Quality Concept

Develop your own Quality Concept when it comes to quality assurance. What does that mean? It means that you should determine what you feel is an important part of your equation to equal success in your performance as an EMS professional. If you’re uncertain of what to look for, or what’s important to you (off the top of your head), then learn from my thoughts…

Quality Concept: Quality Education, Quality Training, and Quality Assurance Lead to Quality Performance and Care?

Looking at each component of this concept and theory individually can provide you with a bit more insight as to what I’m referring to when I strive to promote quality within my teaching, within my performance, and within my actions as an EMS professional.

QUALITY EDUCATION

This is knowledge supplied…be it through attending classes, conferences, seminars, or by delivering new education as an instructor, supplying knowledge is a key component into the equation of providing quality care.

QUALITY TRAINING

Knowledge supplied vs. knowledge applied…utilizing your supplied knowledge and putting it to work, or applying it, is what can make you a great provider, instructor, manager, leader, and just an all-around good person.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

QA is more than just chart reviews/audits, skills performance evaluations, and competency exams…it’s encouragement, praise, constructive criticism, conflict management, and challenging one’s abilities to promote success all in one.

Promoting Quality Performance and Care is what we do in EMS…every call, every day, every provider. Yes, it’s easy to get caught-up in the monotony and frustration of certain frequent-flyer events…but at the end of the call, we still strive to be a good provider to our patients, regardless of the number of times we’ve been to their facility or residence in the past week/month/year.

Instilling this concept and practice into your work as an EMS Director can help to strengthen the focus of your organization from the top (that’s you) on down. Showing your staff that you have high expectations by meeting them yourself (yes, actually leading by example) is one way of proving your focus and expectations on quality.

As an instructor, accepting positive and negative feedback and then working off of that to make your next presentation better, your next lecture more exciting, and your next skills review more realistic are all ways to improve your own sense of quality. As a provider, pushing yourself to read that trade magazine that’s sitting on the coffee table, attend a conference here-and-there, and become involved in local/service committees can all help you to show your ambition toward, and investment in, providing quality patient care.

Regardless of your level of licensure, your status within your organization, or your individual pay-grade, doing a good job needs to be a priority. Working to develop your own Quality Concept can help to identify what is valuable to you as an individual, your service as an entity, and your team as one unit.