Create a poster for a presentation about a quality improvement (QI) project or plan that builds on the work you completed in the first two assessments. Include an abstract of 100–250 words about the QI plan and key information in your poster.

Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, it is recommended that you complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

SHOW LESS

The ability to propose and promote quality improvements in care is a vital skill for a master’s-prepared nurse. One aspect of this is understanding strategies for implementing best practice changes in a team, department, or care setting. Another is understanding how best practices can help lead to a continuous quality improvement cycle. Additionally, it is important to grasp how successful change strategies can be leveraged to help in the creation or implementation of clinical best practices. Part of this is considering the audience when proposing quality improvement projects or new best practices. Another part of this is being able to effectively communicate the goals, rationale, and benefits of a project.

For this assessment you will create a presentation poster to communicate a quality improvement project.

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

• Competency 1: Design patient-centered, evidence-based, advanced nursing care for achieving high-quality patient outcomes.
  • Evaluate specific evidence that supports the quality improvement methods proposed.
• Competency 2: Develop change strategies for improving the care environment.
  • Explain how the project is grounded in successful change strategies.
• Competency 3: Apply quality improvement methods to practice that promote safe, equitable quality of care.
  • Propose quality improvement methods to promote continuous improvement related to a specific biopsychosocial consideration.
• Competency 4: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of interprofessional care systems in achieving desired healthcare improvement outcomes.
  • Analyze the way in which interprofessional teamwork will improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the quality improvement project.
• Competency 5: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
  • Communicate quality improvement considerations to relevant stakeholders in a way that is clear, concise, and compelling for the audience.
  • Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.

As a master’s-level nurse you will be responsible for promoting equitable quality of care. In the biopsychosocial model of care, there are a number of areas where you can have an impact on improving the quality, safety, and equitablility of care. One example area where equitable quality of care is an issue is with medications, especially considering the cost of various medications to treat the same condition versus the effectiveness and potential side-effects of the medications. A further pharmacological concern for safe and quality care is medication errors. This could include considerations like a patient getting the wrong medication or a dangerous interaction due to other aspects of a patient’s health and treatment situation. An example could be vitamin or herbal supplements the patient has not disclosed as part of the medication reconciliation process.

One way to communicate the need for quality improvements, and your plans for achieving specific improvements, is through a presentation poster. This type of communication tool is used both in the work place and at professional and academic conferences. Being able to convey the essence and value of a project in a compelling and succinct way is a valuable skill, and it is vital within the constraints of a single poster.

Questions to Consider

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.

SHOW LESS

The assessment will be built around creating a professional and compelling poster to present a quality improvement project that may have grown out of your change initiative in the second assessment.

• Who will be the primary audience of your poster? Who might be the wider, or outreach, audience that will be relevant to consider when creating your poster?
  • What details or information will be most important and compelling to your audiences?
  • How might you craft the design of your poster so that it better speaks to your audiences?
• What steps might a nurse take to implement best practice changes in a care setting while respecting the multidisciplinary team?
  • What does each member bring to the care of the client or community?
  • How might recognizing the contributions of the multidisciplinary team help build buy-in or collaboration?
    • Why is buy-in important to the success of a quality improvement project?

Assessment Instructions

Scenario

For this assessment, you may take one of two approaches:

• The first is to build upon the clinical issue that was the focus of your Change Strategy and Implementation assessment, and turn it into a full, organization- or community-wide quality improvement initiative.
• The second is to identify a new issue related to a biopsychosocial (BPS) clinical issue, or a clinical issue related to one of the items from the list of conditions, diseases, and disorders presented in the Resources section for the Concept Map assessment. The focus should be on a community rather than on a specific patient or health care setting.

As a master’s level nurse, your specific focus is on reviewing the implications of the data relevant to the clinical issue you are trying to address. Once you research this, review the aggregate data, and understand the BPS considerations relevant to the clinical issue, you can suggest strategies for improving the quality, equitability, and safety of care around the issue. You should act as an advocate for the value and need to pursue quality improvements to leadership and executives, as well as be able to present potential projects to a wide range of colleagues and community stakeholders.

Instructions

Create an abstract and a poster for a presentation to executive-level leadership of the organization, to the community, or to your colleagues that will sell them on your quality improvement plan.

Abstract Requirements

• Your abstract should be 100–250 words.
• It should summarize the key information in your poster.
• Do not put your abstract on your poster itself; submit it as a separate document. Or, if you are using PowerPoint to help create your poster, create a new slide that is clearly labeled as your abstract.

Poster Requirements

• Your poster should include the following sections:
  • Quality Improvement Methods.
  • Evidence Supporting QI Methods.
  • Change Strategy Foundation.
  • Interprofessional Team Benefits.
  • Overall Project Benefits.
• There are templates in PowerPoint or on the Internet that can help you get a start designing your poster.

The bullet points below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your presentation addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Quality Improvement Presentation Poster scoring guide and the Guiding Questions: Quality Improvement Presentation Poster document to better understand how each grading criterion will be assessed.

• Propose quality improvement methods to promote continuous improvement related to a specific biopsychosocial consideration.
• Evaluate specific evidence that supports the quality improvement methods proposed.
• Explain how the project is grounded in successful change strategies.
• Analyze the way in which interprofessional teamwork will improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the quality improvement project.
• Communicate quality improvement considerations to relevant stakeholders in a way that is clear, concise, and compelling for the audience.
• Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style.

Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like:

Additional Requirements

• Length of submission:
  • Abstract: 100–250 words. Your abstract should be succinct and precise.
  • Poster: Make sure your poster fits entirely onto a single poster template page (or slide) and contains all of the sections described in the assessment instructions.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 5–7 sources of scholarly or professional evidence that support your considerations and plans. Resources should be no more than five years old.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style. 

Grading Rubric:

1-  Propose quality improvement methods to promote continuous improvement related to a specific biopsychosocial consideration. 

Passing Grade:  Proposes quality improvement methods to promote continuous improvement related to a specific biopsychosocial consideration. Acknowledges potential difficulties and discusses how those challenges will be met.
 

2-  Evaluate specific evidence that supports the quality improvement methods proposed. 

Passing Grade:  Evaluates specific evidence that supports the quality improvement methods proposed. Identifies knowledge gaps, unknowns, missing information, unanswered questions, or areas of uncertainty (where further information could improve the analysis). 

3-  Explain how the project is grounded in successful change strategies. 

Passing Grade:  Explains how the project is grounded in successful change strategies. Acknowledges potential difficulties and discusses how those challenges will be met. 

4-  Analyze the way in which interprofessional teamwork will improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the quality improvement project. 

Passing Grade:  Analyzes the way in which interprofessional teamwork will improve the effectiveness or efficiency of the quality improvement project. Identifies assumptions upon which the analysis is based. 

5-  Communicate quality improvement considerations to relevant stakeholders in a way that is clear, concise, and compelling for the audience. 

Passing Grade:  Communicates quality improvement considerations to relevant stakeholders in a way that is clear, concise, and compelling for the audience. The structure of the communication enables the audience to grasp complex concepts and encourages buy-in. 

6-   Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style. 

Passing Grade:   Integrates relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using current APA style. Citations are free from all errors.