Introduction
Statistical knowledge has significant importance to the healthcare industry since it offers a multitude of practical benefits. According to Zapf et al. (2018), biostatisticians play an important role in all three steps of medical research — planning, analysis, and practical presentation. In this regard, statistical knowledge is intertwined with such vital aspects of health care as quality, safety, health promotion, and leadership. Therefore, credible statistics can be considered a cornerstone of medical practice. Without the appropriate application of statistics, the development of beneficial, evidence-based interventions would become problematic to the point of impossibility.
Statistics and Quality
The inadequate overall health care quality can stem from the persistent lack of systemic measuring methods. For instance, Kilbourne et al. (2018) associate the poor quality of mental health care with the inability to measure problematic aspects. In this regard, the application of statistics can serve to the improvement of care quality measurement. In particular, the statistical approach is valuable for assessing mental health outcomes. According to Kilbourne (2018), regular outcome assessments have been linked to improvements in service delivery and readmission rates decrease. The connection between frequent data collection via outcome assessments and quality care improvement is logical. Access to a sufficient amount of data positively impacted quality measurement, thus making possible quality-oriented adjustments in treatment plans.
Statistics and Safety
Patient safety is one of the most critical aspects of care delivery. However, evaluating the safety of specific interventions and treatment methods requires access to sufficient statistical data. A medical professional cannot act out of general considerations — solid statistical evidence must back decisions that may affect a patient’s safety. For example, smoking cessation medications, such as bupropion and nicotine patches, were found effective. However, many clinicians hesitated to prescribe them due to concerns about patients’ cardiovascular safety (Benowitz et al., 2018). Statistical knowledge helped alleviate these concerns; Benowitz et al. (2018) conducted a clinical trial of 8058 smokers and found no indication of smoking cessation medications increasing the risk of serious cardiovascular adverse events. In this regard, collecting statistical data is vital for ensuring the safety of prescriptions and treatment methods.
Statistics and Health Promotion
A professional biostatistician or healthcare worker charged with the responsibility of data collection and interpretation can make a significant contribution to health promotion efforts. For instance, statistical knowledge can become a valuable tool for advocacy in a popular context (Zapf et al., 2018). In this regard, statistics can be used for championing practices, behaviors, or treatment methods beneficial for health outcomes. Statistics reinforce claims made in public, providing the factual basis that can convince the doubters. For example, people might have had doubts about the face masks’ effectiveness during the spread of COVID-19. However, a systemic review of 58 studies confirmed the dual preventive effect of wearing a face mask regardless of its type (Abboah-Offei et al., 2021). As such, relevant statistics serve the cause of health promotion in the general population.
Statistics and Leadership
Healthcare professionals usually work in a team, which may include specialists from multiple disciplines. Teamwork is associated with leadership — the ability to command respect, influence team members, and promote best professional practices. In this regard, statistical knowledge can be used to champion evidence-based practices in the role of a medical team leader. According to Alving et al. (2018), most nurses lack time, information retrieval skills, and database searching training, which forces them to use Google or seek advice from peers. Therefore, a medical professional who knows how to obtain the data and present it clearly and concisely has the capacity to become a leader and influence their teammates. Consequently, the leadership among peers provides an opportunity to improve the performance of the whole unit or healthcare organization.
Use of Statistical Knowledge in Practice: Experience from Aurora Baycare Medical Center
Statistical knowledge is frequently used in the Aurora Baycare Medical Center, where I work in an observation unit of the psychiatric ward. My professional duty lies in providing acute mental health care patients with a safe and quiet environment that facilitates their recovery. My role within the team implies direct participation in patient assessment. As such, I often have to deal with statistics in day-to-day operations; even though our organization promotes patient-centered care, data acquired via assessments is beneficial for adjusting individual treatment plans.
In terms of data acquisition, I conduct regular patient rounds and check on their vital signs, symptoms, and needs. After that, I document all patient information in our electronic health records (EHR) system. Additionally, I maintain accurate records of all patient treatments and analyses results, which can be considered a statistical database of our unit. The information stored in the database is used to develop day-to-day treatment plans and interventions.
Conclusion
Overall, statistics play a vital part in decision-making within our psychiatric ward. Our team constantly refers to EHR in order to trace patient histories and the efficacy of treatment methods. Decisions related to the treatment process are made with respect to patient safety and quality of care. In this regard, statistical knowledge grants our unit the confidence necessary for quick selection and application of appropriate interventions.
References
Abboah-Offei, M., Salifu, Y., Adewale, B., Bayuo, J., Ofosu-Poku, R., & Opare-Lokko, E. B. A. (2021). A rapid review of the use of face mask in preventing the spread of COVID-19.International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 3, 100013.
Alving, B. E., Christensen, J. B., & Thrysøe, L. (2018). Hospital nurses’ information retrieval behaviours in relation to evidence based nursing: A literature review. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 35(1), 3-23.
Benowitz, N. L., Pipe, A., West, R., Hays, J. T., Tonstad, S., McRae, T., Larence, D., St Aubin, L., & Anthenelli, R. M. (2018). Cardiovascular safety of varenicline, bupropion, and nicotine patch in smokers: A randomized clinical trial.JAMA Internal Medicine, 178(5), 622-631.
Kilbourne, A. M., Beck, K., Spaeth‐Rublee, B., Ramanuj, P., O’Brien, R. W., Tomoyasu, N., & Pincus, H. A. (2018). Measuring and improving the quality of mental health care: A global perspective.World Psychiatry, 17(1), 30-38.
Zapf, A., Huebner, M., Rauch, G., & Kieser, M. (2019). What makes a biostatistician?Statistics in Medicine, 38(4), 695-701.