Identify problems and safety concerns within many levels of an organization.

Discussion response

Read statement below and respond substantively to your peers. Comment on the strategies identified by your peers. If you can offer help or provide insight into additional tracer methods, use this opportunity to do so.

The tracer approach, which is a critical aspect of The Joint Commission’s onsite survey process, uses information from an organization to track a group of patients’ experiences with care, treatment, or services across the company’s full health care delivery process (TJC, 2018)

Tracers allow surveyors to pinpoint performance concerns in one or more process stages or at process interfaces (TJC, 2018). Three types of tracers are used. The first is individual tracer, they gather the experiences the patient had while in the facility. This tracer best identifies any problems with compliance. Data management, infection control, coordination and communication between relevant disciplines are evaluation topics for

system tracers. Lastly accreditation program-specific tracers identify problems and safety concerns within many levels of an organization.

Tracer methodology is important in nursing. Since nurses are the ones that mainly deal with patients and give the most care. Data collected from surveys could be used as educational tools for nurses to improve care. In my quality improvement initiative of improving hospital acquired pressure injuries, an individual tracer and a system tracer would be beneficial. A committee could be appointed to review charting and assess patients weekly or monthly for any problems. This data could be presented to management and administration to develop better evidence-based interventions to add in or adjust the current process. The information collected from tracers would enhance patient care and quality and improve the status of the facility.