Enhancing Quality and Safety Essay

For this assessment, you will develop a 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).

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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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Explain how nurses can help coordinate care to increase patient safety with medication administration and reduce costs.
  • 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.
  • Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional with correct grammar and spelling using current APA style.

Sample Solution

Introduction

Medication administration is one of the most common activities in healthcare settings. However, medication errors are a prevalent safety issue that can result in serious harm to patients, including prolonged hospitalization, disability, and death. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the safety quality issue of medication administration in healthcare settings, identify evidence-based and best-practice solutions, and discuss the role of nurses and other stakeholders in addressing this issue.

Factors Leading to Medication Administration Safety Risks

There are various factors that can lead to medication administration safety risks, including individual factors, system factors, and communication factors. Individual factors may include knowledge deficits, lack of experience, fatigue, stress, and distractions. System factors may include inadequate staffing, lack of standardization in medication administration procedures, insufficient resources, and ineffective use of technology. Communication factors may include poor handoffs, lack of interprofessional collaboration, and inadequate communication between healthcare providers and patients (National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, 2015).

Evidence-Based and Best-Practice Solutions

To improve medication administration safety, evidence-based and best-practice solutions must be implemented. One solution is to use…NEED A COMPREHENSIVE ANSWER? POST YOUR ORDER

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