For this assessment, you will develop a 3-5 page paper that examines

Demonstration of Proficiency

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze the elements of a successful quality improvement initiative.     
  • Explain evidence-based and best-practice solutions to improve patient safety related to a specific patient safety risk and reduce costs.
• Competency 2: Analyze factors that lead to patient safety risks.     
  • Explain factors leading to a specific patient safety risk.
• Competency 4: Explain the nurse’s role in coordinating care to enhance quality and reduce costs.     
  • Explain how nurses can help coordinate care to increase patient safety and reduce costs.
  • Identify stakeholders with whom nurses would need to coordinate to drive quality and safety enhancements.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly, evidence-based strategies to communicate in a manner that supports safe and effective patient care.     
  • Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional with correct grammar and spelling using current APA style.

References

Allen, M. (2013). How many die from medical mistakes in U.S. hospitals? Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/09/20/224507654/how-many-die-from-medical-mistakes-in-u-s-hospitals.

Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J., & Donaldson, M. S. (Eds.). (2000). To err is human: Building a safer health system. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Professional Context

As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, you will be responsible for implementing quality improvement (QI) and patient safety measures in health care settings. Effective quality improvement measures result in systemic and organizational changes, ultimately leading to the development of a patient safety culture.

Scenario

Consider the hospital-acquired conditions that are not reimbursed under Medicare/Medicaid, some of which are specific safety issues such as infections, falls, medication errors, and other concerns that could have been prevented or alleviated with the use of evidence-based guidelines.

Choose a specific condition of interest and incorporate evidence-based strategies to support communication and ensure safe and effective care.

For this assessment, consider using one of the following approaches:

1. Expand on the scenario presented in Vila Health: Identifying Patient Safety Concerns and analyze a quality improvement (QI) initiative.
2. Analyze a current issue in clinical practice and identify a quality improvement (QI) initiative in the health care setting.

Instructions

The purpose of this assessment is to better understand the role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse in enhancing quality improvement (QI) measures that address safety risk. This will be within the specific context of patient safety risks at a health care setting of your choice. You will do this by exploring the professional guidelines and best practices for improving and maintaining patient safety in health care settings from organizations such as QSEN and the IOM. Looking through the lens of these professional best practices to examine the current policies and procedures currently in place at your chosen organization and the impact on safety measures for patients, you will consider the role of the nurse in driving quality and safety improvements. You will identify stakeholders in QI improvement and safety measures as well as consider evidence-based strategies to enhance quality of care and promote safety in the context of your chosen health care setting.

Be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so that you know what is needed for a distinguished score.

• Explain factors leading to a specific patient-safety risk.
• Explain evidence-based and best-practice solutions to improve patient safety related to a specific patient-safety risk and reduce costs.
• Explain how nurses can help coordinate care to increase patient safety and reduce costs. 
• Identify stakeholders with whom nurses would coordinate to drive safety enhancements. 
• Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional, with correct grammar and spelling, using current APA style.

Additional Requirements

• Length of submission: 3–5 pages, plus title and reference pages.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 4 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your findings and considerations. Resources should be no more than 5 years old.
• APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to current APA style