You have the power of PDSA

Bridget Hurley’s Gang of Four (Plan, Do, Study, Act) will help you get through life’s small tests of change. Hurley, national LMP coordinator for performance improvement, helps union delegates delve deeper into the well-known cycle that drives their work in unit-based teams.

What we will do next should be based on what we have learned through PDSA. In other words, union members working with a manager will figure out what’s best for patients.

Test fast. Fail fast. Adjust fast. That’s life in the PDSA lane.

Hurley recommends taking a deeper look at the PDSA cycle. Look at huddles, data collection, and tools on the performance improvement journey.

• Plan: Clarify goals, predict outcomes, and decide steps and tasks.
•  Do:  Carry your plan, document the work, and analyze the results
• Study:  The key is to complete the test, compare results, and summarize the process for the team to act on. 
• Act:  Implement your test of change. From there, a good PDSA cycle will end with the team trying to adjust, expand, and then, look ahead to a new cycle, and/or new plan.

Wise words from Bridget Hurley to delegates: “This is about learning and adapting in real time.”