Quality circles in the public health sector: implementation and effect.

Although the quality circle (QC) process has been used in health care, there is a conspicuous gap in the literature about its use in community health nursing. The purpose of this service/education project was to implement QCs in the public health nursing sector throughout a southern central state. The major objective was to provide QC training to approximately 250 supervisors and staff nurses so that this participative group problem-solving approach might be used as a systematic method of dealing with concerns related to quality of care. Evaluation tools, such as the Science Research Associates' attitude scale and the quality management maturity index, were used to determine whether or not the implementation of the QC program influenced the level of morale and quality management maturity. The data obtained reflected positive changes and favorable supervisory responses.