Total Quality in Nursing

Course Description

The objectives of the course are:

• to define the concept of quality, the dimensions of quality, the service quality characteristics, the historical evolution of quality, the basic, the structural and the specialized elements of continuous quality improvement, as well as the future of quality, with reference to healthcare units.
• to present the Gurus of quality, and the quality features as expressed by each of them.
• to familiarize the students with the concept of total quality, and total quality management (TQM) in healthcare units, with reference to Avedis Donabedian.
• to analyze the concepts of customer / customer satisfaction / customer expectations, as well as the way that the healthcare organizations design and manage the proposed changes into the healthcare organizations.
• to discuss the role of the leadership in healthcare organizations.
• to present and analyze the way of measuring and evaluating intervention programs in healthcare units, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of the population.
• to introduce the role of quality systems in healthcare services, and the basic tools in the TQM.
• to describe the obstacles to the implementation of the total quality in healthcare services in today’s conditions and to suggest improvement proposals so that total quality management in health and medical sector can be regenerated in today’s globalized and uncertain environment.