accident. The WHO, in corroboration with Global Patient Safety Network, conducts improvement measures to avoid future occurrences of such harm.
Healthcare statistics have a significant role in workers’ promotion. Statistical analyses are used to compare workers’ performance based on competence, quality, and qualification. With detailed data, healthcare leaders can select the most appropriate personnel in a group and promote their work positions.
Health leaders use statistics in analyzing organizational historical performance. Using this historical data, leaders can analyze past failures and successes (Langell, 2019). With this knowledge, leaders can make effective decisions to cope with faults and promote successful performance. Statistical analysis also helps leaders to predict the future trend of their organization.
Statistical knowledge is a vital requirement of nursing in all health organizations. In nursing practices, statistics are mostly based on empirical evidence. Although nursing work includes caring for patients, it also involves statistical skills such as interpreting measurements and chart diagram for the patients.
Nurses apply several methods to obtain statistical data in their field. For example, in clinical activities that involve human subjects, nurses might use observation mode (Karthik at el 2020). Data collection through observation is used to answer and generate statistical knowledge about clinical emergencies in nursing work.
The test method is another applicable method for collecting statistical data. Nurses always test patients’ conditions, such as pressure and laboratory value, to collect data required for treatment. After testing, nurses record this information in data sheets to ensure proper documentation of patient medications. Sometimes nurses might test patients to acquire data for their extensive research.
There are varieties of applications that nurses use statistical knowledge in their day-to-day work. First, nurses use statistical data to enhance patient care. Nurses use information acquired through observation and testing to determine whether a patient requires emergency attention or gradual treatment.
Nurses also use statistically recorded information in identifying critical patient symptom changes. This helps them to respond accordingly to any significant patient change. Using data to diagnose patient changes also ensure fast attendance to patients with emergency conditions.
Nurses apply Statistical knowledge in making decisions in their daily routine. This includes deciding which medication is required by a patient in a specific condition and the patient to attend first. Using statistics, a nurse can direct can understand a patient’s condition and decide on discharge procedures.
References
Langell, J. T. (2019). Evidence-based medicine: a data-driven approach to lean healthcare operations. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 1-4.
Parast, M. M., & Golmohammadi, D. (2019). Quality management in healthcare organizations: Empirical evidence from the Baldrige data. International Journal of Production Economics, 216, 133-144.
Sivaparthipan, C. B., Karthikeyan, N., & Karthik, S. (2020). Designing statistical assessment healthcare information system for diabetics analysis using big data. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 79(13), 8431-8444.
write