Free Essay

Statistical Uses

In: Other Topics

Submitted By tkeys
Words 957
Pages 4
Use of Statistical Information
HCS/438
August 6, 2012

Use of Statistical Information
Statistics is defined as “the science of collecting, organizing, and interpreting data” (Bennett, Briggs, & Triola, 2009). For most patients and their families, the process of healthcare appears simple. People with illnesses are admitted into a hospital facility and a specific course of treatment is identified and the care is carried out by a team of physicians, nurses, and social workers. What is not noticed is a specialized resource team aimed at keeping all patients safe throughout the course of their hospitalization. This paper will identify how statistics are utilized in the infection prevention setting, identify one example of descriptive statistics, identify one example of inferential statistics, explain data at each of the four levels of measurement and describe the advantages of accurate interpretation of statistical information to improve decision making in the workplace.
How Are Statistics Used in Your Workplace
There are many uses for statistical application in the field of infection prevention and control. The purpose of infection prevention and control is to put into place policies and procedures that minimize the spread of infections, especially in the hospital setting. The primary function of infection prevention and control surveillance is to reduce the occurrence of infections by using risk factors and implementation of risk-risk reduction measures and the effectiveness of interventions (“Center for Disease Control”, 2012). Two examples of how statistics are utilized are the hospital-wide surveillance of central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) and catheter related urinary tract infections (CAUTI). Infection rates of CLABSI and CAUTI are reported to senior leadership on a monthly basis; if an increase in infection rates is noted then specific interventions are implemented to reduce the rates. Examples would be staff and patient education, an increase in monitoring of hand hygiene compliance and isolation practices.
What is One Example of Descriptive Statistics Used in Your Workplace
According to Bennett, Briggs & Triola (2009), descriptive statistics deal with describing raw data in the form of graphics and sample statistics. A specific example of descriptive statistics relating to the field of infection prevention and control would be displaying the rate of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) hospital acquired infections (HAI’s) to the senior leadership on a monthly basis in graph form. What is One Example of Inferential Statistics Used in Your Workplace
Inferential statistics deals with inferring (or estimating) population parameters from sample data (Bennett, Briggs & Triola (2009). Senior leadership could make a recommendation based upon the results of the descriptive data to begin a staff education process related to proper hand hygiene and contact isolation practices to improve the MRSA HAI rate.
How is Data at Each of the Four Levels of Measurement Used in Your Workplace
The nominal level of measurement is pieces of information that consists of name, labels, or categories and involves no ranking or ordering of the data (Bennett, Briggs & Triola, 2009). Examples of this type of data would be the use of medical record numbers or social security numbers as a form of patient identification. The data is displayed in no particular order and is completely random.
Bennett, Briggs & Triola (2009) describe ordinal level of measurement as data with a ranking or ordering scheme, such as star ratings of movies or restaurants. The ordinal level of measurement provides a ranking system and does not allow determination of the precise levels of difference. The most common example of ordinal data is the use of a daily patient census. The census is displayed according to the room number location listing from lowest to highest.
Other information included in the census listing is the patient’s name, medical record number and admission date.
With the interval level of measurement, the differences between the numbers do matter, but the ratios and zero point do not (Bennett, Briggs & Triola, 2009). Actual temperatures using the Census and Fahrenheit scales are common. Data at this level has an arbitrary zero point. The Sterile Processing Service (SPS) uses the interval level of measurement when mixing the cleaning and disinfectant solutions for the reprocessing of reusable medical equipment. The facilities Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) require this process to assure the complete decontamination of equipment.
The ratio level of measurement applies to quantitative data in which both intervals and ratios are meaningful; data at the level have a true zero point (Bennett, Briggs & Triola, 2009). Daily weights are taken on patients undergoing antibiotic therapy. These weights are used by pharmacy to adjust dosages on certain antibiotics that require weight-bases therapies. The facility also uses this data to determine which patients are losing weight and might be in the need of a consult from the nutritionist.
What are the Advantages of Accurate Interpretation of Statistical Information to Improve Decision Making in Your Organization
Accurate interpretation of data is essential to provide the highest quality of patient care as it relates to infection prevention and control. The primary responsibility of this department is to use the data obtained and bring forth proper policies and procedures that reduce the risk of patients acquiring an infection during their hospitalization. “At its most basic level, statistical quality control is rooted in the graphical and statistical analysis of process data for the purposes of understanding, monitoring, and improving process performance-general objectives that in essence are quite similar to those of epidemiology” (Benneyan,1998) .

References
Bennett, J. O., Briggs, W. L., & Triola, M. F. (2009). Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc..
Benneyan, J. C. (1998, March). Statistical Quality Control Methods in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, Part I: Introduction and Basic Theory. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 19(3), 194-214.
Centers for Disease Control. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.c

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Uses of Statistical Data

...Uses of Statistical Information Darryl Lowery Statistical Applications/HCS438 February 28, 2012 Julieanne Hessler, RN MSN, MBA Introduction Statistics are used in every phase in the delivery of health care. This is particularly true as it relates to the cost of providing health care services (Eaton, 2006). At Mercy Medical Center, not unlike any other health care facility, the use of statistics is pervasive throughout the organization. First and foremost Mercy uses statistics to develop and maintain its financial imperatives (Minnis, 2008). Simply stated if actual cost of providing health care services exceeds the revenue generated the organization will have difficulty keeping its doors open. This paper will discuss examples of descriptive and inferential statistics in use at Mercy Medical Center. Also discussed will be how data at nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement are used within the organization. Finally, the advantages of accurate interpretation of statistical data and improved decision making within the organization will be discussed. Descriptive Statistics An example of a descriptive statistic used at Mercy Medical Center is time spent by the Emergency Department on yellow alert status. Yellow alert is defined by the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (2012) as ambulance diversion from a designated emergency department that is unable to effectively manage additional patient volume at that time...

Words: 917 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Uses of Statistical Data

...TermPaperWarehouse.com - Free Term Papers, Essays and Research Documents The Research Paper Factory Join Search Browse Saved Papers Home Page » Other Topics Uses of Statistical Data In: Other Topics Uses of Statistical Data Uses of Statistical Information Darryl Lowery Statistical Applications/HCS438 February 28, 2012 Julieanne Hessler, RN MSN, MBA Introduction Statistics are used in every phase in the delivery of health care. This is particularly true as it relates to the cost of providing health care services (Eaton, 2006). At Mercy Medical Center, not unlike any other health care facility, the use of statistics is pervasive throughout the organization. First and foremost Mercy uses statistics to develop and maintain its financial imperatives (Minnis, 2008). Simply stated if actual cost of providing health care services exceeds the revenue generated the organization will have difficulty keeping its doors open. This paper will discuss examples of descriptive and inferential statistics in use at Mercy Medical Center. Also discussed will be how data at nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement are used within the organization. Finally, the advantages of accurate interpretation of statistical data and improved decision making within the organization will be discussed. Descriptive Statistics An example of a descriptive statistic used at Mercy Medical Center is time spent by the Emergency...

Words: 491 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Use of Statistical Information

...Uses of Statistical Information Donna Ballard, RN University of Phoenix HCS/438 Statistics Betty Jones, RN July 7, 2015 Statistics is defined as “the science of collecting, organizing, and interpreting data” (Bennett, Briggs, & Triola, 2009). Statistics can be utilized in many ways within an organization such as acute care also referred to as hospitals. Each facility has a specific department identified as infection prevention or infection control. Infection control/prevention uses research and statistics to facilitate standardized care by implementing best practice measures through evidenced based practice. “Statistical information that is gathered is then used to help compare present and past performance, as a guide for planning future development, appraisal of work performed by healthcare staff, hospital or clinic finding, and research ( International Federation of Health Information Management Associations, 2012). The purpose of this assignment is to identify how statistics are utilized within the infection control and prevention department at Sierra View Medical Center, identify one example of descriptive statistics, identify one example of inferential statistics, explain data at each of the four levels of measurement and describe the advantages of accurate interpretation of statistical information to improve decision making. The purpose of infection prevention and control is to put into place policies and procedures that minimize the spread of infections...

Words: 1100 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Uses of Statistical Information

...Uses of Statistical Information HCS/438 October25, 2010 Ray Harvey Uses of Statistical Information Statistics are an important part of any company or organization. Statistics can be used to measure just about anything within a company. Any chosen topic within an organization could have a statistical study done. Specific people within an organization are those that do the studies and post results of the statistics to inform other people within the organization. I work for a hospice organization that is non-profit and I am sure that they are constantly doing studies and tracking statistics of the patients and families that we provide care for daily. This paper will show some possible ways that this hospice organization can use descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive Statistics Descriptive statistics is using graphs to describe raw data from research and studies (Bennett, Briggs,& Triola, 2009). One area that we use descriptive statistics and that I can look at deals with patient and family satisfaction. Hospice surveys the patients and the patient’s families that we have taken care of and obtains feedback about the experience they had with hospice. Oftentimes this information comes from the family members because the patients usually pass away before we get this information. This is done with each home care and each inpatient unit that we have. The company takes the feedback for three months and comes up with the mean for those three months to let us know...

Words: 1005 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Uses of Statistical Information

...Uses of Statistical Information Statistics are used throughout nursing daily, between evidence-based research and patient care. Quality improvement based statistics are done by using software such as IBM SPSS Statistics. Continuous quality improvement plans involve patient and staff satisfaction and safety protocols (such as the use of restraints and number of patient falls). Statistics are also used to determine how many cases of particular diseases there are in the hospital, to estimate incidence and prevalence and number of deaths in the hospital. Each unit is thorough with evaluating outcomes by performing a pre-test, audit on the charts, and a post-test along with another audit. Statistics Used Descriptive statistics are used in the workplace to describe and share specific data to get information, but not draw any conclusions. According to Bennett, Briggs, and Triola (2009), "descriptive statistics deals with describing raw data in the form of graphics and sample statistics" (p. 7). Some examples of descriptive study currently in place in a variety of areas are emergency room wait times, the number of homeless veterans being cared for and numbers of readmissions in the hospital. Wait times for the emergency room are averaged through the computer system from the time the patient checks into the time the patient is seen. The information collected is the age and ethnicity of the individual, and the amount of time spent waiting for care. This information is used within the...

Words: 978 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Uses of Statistical Information Paper

...There are so many forms of data used where I work, that it is practically one way of describing what it is we do. Nursing and operating a hospital are so full of different uses of data that it is a challenge to break them down into individual uses. There is data used for budgeting, staffing, and supplies. Data is collected on demographics of the patient population. Data is measured constantly in patients; vital signs, lab values, and measurements of all sorts. We also conduct clinical trials in vast numbers collecting data on efficacy, treatment variation, modalities, and outcomes. 2. One example of descriptive statistics we use in our work place is yearly charts depicting prevalence of falls hospital wide. These charts are shown in a number of ways and are divided by unit so that each unit can be compared one with the other. Additionally, they have charts showing the yearly trends by unit and hospital-wide. They get fairly detailed on some of them showing specific categories of fall occurrence, for example; assisted vs. unassisted; Falls due to toileting; falls by time of day; falls by assessed risk category. This practice is highly effective and allows everyone to see where, when, and how falls are occurring. It also provides insight into how to go about reducing the instances. 3. Where I work we do use inferential statistics, in fact we apply it a lot. We administer chemotherapy and study its effects. We collect data from sample populations (trials) and based on the analysis...

Words: 710 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Uses of Statistical Information in Medical Management

...the requests are forwarded to the managed care service contractor. We also monitor referral patterns, and identify trends relating to network leakage, network care recapture, continuity of care, and customer satisfaction. I work with a team of nurses who don’t work under a clinical directorate. We work under the business directorate. I help to decrease the government’s spending at my facility in particular, on healthcare costs and help to generate revenue in our facility. When purchased care costs are down, our revenue is up. If we see an opportunity to generate revenue in other ways we approach the directorate of business operations to see if we can implement a new plan. Descriptive Statistics According to "Basic Statistical Concepts for Nurses" (2011), “Descriptive statistics are techniques which help the investigator to organize, summarize and describe measures of a sample. Here no predictions or inferences are made regarding population parameters. Descriptive statistics are used to summarize observations and to place these observations within context. The most common descriptive statistics include measures of central tendency and measures of variability” (Descriptive Statistics). An example of descriptive statistics at my workplace occurs when we collect data to identify trends in care being redirected to the purchased...

Words: 1127 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Kid of the Bay

...Argumentative Writing Rubric 9-10 | Advanced | Proficient | Basic | Not Yet | Claim: The text introduces a clear, arguable claim that can be supported by reasons and evidence. | The text introduces a compelling claim that is clearly arguable and takes a purposeful position on an issue. The text has a structure and organization that is carefully crafted to support the claim. | The text introduces a precise claim that is clearly arguable and takes an identifiable position on an issue. The text has an effective structure and organization that is aligned with the claim. | The text introduces a claim that is arguable and takes a position. The text has a structure and organization that is aligned with the claim. | The text contains an unclear or emerging claim that suggests a vague position. The text attempts a structure and organization to support the position. | Development: The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim as well as a conclusion that supports the argument. | The text provides convincing and relevant data and evidence to back up the claim and effectively addresses counterclaims. The conclusion strengthens the claim and evidence. | The text provides sufficient and relevant data and evidence to back up the claim and addresses counterclaims fairly. The conclusion effectively reinforces the claim and evidence. | The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim and addresses counterclaims. The conclusion ties to the claim and...

Words: 668 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Web Design

.............................................................4 2.1 Company Information………………………………………………………………4 2.2 Site Goal……………………………………………………………………………..4 2.3 Organizational Culture…………………………………………………….............4 2.4 Affects of Physical Settings on Information Access and Use...........................4 2.5 Primary Audience and Secondary Users…………………………………………5 2.6 Audience Demographics and Psychographics…………………………………..5 2.7 Primary Use of Product or Service………………………………………………..5 2.8 Role of Current Resources………………………………………………………...5 2.0 VISUAL AND FUNCTIONAL DETAILS..............................................................5 3.9 Internal/External User Site Map…………………………………………………...6 3.0 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS..............................................................................7 4.10 Performance Requirements………………………………………………………..7 4.11 Platform………………………………………………………………………………7 4.12 Database…………………………………………………………………………….7 4.13 Security………………………………………………………………………………7 4.14 Site Hosting………………………………………………………………………….8 4.15 Major Pages, Functions, Features and Use Cases……………………………..8 4.16.1 Home Page…………………………………………………………………9 4.16.2 Search……………………………………………………………………....9 4.16.3 Search Result Page(s)…………………………………………………….9 4.16.4 Shopping Cart………………………………………………………….......9 4.16.5 Checkout…………………………………………………………………….9 ...

Words: 2592 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Piracy in Music and Movies

...rules against ‘Plagiarism’ in IIM Kozhikode and hereby declare that our work is original and plagiarism-free, and that in all cases where we quote or use the work of others (in books, articles, essays, research papers and on the internet), it is acknowledged and quotations and paraphrases are clearly indicated. Sandeep Bhat Shakun Satyanarayan A Sana Niazi Saurabh Chaudhary Sabyasachi Das DECLARATION OF EQUAL CONTRIBUTION OF WORK We hereby declare that we have equally contributed towards completing this research and put in efforts to the best of our capabilities. Sandeep Bhat Shakun Satyanarayan A Sana Niazi Saurabh Chaudhary Sabyasachi Das TABLE OF CONTENTS Sr. No. | Content | Page No. | 1. | Literature Review | 3 | 2. | Executive Summary | 3 | 3. | Methodology | 4 | 4. | Data Analysis and Findings | 5 | 5. | Conclusion | 6 | 6. | References | 7 | 7. | Appendix | 7 | 1. LITERATURE REVIEW Piracy refers to the unauthorized use or reproduction of another’s work. [1] Worldwide it is recognized that copyright piracy is a serious crime which not only adversely affects the creative potential of the society by denying the creators their legitimate dues, it also causes economic losses to all those who had invested their money in bringing out copyrighted materials in various forms for use by end-users. It is estimated that the...

Words: 2298 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Web Design

.............................................................4 2.1 Company Information………………………………………………………………4 2.2 Site Goal……………………………………………………………………………..4 2.3 Organizational Culture…………………………………………………….............4 2.4 Affects of Physical Settings on Information Access and Use...........................4 2.5 Primary Audience and Secondary Users…………………………………………5 2.6 Audience Demographics and Psychographics…………………………………..5 2.7 Primary Use of Product or Service………………………………………………..5 2.8 Role of Current Resources………………………………………………………...5 2.0 VISUAL AND FUNCTIONAL DETAILS..............................................................5 3.9 Internal/External User Site Map…………………………………………………...6 3.0 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS..............................................................................7 4.10 Performance Requirements………………………………………………………..7 4.11 Platform………………………………………………………………………………7 4.12 Database…………………………………………………………………………….7 4.13 Security………………………………………………………………………………7 4.14 Site Hosting………………………………………………………………………….8 4.15 Major Pages, Functions, Features and Use Cases……………………………..8 4.16.1 Home Page…………………………………………………………………9 4.16.2 Search……………………………………………………………………....9 4.16.3 Search Result Page(s)…………………………………………………….9 4.16.4 Shopping Cart………………………………………………………….......9 4.16.5 Checkout…………………………………………………………………….9 ...

Words: 2592 - Pages: 11

Free Essay

Oil and Gas

...A fuzzy logic approach to urban land-use mapping Henning Sten Hansen National Environmental Research Institute, Ministry of Environment & Energy Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark Phone : +45 46 30 18 07 Fax : +45 46 30 12 12 HSH@DMU.DK Abstract. The growth of cities represents huge problems for modern societies. Monitoring, analysing and modelling the urban dynamic call for detailed mapping of urban land-use. Traditionally, urban land-use mapping is based on orthophotos and satellite images, but deriving land-use from remote-sensing alone is not satisfactory. The Danish Building & Dwelling Register is a database containing detailed information like year of construction, use, area etc. Therefore, this database provides a useful foundation for urban land-use mapping. To be able to track urban land-use changes over time, we have chosen square cells (100m x 100m) as basic mapping units. Generally, land cover and land-use mapping are based on crisp classification, but in the current project we have applied a fuzzy modeling approach to land-use mapping. Fuzzy classification offers a better choice in urban land-use mapping, because it can indicate the primary, secondary etc. land-use simultaneously. This will offer more meaningful information for planners and a more detailed understanding of the land-use patterns. Based on these principles, a nation wide urban land-use database for the year 1997 is established. 1 Introduction Metropolitan areas all over the...

Words: 4617 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

Nacrotizing

...February 2010 focuses on data collections within developing countries such as Africa that is experiencing an high rate of necrotizing enter colitis. Through the uses of statistical data and analysis the article also provides information on the long-term prospect of the disease and whether or not it is lacking in developing countries. The article focuses on data which is collected by South Africa during the pre human immunodeficiency virus era. The focus of this paper is to provide information on the statistical procedure and the statistical significance of the study. Statistical Procedures The statistical procedures within this research article began with what is known as a cohort. A cohort is a group of subjects, which shares a particular experience during a specific time span. During this research article the focus is mainly within a specific cohort of premature infants born in South Africa between the years of 1992 and 1995. The study expresses the mean values and how the data ranges throughout the article. For example the mean within the article is known as the gestational age of the cohort, which is 32 weeks gestation. The range for gestational ages is from 22 weeks gestation to 40 weeks gestation. The t test is also a part of this research article, and it evaluates ongoing variables for statistical significance. The cohorts within this study consist of 128 subjects, which is not considered as small test group. The research article reveals that out of 128 premature...

Words: 925 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

What Is Statistics?

...Statistics as a discipline is the development and application of methods, and a collection of mathematical techniques that help to collect, analyze, interpret, and present data. Modern statistical methods involve associated tasks such as the designing and analyzing of experiments and surveys, the quantification of biological, social and scientific phenomenon and the application of statistical principles to understand more about the world around us. Statistics can also imply a second meaning, which is the computed quantity with the help of statistical methods. Thus, it could be said that the main statistics of a particular study are the median age and income of the group. Thus statistics can imply a statistical parameter as well. Statistics can be applied to various different problems and situations but the underlying concepts all remain the same. It can also be broadly classified into descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The ideas of presenting data and drawing relevant inferences are central to the successful use of statistical theory. In the end, the statistical analysis should be able to tell us something concrete about the sample that we are studying. A number of errors are possible in the interpretation of statistical results and a careful analysis needs to be made to prevent these errors. Basically, statistics is applicable in a variety of fields, and business is not exclusive. Decision making in business is a complex thing. It is not something like “I...

Words: 604 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Time-of-Use Electricity Prices

...and generation stations - on constant standby. The amount and size of this equipment must be large enough to be able to meet consumption at the highest peak demand period. Otherwise, if total demand exceeds total production at some moment in time, there will occur severe instabilities such as voltage drops or even generalized blackouts. Therefore, if a country could shift part of its electricity usage away from peak periods to other periods of the day (that is, if consumers could smooth their consumption pattern throughout the 24 hours of a day) it would be possible to attain major savings in installed generating capacity and therefore to lower the overall costs of electricity. To achieve this, several countries have implemented "time-of-use" pricing schemes where the price that consumers pay changes throughout the day (with higher prices at peak periods and lower prices at off-peak periods). This...

Words: 1107 - Pages: 5