NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety

Capella University NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety– Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Capella University  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Capella University  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety  depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.

How to Write the Introduction for  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety 

The introduction for the Capella University  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety  is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.

How to Write the Body for  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety

After the introduction, move into the main part of the  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety  assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.

Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.

How to Write the Conclusion for  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety 

After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.

How to Format the References List for  NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety 

The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.

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Sample Answer for NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety

Scenario 

A hypothetical situation that occurs often within the care environment is a nurse making a medication error. One example of this was one of my team mate nurse administering a medicine without assessing its dosage and administration time. This poses an immense risk to patient safety and therefore should not be taken lightly (Corny et al., 2020). To alleviate or prevent such an error, evidence-based guidelines were implemented in the practice setting. Through proper implementation and evaluation of evidence-based strategies, communication was enhanced, providing assurance of the quality and safety of the medication administered to patients. Ultimately, the utilization of evidence-based guidelines creates an environment that encourages safe and efficient care for all patients involved in the system. 

Clinical Issue 

One of the most pressing clinical issues in health care today is addressing patient safety risks surrounding medication administration. As a result, there has been an intense focus on implementing quality improvement (QI) initiatives to reduce these risks and improve patient satisfaction (Trakulsunti et al., 2021). These initiatives typically involve staff education, frequent monitoring of the administration process, increased communication between different departments, and protocols for reporting errors or potential errors. While it is not easy to implement an effective QI initiative in a healthcare setting due to its complexity and resource constraints, it is vital that organizations invest the time and resources now to create processes that will help ensure patient safety going forward. 

Factors Leading To A Specific Patient-Safety Risk  

The risk of incorrect medication administration is a very real danger in hospitals and especially so for those patients taking multiple different medications. There are three main factors that must be considered when thinking about the risks associated with this problem: firstly, the choice of incorrect medication or wrong dosage; secondly, misreading or mistaking information regarding the patient’s medical history or current treatment plan; and thirdly, scheduling issues. It is important to note that these medication mistakes can have serious repercussions on patient well-being, ranging from mild side effects to life-threatening emergency situations (Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2020). Nurses can help mitigate such risks by staying aware and up-to-date on their patient’s medical records; double-checking the medications they are administering; avoiding distractions while administering these medications; and ensuring their colleagues are informed of any changes to treatment plans. Understanding how these potential safety hazards arise can help nurses take necessary preventative steps, resulting in improved safety standards within healthcare settings. 

Evidence-Based And Best-Practice Solutions 

With hospitals focused on providing the best quality of care for patients and reducing costs, it is essential that evidence-based and best-practice solutions to improve patient safety are implemented. Two such strategies that nurses can apply center around medication administration: double-checking doses and packaging drugs by indication. First, double-checking doses is a simple but important step to make sure the patient is receiving the correct dosage of medication (Phuong et al., 2019). When two nurses review the orders together, any potential mistakes can be averted before reaching the patient. This reduces uncertainty and safeguards against potentially dangerous errors. Second, drug regimens may vary depending on indications or medical conditions. To streamline cost savings and inventory management while decreasing the complexity of ordering medications, nurses can prepackage individualized drugs with the appropriate indications labeled on them accordingly. Not only does this enhance efficiency and accuracy, but automates drug monitoring which results in fewer adverse reactions due to incorrect prescriptions. Both strategies are necessary components of an effective safety program and ultimately help nurses provide more comprehensive care while reducing costs. 

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Nurses Increasing Patient Safety 

Nurses play a crucial role in the coordination of care to increase patient safety with medication administration and reduce costs. Guidelines from the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) provide a foundation for nurses to adhere to best practices through four core competencies: patient-centered care, teamwork/collaboration, evidence-based practice, and quality improvement (Corny et al., 2020). These competencies are fundamental for nurses when administering medications safely, accounting for factors such as dosage amount and instructions on use. When preventing errors in the administration of medicine, nurses must consider the effects that human or system errors can have. For example, if the wrong medication is administered due to systemic factors such as lack of staff or lack of communication between healthcare providers, it could lead to costly delays in treatment or even medical harm to patients, thus negatively affecting their health outcomes or financial implications of receiving medical attention. It is therefore important for nurses to carefully assess these elements when prescribing medications and follow the guidelines provided by QSEN which can help ensure adherence to safe practices while also reducing costs associated with improper medicine usage. 

Stakeholders To Drive Safety Enhancements  

Nurses play a critical role in the safe administration of medications, which is why utilizing Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) guidelines are essential. QSEN promotes patient safety-focused care and provides six competencies that address knowledge, skills, and attitudes about quality and safety for professionals including nurses. These competencies are patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, informatics, and safety (Trakulsunti et al., 2021). To drive safety enhancements with medication administration using these guidelines, nurses would need to coordinate with three key stakeholders: patients/families, other healthcare professionals such as physicians or specialists involved in the patient’s care plan; and technicians who dispense medication directly to the nurse to administer. By effectively collaborating with these stakeholders while following best practices as laid out by QSEN guidelines, nurses would be able to significantly improve their ability to deliver quality and safer patient care in regard to medications. 

References 

Corny, J., Rajkumar, A., Martin, O., Dode, X., Lajonchère, J.-P., Billuart, O., Bézie, Y., & Buronfosse, A. (2020). A machine learning–based clinical decision support system to identify prescriptions with a high risk of medication error. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 27(11), 1688–1694. 

Phuong, J. M., Penm, J., Chaar, B., Oldfield, L. D., & Moles, R. (2019). The impacts of medication shortages on patient outcomes: A scoping review. PloS One, 14(5), e0215837. 

Rodziewicz, T. L., & Hipskind, J. E. (2020). Medical error prevention. StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. 

Trakulsunti, Y., Antony, J., Dempsey, M., & Brennan, A. (2021). Reducing medication errors using lean six sigma methodology in a Thai hospital: An action research study. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 38(1), 339–362. 

Sample Answer 2 for NURS-FPX4020 Enhancing Quality and Safety

Irrespective of health conditions, all patients deserve high-quality care. Essentials of such care include comprehensive assessment and treatment of patient issues, high patient satisfaction, and healthy patient-provider relationships. Nurses should also adequately understand issues hampering care quality and patient safety as a foundation of evidence-based and best-practice solutions. Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are among the risks hampering patient safety in health care settings, hence reducing care quality. Addressing them should be a priority for care providers and leaders to ensure care quality meets the desired expectations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze HAIs as a safety quality issue in a health care setting and identify a quality improvement initiative.

Factors Leading to HAIs in a Health Care Setting

HAIs can occur at any point of care within health facilities. Dadi et al. (2021) described HAIs as infections acquired in a health care facility during hospitalization or within the care facility after being discharged. As a significant threat to patients’ health and lives, understanding the risk factors for HAIs is crucial for effective prevention. Generally, HAIs are a multidimensional safety issue, implying that it has diverse causes of varying magnitudes. One of the leading factors is the condition of the care environment in terms of hygiene, safety measures, and infection control strategies. Other factors include procedures and issues related to patients, including age and health conditions. Haque et al. (2020) stated that procedures, such as using urinary catheters and nasogastric tubes, increase the risk of HAIs. Older adults with comorbidities are also at a high risk for HAIs. Understanding these factors and their points of occurrence can help health professionals prevent HAIs.

Evidence-Based and Best-Practice Solutions to Improve Patient Safety and Reduce Costs

HAIs hamper patient safety by increasing health complications and the risk of other infections. Managing them increases health care costs since they increase hospitalizations and dependence on costly procedures (Dadi et al., 2023; Haque et al., 2020). As a problem with diverse causes, HAIs necessitate a multimodal approach to address it effectively. A key component of the multimodal approach is maintaining strict environmental hygiene to control the spread of microorganisms. According to Haque et al. (2020), infected and polluted hospital surfaces are a leading source of transmission of microorganisms that spread HAIs. As a result, both porous and non-porous surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned as an infection control measure.

Besides environmental hygiene, hand hygiene and antimicrobial stewardship are effective solutions for HAIs. Mouajou et al. (2022) found that health professionals’ hands are a leading source of HAIs’ transmission. Therefore, practicing hand hygiene and complying with the established guidelines can reduce the risk of transmission. Antimicrobial stewardship involves a commitment to improving prescription and the use of antibiotics. Its purpose is to prevent harm associated with excessive antibiotic use and combat antibiotic resistance in health care facilities (Haque et al., 2020; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). These interventions can be combined or implemented independently as situations necessitate. Effective solutions require health professionals to understand the cause of HAIs and their magnitude to determine the scope of the interventions needed.

Nurses Coordinating Care to Increase Patient Safety and Reduce Costs

Care coordination involves organizing patient care activities and sharing essential information to optimize safety and effectiveness. Nurses can coordinate care by involving patients in decision-making and ensuring patients understand routine procedures. According to Alex et al. (2020), patient education can improve catheter use to reduce infections associated with catheterization and utilization of other invasive procedures. Apart from patient education, nurses should also embrace teamwork to ensure they implement procedures skillfully. The other essential component of care coordination is assessing patients’ experiences with procedures and the care environment to improve where necessary. Above all, continuous monitoring of hospitalized patients should be factored in when formulating treatment plans for high-risk patients.

Stakeholders for Care Coordination and Driving Safety Enhancements

Care coordination is multifaceted since it involves several interventions and multiple care providers. In care planning and implementation of interventions, stakeholders help with inclusive communication, transitions with positive outcomes, and coordinating care (Williams et al., 2021). One of the key stakeholders for care coordination and driving safety enhancements relating to HAIs is the organization’s management/executive. The management provides resources and the culture needed to implement safety programs for preventing HAIs, like hand hygiene protocols, antibiotic stewardship, and pre-procedure patient education. The other stakeholder group is patients and families. They can be a reliable resource for feedback on care experiences to help care providers determine safety improvement areas. Imperatively, regulatory bodies can be integrated into the planning process to guide the implementation team on safety guidelines and regulations to ensure ethical and legal compliance.

Conclusion

Health care facilities should be friendly and safe environments for patients in their pursuit of health and wellness. HAIs are a significant safety issue since they increase health complications, risk for other infections, and hospitalizations. Preventing HAIs is a foundation of improved care quality and patient safety since it reduces adverse outcomes significantly. The multidimensional causes of HAIs necessitate a multimodal approach involving various interventions. Evidence-based and best-practice interventions include environmental safety, hand hygiene, and antimicrobial stewardship. Patient education should also be integrated into the care coordination plan to enable patients to avoid risks that increase vulnerability to HAIs.

References

Alex, J., Salamonson, Y., Ramjan, L. M., Montayre, J., Fitzsimons, J., & Ferguson, C. (2020). The impact of educational interventions for patients living with indwelling urinary catheters: a scoping review. Contemporary Nurse, 56(4), 309-330. https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2020.1835509

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Core elements of antibiotic stewardship. https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/core-elements/index.html#:~:text=Antibiotic%20stewardship%20is%20the%20effort,use%2C%20and%20combat%20antibiotic%20resistance.

Dadi, N. C. T., Radochová, B., Vargová, J., & Bujdáková, H. (2021). Impact of healthcare-associated infections connected to medical devices-an update. Microorganisms, 9(11), 2332. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9112332

Haque, M., McKimm, J., Sartelli, M., Dhingra, S., Labricciosa, F. M., Islam, S., Jahan, D., Nusrat, T., Chowdhury, T. S., Coccolini, F., Iskandar, K., Catena, F., & Charan, J. (2020). Strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections: a narrative overview. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 13, 1765–1780. https://doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S269315

Mouajou, V., Adams, K., DeLisle, G., & Quach, C. (2022). Hand hygiene compliance in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections: a systematic review. The Journal of Hospital Infection, 119, 33–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2021.09.016

Williams, L. J., Waller, K., Chenoweth, R. P., & Ersig, A. L. (2021). Stakeholder perspectives: Communication, care coordination, and transitions in care for children with medical complexity. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing: JSPN, 26(1), e12314. https://doi.org/10.1111/jspn.12314