Statistics In The Workplace

1225 Words5 Pages
Statistics in the Workplace
Dawn Haag
May 23, 2011
HCS/438
Dr. Adelbert James

Nursing and health care management practices provide care that is research and statistics driven, thus standardizing care with best practice measures. This makes it necessary for health care professionals to learn a basic understanding of statistics. Health statistics “help us to understand the impact of health on people and work for their betterment” (The US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health n.d.). The purpose of the following paper is to discuss the use of statistics in the workplace, specifically, in a upstate New York hospital. Using examples, explanations of various terminology used in statistics such as descriptive and inferential, mean, median and range will be discussed. The four levels of data measurement will also be mentioned.
According to Encyclopedia Brittanica Company (2011) website, the definition of statistics is the branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, organization, interpretation, and presentation of numerical data. While working at the bedside of patient care, very little time had been spent considering the use of statistics in health care or how it has influenced the treatment and management of patient care. In the last 25 years, however, certain phrases like evidence-based practice and patient outcomes have become common in healthcare. Statistics have played a role in how and why these terms have become part of the language used in daily practice. Nursing care and healthcare management practices are centered on evidence-based research, making it necessary for healthcare professionals to learn a basic understanding of statistics to evaluate research studies.
The quality improvement department in an upstate New York hospital uses statistics to collect, measure, and evaluate data form patient outcomes, falls,
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