How might project management lend itself to quality improvement in healthcare and nursing practice?

Project management is a systematic process used to achieve a specific goal utilizing a clear framework to initiate, plan, control, review, implement, and complete. This process provides for many checks and balances opportunities to ensure the goal is achieved and met following the guidelines outlined at the start of the project. Therefore, project management is useful to ensure quality improvement measures and methods are achieved following clear guidelines that address the scope and focus on an organization’s goal.

This week, you will consider the role of project management as it relates to a quality improvement practice gap. You will also continue your exploration of the importance of quality improvement methods and tools for nursing practice, as you complete your Assignment introduced in Week 3. As you consult this week’s Learning Resources, you will continue to consider the use of these tools in quality improvement and examine how these systems and methods could relate to your practice, organization, and overall experience in nursing practice.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze quality improvement practice gaps
• Develop SMART objectives related to project management for a quality improvement practice gap
• Justify project management approaches to support projects addressing a quality improvement practice gap
• Analyze rate-based measures for nursing practice and healthcare delivery
• Analyze measurement systems and methods for rate-based measures
• Evaluate rate-based measure definitions, benchmarks, and comparisons related to organizational performance and metrics
• Apply rate-based measures to an organization or clinical setting
• Analyze the relationship between rate-based measures and organizational performance metrics for patient safety, healthcare quality, and cost of healthcare

---

Learning Resources

Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)

Required Media (click to expand/reduce)

---

Assignment 1: Applying Project Management Approaches for a Quality Improvement Practice Gap

• Project management allows for a clear and focused workflow to approach an issue or task. These approaches streamline a process, allow for checks and balances, and ensure all stakeholders are active participants in the process. Project management approaches often utilize SMART objectives to define and set the objectives for the project.

• Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Each letter of the acronym SMART defines a different criterion for the objective. A SMART objective is specific, measurable, assignable, realistic, and timely. These objectives help to steer the work and direct the stakeholders to the completion of the project.

For this Assignment, you will reflect on project management approaches that could be used to address a quality improvement practice gap. You will develop SMART objectives for the planning and execution of a quality improvement project, and will consider potential project management approaches or activities that could be used in executing this project.

To Prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources for this week, and consider the approaches of project management.
• Refer to the Week 3 Discussion, and reflect on the quality improvement practice gap you identified.
• Consider how you might apply the project management approaches examined this week to address the quality improvement practice gap you identified.
• Think about how you might develop SMART objectives for the planning and execution of a project to address the quality improvement practice gap you identified.
• Consider any other project management approaches or activities you might recommend using for your project that will address the quality improvement practice gap you identified.

The Assignment: (2–3 pages)

• Briefly describe the quality improvement practice gap you identified in your nursing practice or organization. Be specific.
• Develop at least two SMART objectives you might apply in the project planning phase or execution phase to address the quality improvement practice gap you identified.
• Recommend at least two project management activities you would use for your project, addressing the quality improvement practice gap you identified. Explain your justification for why these activities would provide the best support. Be specific and provide examples.

Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

By Day 7

Submit your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 4.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment 1 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment 1 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 4 Assignment 1 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 4 Assignment 1 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 4

To participate in this Assignment:

Week 4 Assignment 1

---

Assignment 2: Tools for Measuring Quality

• How do we determine quality? Quality in other areas of our lives can be subjective, so how do we ensure—specifically as it relates to our nursing practice—that quality is clearly defined and measurable?
  Tools for measuring quality are used to assess the value measured, collected, or compared. These tools allow for subjectivity to be replaced with objectivity through data, formula, ranking, and analysis.

• Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

For this Assignment, you will explore at least three rate-based measures of quality. You will deconstruct each measure to explore your understanding of the measure, its importance, and its impact on patient safety, cost of healthcare, and overall quality of healthcare.

To Prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources, for this week, and reflect on tools for measuring quality in nursing practice.
• Select three rate-based measurements of quality that you would like to focus on for this Assignment.
  • Note: These measurements must relate to some aspect of clinical or service quality that directly relates to patient care or the patient’s experience of care. For the purposes of this Assignment, an analysis of staffing levels is not permitted.
  • You can find useful information on quality indicators that are of interest to you on these websites and resources. You may choose only one of the three measures to be some form of patient satisfaction measure.
• Consider how the three rate-based measures (you will select) are defined, how the rates were determined or calculated, how the measures were collected, and how these measures are communicated to both internal and external stakeholders.
• Reflect on how the three rate-based measures (you will select) may relate to organizational goals for improved performance.
• Reflect on the three rate-based measures (you will select), and consider the importance of these measures on patient safety, cost of healthcare, and overall quality of healthcare.

The Assignment: (8–10 pages)

• Describe the three rate-based measures of quality you selected, and explain why.
• Deconstruct each rate-based measure to include the following:
  • Describe the definition of the measure.
  • Explain the numerical description of how the measure is constructed (the numerator/denominator measure counts, the formula used to construct the rate, etc.).
  • Explain how the data for this measure are collected.
  • Describe how the measurement is compared externally to other like settings, and differentiate between the actual rate and a percentile ranking. Be specific.
  • Explain whether the measure is risk adjusted or not. If so, explain briefly how this is accomplished.
  • Describe how goals might be set for each measure in an aggressive organization, which is seeking to excel in the marketplace. Be specific and provide examples.
• Describe the importance of each rate-based measure to a chosen clinical organization and setting.
  • Using the websites and resources, you can choose a hospital, a nursing home, a home health agency, a dialysis center, a health plan, an outpatient clinic, or private office; a total population of patient types is also acceptable, but please be specific as to the setting. That is, if you are interested in patients with chronic illness across the continuum of care, you might home in a particular health plan, a multispecialty practice setting or a healthcare organization with both inpatient and outpatient/clinic settings.
  • Note: Faculty appointments and academic settings are not permitted for this exercise. For all other settings, consult the Instructor for guidance. You do not need actual data from a given organization to complete this Assignment.
• Explain how each rate-based measure (you selected) relates to patient safety, to the cost of poor quality, and to the overall cost of healthcare delivery. Be specific and provide examples.

Reminder: The College of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/templates/general#s-lg-box-20293632). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

By Day 7

Submit your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 4.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK4Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 4 Assignment 2 link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK4Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 4 Assignment 2 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 4 Assignment 2 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 4

To participate in this Assignment:

Week 4 Assignment 2

---

What’s Coming Up in Module 3?

• Photo Credit: [BrianAJackson]/[iStock / Getty Images Plus]/Getty Images

In the next module, you will continue your exploration of quality and safety measures in healthcare. You will focus specifically on the quality measures and systems used to support quality improvement initiatives in nursing practice.

Looking Ahead: IHI Modules

• This Assignment requires completion of 13 IHI Open School modules and the completion of the Certificate of Completion at the Basic level. There are 13 modules that you must complete over the course of these 11 weeks.

• Photo Credit: NicoElNino / Adobe Stock

Improvement Capability	Patient Safety
QI 101: Introduction to Health Care Improvement	PS 101: Introduction to Patient Safety
QI 102: How to Improve With the Model for Improvement	PS 102: From Error to Harm
QI 103: Testing and Measuring Changes With PDSA Cycles	PS 103: Human Factors and Safety
QI 104: Interpreting Data: Run Charts, Control Charts, and Other Measurement Tools	PS 104: Teamwork and Communication in a Culture of Safety
QI 105: Leading Quality Improvement	PS 105: Responding to Adverse Events
Triple Aim for Populations	Person and Family-Centered Care
TA 101: Introduction to the Triple Aim for Populations	PFC 101: Introduction to Person- and Family-Centered Care
Leadership
L 101: Introduction to Healthcare Leadership

To access the IHI Certificate Program, go to IHI.org, and register to create an account. Be sure to enter Walden University as your organization. Under Role, you will select student. Under Organization, you will select school, and under education type, you will select nurse.

Go to the Education tab, and select Open School Courses. Click on Online Courses, and then on Certificates and CEUs. You want to ensure that you are viewing the Basic Certificate in Quality and Safety. Click on Earn Your Certificate Today, and you should be in your student dashboard to begin completing the IHI modules. You will want to click on Go to your Learning Center. On the left-side navigation menu, you will want to Search Catalog to search for, and enroll in, each of the 13 modules required for this certificate.

You will earn contact hours for each module, and once all 13 are completed, you will download the certificate of achievement. Please save this certificate. You will be required to upload this to gradebook in evidence of your completion.

You must complete all IHI modules, and submit your certificate by Day 2 of Week 11.

Next Module