If you work as a nurse in healthcare, you might have heard of the phrase “STEEEP”. For those who wish to work under the best practice principles of US healthcare, this phrase will be a big part of what you do and how you deliver healthcare.
The History and Fundamentals of STEEEP
STEEEP is an acronym coined by Baylor Scott & White Health, and trademarked by Baylor Health Care System in 2001. STEEEP stands for Safe, Timely, Effective, Efficient, Equitable and Patient-centered care and is used to prioritize the six critical aims of health care.
Here’s how the acronym defines those six specific aims.
Safe: Avoiding harm to patients from the care that is intended to help them.
Timely: Reducing wait times and harmful delays impacting smooth delivery of care.
Effective: Providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit. This also refers to refraining from providing services to those unlikely to benefit from them.
Efficient: Using resources to achieve the best possible value. This can include reducing wasteful resource allocation and reducing production and administrative costs.
Equitable: This guards against all forms of discrimination in delivering care. Essentially, an equitable nurse should provide care that does not vary in quality according to personal characteristics like gender, income, ethnicity, or location.
Patient-Centered: Providing care that is respectful of (and responsive to) individual patient preferences, needs, and values.
As defined above, you can appreciate why this phrase means so much to your success after a placement in the US. STEEEP is important because it sets out the main aims for healthcare improvement for registered nurses and other healthcare professionals to uphold. For quality improvement in nursing, the principles of STEEEP represent a big factor in how nursing is practiced by healthcare providers across the US.
Become STEEEP with Conexus' US Ready Program
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