NUR 630 Performance Improvement and Quality in Health Care

Academic engagement through active participation in instructional activities related to the course objectives is paramount to your success in this course and future courses.  Through interaction with your instructor and classmates, you will explore the course material and be provided with the best opportunity for objective and competency mastery.  To begin this class, review the course objectives for each Topic, and then answer the following questions as this will help guide your instructor for course instruction.

1. Which weekly objectives do you have prior knowledge of and to what extent?
2. Which weekly objectives do you have no prior knowledge of?
3. What course-related topics would you like to discuss with your instructor and classmates?  What questions or concerns do you have about this course?

You are assigned to a quality team on a rehabilitation floor where patient falls are on the rise. What strategy would be best to approach this issue—quality improvement, evidence-based practice, or research? Support your choice with one or two examples and one or two references.

Some consider the integration of evidence-based practice a “cookbook” approach. Do you agree or disagree? Explain. Support your position with one or two examples and one or two references.

The purpose of this assignment is to differentiate quality improvement (QI), evidence-based practice (EBP), and research.

Create a graphic image or visual model differentiating quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and research. You can use PowerPoint, Smart Art in Word, or other software that creates a graphic. Be creative in your design. Include the following information in your graphic image or visual model:

1. Compare and contrast quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and research. Identify at least one similarity and difference for each.
2. Provide an example of quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and research.
3. Explain why quality improvement, evidence-based practice, and research would be applied in a health care setting.
4. This assignment requires a minimum of two peer-reviewed scholarly sources.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Using the AHRQ SOPS Surveys webpage, provided in the topic Resources, select the SOPS survey appropriate for the practice setting in which you work. Complete the survey at your site and discuss how your facility scored. What changes would you recommend based on the survey results?

Two nurses make a medication error: One causes an adverse event with a patient and the other does not. Should the nurses be disciplined, and, if so, should they be disciplined the same way? Why or why not? How would this be addressed in a just culture?

The purpose of this assignment is to discuss health care culture and describe how CWV can be used to improve ethical practices. In a 1,000-1,250-word essay, discuss the important factors associated with health care culture. Include the following in your essay:

1. A definition of health care culture, including culture of excellence and safety.
2. Two or three examples of principles for building a culture of excellence and safety.
3. An explanation of the role of various stakeholders in improving health care culture.
4. An explanation of how Christian worldview (CWV) principles might be used by health care organizations to improve ethical practices, whether the organizations are Christian or not.
5. Two or three examples of how the integration of faith learning and work at GCU can be implemented by individuals to improve health care culture.

This assignment requires a minimum of three peer-reviewed scholarly sources.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

Your unit data reflect an upward trend in blood administration errors. Is this likely an individual failure or a system failure? Which performance improvement theory or model would you use to address it?

Select a problem that you have experienced or identified within your workplace or in a health care setting. What steps would you take to address the problem?

This is a Collaborative Learning Community (CLC) assignment.

Meet with your instructor-assigned group to review the Topic 4 assignment and familiarize yourselves with the expectations for the project.

Fill out the attached “CLC Agreement” form and submit it to the instructor

You are a member of an operating room team. The hospital is reporting an increase in complication rates from your team. Choose one of the quality models and explain how you would use it to address the causes or the adverse events.

You are the nurse leader on an obstetrics unit. You have been tasked to utilize a Six Sigma approach for standardizing the discharge process. Where do you start?

This is a Collaborative Learning Community (CLC) assignment.

The purpose of this assignment is to examine quality models used in health care. With your CLC group, create a 12-15 slide PowerPoint on Lean, Six Sigma, and 5S quality models. Include the following in your presentation:

1. A description of each quality model.
2. A brief history of each quality model.
3. A description and examples of how each quality model can be applied to the health care setting.
4. Include a title slide, references slide, and comprehensive speaker notes.
5. Use a minimum of four peer-reviewed, scholarly references as evidence.

Refer to the resource, “Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations,” located in the Student Success Center, for additional guidance on completing this assignment in the appropriate style.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Measurement is required to determine the success of your CQI project. What is the difference between outcome and process measures? Which are more important? Why? Support your reasoning with an example.

Identify which one of the following approaches you would choose to assist in determining and measuring outcomes: FMEA, Pareto principle, and control charts. Describe the best approach and explain why you chose it.

In a 1,000-1,250-word paper, consider the outcome and process measures that can be used for CQI. Include the following in your essay:

1. At least two process measures that can be used for CQI.
2. At least one outcome measure that can be used for CQI.
3. A description of why each measure was chosen.
4. An explanation of how data would be collected for each (how each will be measured).
5. An explanation of how success would be determined.
6. One or two data-driven, cost-effective solutions to this challenge.

Use a minimum of three peer-reviewed scholarly references as evidence.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

Benchmark Information

This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competency:

MSN Leadership in Health Care Systems

6.5: Generate data-driven, cost-effective solutions to organizational challenges.

What is the difference between primary and secondary data? How can primary and secondary source data be used to drive CQI? Provide a specific example of how each source can be used to drive CQI.

Describe at least two limitations to both primary and secondary data and how understanding those limitations can improve your future CQI work.

The purpose of this assignment is to become familiar with various data sources used by health care organizations to obtain quality data. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) creates an annual report, the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, which assesses the performance of the U.S. health care system. This report identifies strengths and weaknesses of the health care system in addition to disparities for access to health care and quality of health care. The report is based on more than 250 measures of quality and disparities, and it covers a broad range of health care services and settings.

Access the most current report using the “National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports” AHRQ website, provided in the topic Resources. Select five data sources from this report and fill in the required components on the “Quality Data Sources Organizer.”

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Identify at least two stakeholder agency reporting sources. How do these external reporting groups contribute to or hinder CQI?

You are going to present data that have been collected to your administrative group. The focus is on outcome measures and the data collected are unplanned readmission rates at two different hospitals. What format would you choose to display your data and why? What information would you include with the data?

The purpose of this assignment is to examine health care data on hospital-associated infections and determine the best methods for presenting the data to stakeholders. Use the scenario below and the “Hospital Associated Infections Data” Excel spreadsheet to complete the assignment.

Scenario

You have been tasked with displaying Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hospital quality measures data for a 5-year period on four quality measures at your site. After examining the data, identify trends and determine the best way to present the actionable information to stakeholders.

Assignment

Create a 12-15-slide PowerPoint (not including title and reference slides) presenting the data to the stakeholders. Address the following in your PowerPoint:

1. What conclusions can be drawn for each quality measure over the 5-year period?
2. What trends do you see for each quality measure over the 5-year period?
3. When comparing each quality measure, is the quality measure better than, worse than, or no different from the national benchmark over time?
4. Based on your examination of the data, which of the quality measures should you prioritize and why?
5. Develop a quality improvement metric and related measures to improve care processes, outcomes, and the patient experience relating to the identified area of opportunity.
6. Explain how you would monitor the metric and use collected data for improvement.

Include a title slide, references slide, and comprehensive speaker notes.

Refer to the resource, “Creating Effective PowerPoint Presentations,” located in the Student Success Center, for additional guidance on completing this assignment in the appropriate style.

Use a minimum of two peer-reviewed, scholarly sources as evidence.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

Benchmark Information

This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competency:

MSN Leadership in Health Care Systems

6.6: Develop and monitor continuous quality improvement metrics and measures to improve care processes, outcomes, and the patient experience.