Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example

Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example

Practicum Activities Reflection

Weeks three and four have offered multiple learning opportunities and presented challenges that are necessary preparations for future practice. I understood how to better apply skills learned in classrooms in an actual practice environment. Taking care of real patients in a real medical facility under my assigned preceptor over the two weeks was a great experience. Practicum activities included assessing patients’ conditions, administering medications, helping patients with activities of daily living like dressing and eating for those unable to and directing those capable of the same. The majority of the activities were support tasks, including updating patients’ charts, watching nurses’ interactions with patients, and shadowing nurses and other healthcare mentors. I was also involved in lab work, classroom learning, and clinical observation. I managed to complete my clinical hours during the two weeks despite other classroom tasks. A primary challenge was patients being wary of me as a student nurse, but other nurses helped me set patients at ease. (Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Health Care Quality and Patient Safety

The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) states that quality is “doing the right thing for the right person at the right time and producing the best result.” The World Health Organization defines patient safety as “the prevention of errors and ill effects to patients associated with health care” (CooperHealth.org, 2019). Safety entails avoiding harm, while quality involves providing timely, cost-effective, and efficient care. While quality concentrates on doing things well, safety focuses on preventing bad events. Errors are less likely to occur when there is safety. The overall quality experience of care improves as quality increases.(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Patient safety is one of the most significant and determining aspects of the quality of care, which has many dimensions. Therefore, preservation, protection, and development of patient safety are fundamental objectives of healthcare environments (Ghahramanian et al., 2017). The prevention of harm to the patient while receiving medical care is seen as a crucial aspect of the quality of healthcare services. It is the responsibility of organizations and providers to analyze the patient safety culture, identify any shortcomings, and foster a culture of safety among healthcare professionals (Ghahramanian et al., 2017). The enhancement of internal communication, the backing of managers, and a commitment to patient safety are all necessary strategies for improving the quality of healthcare services.(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Practicum Project Preparation

A healthcare practitioner should always identify and analyze potential improvement areas. The first step is looking at patient populations, such as to identify barriers to care, frequently diagnosed chronic diseases, or individuals at high risk and practice areas like management issues such as low morale, long patient wait times, or poor communication to pinpoint and comprehend the areas of quality and safety improvement (AAFP, 2019). It is crucial to employ recognized quality metrics, such as those from the National Quality Forum, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Quality Payment Program. Data collection and analysis is the next step. The foundation of quality improvement is the gathering and analysis of data (AAFP, 2019). Data will assist in understanding how well systems function, identifying potential improvement areas, setting achievable targets, and tracking the success of the change. Before starting a QI project, it is crucial to gather baseline data. Providers should also establish a commitment to frequent data collection, thoroughly examine results as the project progresses, and then make decisions based on that analysis.(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Besides patient treatment, providers are responsible for identifying patients or individuals at risk and developing interventions to reduce the risk and improve the patient experience. Intimate partner violence was identified through an analysis of patient data that indicated an increase in reported incidences or patients presenting in the emergency department with health issues or injuries associated with intimate partner violence. Data was integral in identifying the specific patient need that requires urgent addressing. Patient assessment data indicating chief complaints and history of present illness provided baseline information needed to rank IPV as a patient safety improvement need and the focus of the practicum project. Increasing screening of patients at risk of IPV can help develop interventions and policies to ensure patient safety.(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Evidence

Different factors influence the improvement of healthcare quality. Data is elemental in assessing performance (Shah, 2019). Data are essential for evaluating the quality of healthcare, regardless of whether the goal is to improve outcomes like decreasing mortality among patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction or a care process, such as increasing beta-blocker administration rate at discharge in individuals with acute myocardial infarction. Data are used to identify areas for improvement and to show how system change interventions have affected treatment outcomes or procedures for a clinical condition or topic (Shah, 2019). Teams can determine which change ideas are helpful and which need to be refined to achieve the desired outcomes using data collected to understand improvement. Additionally, data serves as a barometer to demonstrate progress over time.(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

References

AAFP. (2019, November 15). Quality improvement basics. https://www.aafp.org/family-physician/practice-and-career/managing-your-practice/quality-improvement-basics.html(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

CooperHealth.org. (2019, March 13). Quality and patient safety. https://www.cooperhealth.org/about-us/quality-and-patient-safety(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Ghahramanian, A., Rezaei, T., Abdullahzadeh, F., Sheikhalipour, Z., & Dianat, I. (2017). Quality of healthcare services and its relationship with patient safety culture and nurse-physician professional communication. Health promotion perspectives, 7(3), 168–174. https://doi.org/10.15171/hpp.2017.30(Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Practicum Journal-A Comprehensive Nursing Essay Example)

Shah A. (2019). Using data for improvement. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 364, l189. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l189

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/