The Role of the Leader in Evaluating Data to Improve Quality and Safety Paper

The nurse’s position in between the patient and the health care agency provides a unique platform for viewing and addressing quality-care issues. Nurses can gain personal feedback from their patients, who may trust them more and speak with greater openness. They can also work collaboratively with their colleagues to create strategies to improve patient care.

Recall how nurses can use data to improve patient safety and quality-care delivery. In NURS 4005, you analyzed a Dashboard to determine nursing practice improvements. This week, you reviewed the importance of and focus on patient quality and safety.

The following data are shared by the unit manager with her staff at a recent staff meeting. There has been a higher than acceptable level of patient falls on the telemetry unit in the last 4 months. The distribution of falls is found in the excel data base located under the application assignment tab. Information about the unit also includes the following:

• The average age of the patients is 72.4 years old, and every patient has a cardiac diagnosis.
• The majority (68%) of the patients are women.
• Recently, 1 FTE of nursing assistants were moved from the night shift (11P–7A) to the evening shift (3P–11P).
• The rooms on this unit are all private.
• 94% of the patients are on diuretics.
• 12% of the patients have secondary diagnoses of confusion or disorientation.

In a 3–5 page paper, respond to the following:

• Describe some possible interpretations of the data related to the patient fall rate on the telemetry unit.
• Discuss the quality management process you would follow to improve patient fall rates on the unit.
• What change management strategies would you incorporate in your quality improvement plan?
• What leadership characteristics are needed to assist in improving the patient fall rates?

Review the table and chart presented below for additional information:

Required Resources

This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of the assigned resources for this week. To view this week’s media resources, please use the streaming media player below.

Media

• Video: Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Leadership competencies in nursing and healthcare: Impacting quality and safety through leadership. Baltimore: Author.
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  • Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 16 minutes.

    This week, the experts discuss the critical role of nurse leaders in improving patient safety and care through emotional intelligence and excellence in nursing practice.

Readings

• Course Text: Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing (8th ed.)
• • Chapter 6, “Managing and Improving Quality”

    This chapter explores ways in which nurses can increase the quality of care their organizations provide. Quality improvement is a continuous process guided by staff insights and a commitment to reducing accidents, accepting responsibility, and increasing productivity. The chapter makes note of Six Sigma, a quality management program used to measure an organization’s effectiveness. Here, the authors also argue for creating a blame-free environment where incidents can be reported and repaired without fear of disciplinary action.

• Course Text: Guide to the Code of Ethics for Nurses: Interpretation and Application Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
• • “Provision 3”

    Provision 3 argues that the needs of the patient transcend organizational rules. This is a moral edict, the provision states, and cannot be removed from the patient-centered prerogative of the code.

  • “Provision 7”

    Provision 7 states the nurse’s commitment to advancing the knowledge in his or her field through study, experience, and civil engagement. This provision has evolved from a research-oriented dictum to one that incorporates all areas of nursing and values the insights from each education level.

Articles

• Fagan, M. (2012).  Techniques to improve patient safety in hospitals: What nurse administrators need to know.  The Journal of Nursing Administration, 42(9),426-430.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases
   
• Goh, S., Chan, C., &  Kuziemsky, C. (2013). Teamwork, organizational learning, patient safety and job outcomes. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 26(5), 420-432.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases
   
• Johnson, J., Veneziano, T., Green, J., Howarth, E., Malast, T., Mastro, K., Moran, A., Mulligan, L., & Smith, A.  (2011). Breaking the fall.  The Journal of Nursing Administration, 41(5), 538-545.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases
   
• Seidl, K. & Newhouse, R. (2012). The intersection of evidence-based practice with 5 quality improvement methodologies. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 42(6),  299-304.
  Retrieved from the Walden Library databases

Document

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