Reference no: EM132469803

You have worked as a staff nurse in the Emergency Department (ED) of a regional medical center for the past year. The average length of stay (LOS) is over 4 hours, the number of patients who leave without being seen (LWBS) has climbed to 180 patients/month which represents 10% of total patient visits per month, and patient satisfaction scores have fallen to 80%. A Six Sigma team, including ED nurses, ancillary department staff, and physicians, has been established to identify opportunities to decrease average LOS in the emergency department and the number of patients that LWBS. You have been asked to participate as a member of this team. The Six Sigma team will apply the six steps of the QI process to determine an approach to reduce excessive wait times and improve patient satisfaction. The first two steps of the process (identify needs most important to the consumer of healthcare service, and assemble a multidisciplinary team to review identified consumer needs and services) have already been completed.