Reducing unplanned endotracheal extubation in hospital ICU through Six Sigma and HQIC
by Feng-Chuan Pan, Mei-Yuh Shiau, Shen-Jih Chen
International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage (IJSSCA), Vol. 4, No. 4, 2008

Abstract: Six Sigma is a managerial philosophy for detecting the error rate of particular (or a set of) activities. This research applies the process DMAIC (define, measure, analyse, improve, control) of the Six Sigma concept in dealing with troublesome Unplanned Endotracheal Extubation (UEE) events that frequently occur in a hospital. Grounded on Continuous Quality Improvement-Total Quality Management (CQI-TQM), this research attempts to combine Six Sigma and the Health Quality Improvement Circle (HQIC) to guide the complete participation of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the case hospital. The project suggests taking several actions, including establishing standard operations and on-the-job training on the nursing staff for this particular purpose. The result shows that the focal events decreased significantly from 11.3% to 4.1% monthly, while the standard error improved from 2.7069 σ to 3.2437 σ. Although the case has proven the usefulness of Six Sigma, continuous efforts with a similar approach to this specific process and others within the hospital will be needed.

Online publication date: Wed, 04-Feb-2009

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Six Sigma and Competitive Advantage (IJSSCA):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com