Enhancing Quality and Safety
For this assessment, you will
develop a 3-5 page paper that
examines a safety quality issue
pertaining to medication
administration in a health care
setting. You will analyze the issue
and examine potential evidence-
based and best-practice solutions
from the literature as well as the role
of nurses and other stakeholders in
addressing the issue.
Health care organizations and
professionals strive to create safe
environments for patients however,
due to the complexity of the health
care system, maintaining safety can
be a challenge. Since nurses
comprise the largest group of health
care professionals, a great deal of
responsibility falls in the hands of
practicing nurses. Quality
improvement (QI) measures and
safety improvement plans are
effective interventions to reduce
medical errors and sentinel events
such as medication errors, falls,
infections, and deaths. A 2000
Institute of Medicine (IOM) report
indicated that almost one million
people are harmed annually in the
United States, (Kohn et al., 2000)
and 210,000–440,000 die as a result
of medical errors (Allen, 2013).
The role of the baccalaureate nurse
includes identifying and explaining
specific patient risk factors,
incorporating evidence-based
solutions to improving patient safety
and coordinating care. A solid
foundation of knowledge and
understanding of safety
organizations such as Quality and
Safety Education for Nurses
(QSEN), the Institute of Medicine
(IOM), and The Joint Commission
and its National Patient Safety Goals
(NPSGs) program is vital to
practicing nurses with regard to
providing and promoting safe and
effective patient care.
You are encouraged to complete the
Identifying Safety Risks and
Solutions activity. This activity offers
an opportunity to review a case
study and practice identifying safety
risks and possible solutions. We
have found that learners who
complete course activities and
review resources are more
successful with first submissions.
Completing course activities is also a
way to demonstrate course
engagement.
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.
o Explain evidence-based
and best-practice
solutions to improve
patient safety focusing
on medication
administration and
reducing costs.
Competency 2: Analyze
factors that lead to patient
safety risks.
o Explain factors leading
to a specific patient-
safety risk focusing on
medication
administration.
Competency 4: Explain the
nurse's role in coordinating
care to enhance quality and
reduce costs.
o Explain how nurses can
help coordinate care to
increase patient safety
with medication
administration and
reduce costs.
o Identify stakeholders
with whom nurses would
need to coordinate to
drive quality and safety
enhancements with
medication
administration.
Competency 5: Apply
professional, scholarly,
evidence-based strategies to
communicate in a manner that
supports safe and effective
patient care.
o Communicate using
writing that is clear,
logical, and professional
with correct grammar
and spelling using
current APA style.
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 surrounding a medication
administration safety risk and
incorporate evidence-based
strategies to support communication
and ensure safe and effective care.
For this assessment:
Analyze a current issue or
experience in clinical practice
surrounding a medication
administration safety risk 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 a medication
administration 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
surrounding medication
administration, 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 medication
administration 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
focusing on medication
administration.
Explain evidence-based and
best-practice solutions to
improve patient safety
focusing on medication
administration and reducing
costs.
Explain how nurses can help
coordinate care to increase
patient safety with medication
administration and reduce
costs.
Identify stakeholders with
whom nurses would
coordinate to drive safety
enhancements with medication
administration.
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.
