Tips for a Quality Analyst Position

[marcelinho]

Hello everyone! I am about to accept a job offer for the position of quality analyst. At 25 years old and with one year experience at the Critical Care Unit, am I doing the right thing here? I still want to practice the regular nursing profession but opportunities in our place are limited to none at all.

I am thinking that if I get to penetrate the hospital, my chances of having a regular nursing job would increase. Right now, I am having cold feet. I have done some research about the expectations from my job but I still want to learn a lot in preparation for the job. Any tips out there? How about books, websites and other tutorials?

Thank you very much and God bless you all!:)

[arciedee]

Hello,

I started a full-time position as a QI analyst less than a year after becoming a nurse (worked in OB prior to that). I had also spent time in the quality office as a student, so I had a good idea of what I was getting into. I strongly feel that my experience as a student made me a better clinical nurse. I was better aware of the importance of documentation, the reasoning behind the policies, and in general a great big-picture view of the hospital. The great thing about quality is that you have the opportunity to improve care for ALL patients, not just those you care for at the bedside. Plus, as you mentioned, you get to know leaders throughout the organization, so if you choose to go back to clinical nursing you will have a great network.

That being said... I do struggle with the amount of sitting I do in a day! I can go a bit stir-crazy. I am planning to make a return to clinical nursing soon, but I know that my quality experience is going to serve me very well and I full expect that I'll return to it at some point in the future with a stronger clinical background.

I am not sure what your job description includes, so I'm not sure what resources to give you, but I will say that the best thing I've done is to soak up whatever comes my way in terms of training, seminars, etc.

Best of luck!

[marcelinho]

Thank you so much for your reply!

I will be starting on the 16th on my job and I am excited but at the same time a bit anxious of what I will do. Basically, I will be working mostly with nurses and the quality management team about nurses' performance, problems and other issues all for the best health care and continuous improvement of quality. The concept of quality management is quite new to the hospital and I expect a lot of hard work here.

Thank you very much for the wisdom shared. I am really hesitant at first since it is not really the typical nursing work. Having read what you shared about working with a lot of people and having a network, I am relieved about the direction my career is heading to.

Thank you again and God bless!