Open AccessQuality Assurance Through Standard Operating Procedures Development and Deviation: A Medicolegal Death Investigation Systems Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author(s) -
Stacy A. Drake,
Michal L. Pierce,
Parmod Gumpeni,
Eileen R. Giardino,
Dwayne A. Wolf
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of forensic nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1939-3938
pISSN - 1556-3693
DOI - 10.1097/jfn.0000000000000305
Subject(s) - standard operating procedure , covid-19 , quality assurance , pandemic , forensic nursing , quality (philosophy) , medical emergency , computer science , operations management , risk analysis (engineering) , medicine , computer security , poison control , engineering , external quality assessment , virology , philosophy , disease , epistemology , pathology , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Standard operating procedures drive everyday practice within any organization, including those within a forensic setting. In the event of unusual circumstances, organizations must respond rapidly to address the impact on operations while ensuring that the quality and safety outcomes of routine services are not affected. This case study illustrates how standard operating procedures can be newly developed or modified, and rapidly deployed and quickly revised, to address unusual circumstances. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic is used as an example in this case report.