To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

—Winston Churchill

Understanding the need and importance of change is the first step in accepting the need for continual change. Healthcare will never be a stagnant industry. Change is a part of the framework, and with change comes the need to assess and evaluate what type of change should occur. Whether it is in the manner in which patients are treated or the protocol for shift change, plans and processes are integral in enacting change to serve the healthcare community.

As you have explored, the goal of many healthcare organizations is to strive to improve quality of care and patient safety. Throughout the past 5 weeks of the course, you have examined how healthcare utilizes theories and philosophies in the implementation of quality improvement.

This week, you will build on that foundational awareness with a focus on quality improvement models, as well as the strategies and tools used with these models. You will explore how organizational culture and readiness may impact the promotion of quality improvement initiatives. You will also submit your DNP Project Faculty Advisor and Site Identification form.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze quality improvement initiatives for healthcare organizations and nursing practice
• Analyze approaches for handling adverse events in healthcare organizations and nursing practice
• Analyze impact of adverse events on public and internal perspectives on healthcare quality
• Analyze error rates in relation to healthcare organizations and nursing practice
• Analyze cultural/organizational readiness for quality improvement
• Assess organizational culture for quality improvement
• Assess leadership strategies to support quality improvement initiatives in organizations
• Identify DNP project Faculty advisor and site

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Learning Resources

Required Readings (click to expand/reduce)

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Discussion: Quality Improvement Initiative

• Your organization has recently discovered there have been too frequent errors in medication distribution. After launching an investigation in the matter, and discovering the reasons for the errors, your organization is ready to launch a quality improvement initiative. What might this initiative entail?  What is included, and how will it assist in eliminating these errors?

• Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

The purpose of the Quality Improvement (QI) Plan is to provide a formal ongoing process by which the organization and stakeholders utilize objective measures to monitor and evaluate the quality of services—both clinical and operational—provided to the patients. The QI Plan, which often addresses general medical behavioral health and oral healthcare and services, defines and facilitates a systematic approach to identify and pursue opportunities to improve services and resolve identified problems (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2011).

For this Discussion, review the Learning Resources. Then, reflect on how adverse events impact your organization and/or nursing practice. Consider the use of quality improvement initiative in the error rate, using scholarly articles to analyze.

Reference:

U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration. (2011). Developing and implementing a QI plan. https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/quality/toolbox/508pdfs/developingqiplan.pdf

To Prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources for this week, and reflect on the types of quality improvement (QI) initiatives that might be most relevant to your healthcare organization or nursing practice.
• Select a QI initiative, you are most familiar with, that has received support from your senior leaders in your healthcare organization or nursing practice.
• Consider how adverse events are handled in your healthcare organization or nursing practice. Reflect on how this may impact the public—as well as the internal—perspective on healthcare quality.
• Find a scholarly article or one from the public press, published within the last 5 years, that recounts a serious error. Reflect on this error, and consider how it may relate to your healthcare organization or nursing practice.

By Day 3 of Week 6

Post a brief explanation of the QI initiative you selected, and why. Be specific. Explain how adverse events are handled in your healthcare organization or nursing practice, including an explanation of how this may impact both public and internal perspectives on healthcare quality. Then, briefly describe the error rate from the article you selected, and explain how this may relate to your healthcare organization or nursing practice. Be specific and provide examples.

By Day 6 of Week 6

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by expanding upon your colleague’s post or offering an alternative interpretation of the error rate described by your colleague.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 6 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 of Week 6 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 6

To Participate in this Discussion:

Week 6 Discussion

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Assignment 1: Organizational Culture Assessment Tool

• Your organization is ready to implement a quality improvement initiative; however, it is becoming increasingly clear that perhaps not everyone is on board with the proposal.
  What could be contributing to this potential resistance? How might organizational culture impact or influence the ability to engage in quality improvement initiatives?

• Photo Credit: M-SUR / Adobe Stock

Organizational culture is the shared way of thinking or feeling in a given organization. This culture creates the dynamic for a willingness to change and/or improve. For example, if an organizational culture is one in which change is welcomed to improve and all voices are encouraged to be shared, the implementation of a quality improvement initiative will likely be accepted and supported. However, if an organizational culture is one in which the acknowledgement of mistakes are penalized and only leadership voices are respected, the implementation of a quality improvement initiative may be met with hesitation and skepticism.

For this Assignment, you will consider the impact of cultural and organizational readiness as it relates to the implementation of quality improvement initiatives. You will consider the leadership strategies needed to support these measures and complete an Organizational Culture Assessment Tool.

To Prepare:

• Review the Learning Resources regarding the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.
• Consider what stakeholders must be present to implement these initiatives, and reflect on the leadership strategies needed for success in promoting quality improvement initiatives in healthcare organizations and nursing practice.
• Select a healthcare organization or nursing practice (with which you are familiar) to complete the Organizational Culture Assessment Tool.

The Assignment: (2–3 pages)

Complete the Organizational Culture Assessment Tool for the healthcare organization or nursing practice you selected. Then, address the following:

• What is the state of cultural/organizational readiness for quality improvement?
• Is the organizational culture present for quality improvement?
• What leadership strategies are present in the organization to support quality improvement, positive patient experiences, and healthcare quality?

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 completed Organizational Culture Assessment Tool and the responses to the prompts for this Assignment by Day 7 of Week 6.

Submission and Grading Information

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

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK6Assgn1+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 6 Assignment 1 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 6 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 “WK6Assgn1+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 6 Assignment 1 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 6 Assignment 1 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 6

To participate in this Assignment:

Week 6 Assignment 1

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Assignment 2: Clinical Assignment: DNP Project Faculty Advisor and Site Identification

• Submit your DNP Project Faculty Advisor and Site Identification—Matching Request Form by Day 7 of Week 6.
  Note: You will submit this form using the link provided in the Learning Resources for this week. Follow the submission and grading directions below to submit a copy of your DNP Project Advisor and Site Identification—Matching Request Form (you will receive an email that the form was received). To receive credit for this Assignment submission, upload a copy of the email that verifies that your submission of the form was received.

• Photo Credit: fizkes / Adobe Stock

Submission and Grading Information

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

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK6Assgn2+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 6 Assignment 2 Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 6 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 “WK6Assgn2+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 6 Assignment 2 Rubric

Check Your Assignment Draft for Authenticity

To check your Assignment draft for authenticity:

Submit your Week 6 Assignment 2 draft and review the originality report.

Submit Your Assignment by Day 7 of Week 6

To participate in this Assignment:

Week 6 Assignment 2

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What’s Coming Up in Module 4?

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

In the next module, you will continue your exploration of quality improvement and examine applications of quality improvement in healthcare organizations and nursing practice. You will consider and examine the role of teams in quality improvement and explore potential quality improvement models for organizations and systems.

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.