QUIZ 4 Flashcards
Quality improvement:
The joint commission provides accreditation and they require standards to show evidence of QI to maintain accreditation status
The lean approach:
- Focused on efficacy and decreasing the amount of waste, whether it’s wasting resources of time for the staff or the patient.
- Identifies values as a necessary characteristic, so anything that doesn’t add value to the process is minimized or removed.
- Eliminate repeated or unnecessary steps
Quality indicators are essential for identifying areas for improvement, evaluating the success of interventions, and promoting accountability in healthcare settings:
- Examples of outcome indicators are -> mortality rates, hospital readmission rates, infection rates, and patient satisfaction surveys.
- Structure indicators reflect the setting in which care is provided r/t the standard under review. For example STAFFING.
- Process indications reflect how patient care is provided and are establish by policies and procedures. Provides important info about how a procedure is being carried out.
Example -> Use of restraints
Benchmarks are goals that are set to determine at what level the outcome indicators should be met.
when an error is made, and an incident report gets filed, who gets involved?
Risk management department gets involved when an error is made, and an incident report gets filed,
Incident reports:
Nurses should record the medical record number, names of all witnesses to the incident, identification numbers of equipment as well as the names and dosages of medications. What the nurse witnessed, date, time, place, and other factual facts. Never include a note in the medical record that an incident report was completed.
Root cause analysis:
RCAs should include the sequence of events, what caused the incident, why it happened, and what can be done to prevent the incident from recurring.
Sentinel event:
- The joint commission defines a sentinel event as an incident of unsafe practice that RESULTED IN EXTREME HARM, SHORT TERM HARM, PERMANENT DISABILITY, OR DEATH OF A PATIENT. The term “sentinel” is derived from the military and it means TO KEEP WATCH OR ON HIGH ALERT. Require immediate response but may not always be preventable.
- MAY NOT ALWAYS BE PREVENTABLE
Never events:
- Never events are medical errors that are identifiable, preventable, and have potential for serious risk to clients. The occurrence of a never event reveals a problem in the safety and credibility of a healthcare facility.
- Are always preventable
Nursing process as a tool for for evidenced based practice:
- Assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation
Ex: the first action a nurse takes is identify if there’s a problem by asking clinical questions
QI and EBP:
- Aim to improve patient care, safety, and outcomes.
- QI identifies needs
- EBP guides actionable improvements.
Example of QI:
Case- Reducing patient falls in a hospital
Problem- a hospital unit noticed a high rate of patient falls, especially in elderly patients. These falls were leading to injuries, longer hospital stays, and lower patient satisfaction.
QI goal- the goals was to reduce patient falls by 30% over 6 months by implementing standardized fall prevention strategies.
QI interventions that are EBP are applied:
- Risk assessment (nurses began conducting fall risk assessments for every patient upon admission and every shift change. Patients were categorized into high, medium or low fall risk)
- Standardized protocols (bed alarms, non slip socks, bed low, frequent check ins for high risk alert patients)
- Staff education (training on fall prevention techniques and were encouraged to be vigilant)
- Patient and family education and encouraged family members to remind patients to call for help
A nurse manager is participating in a root cause analysis following a sentinel event. Which of the following descriptions defines the purpose of a root cause analysis:
The root cause analysis investigates deviations from standards of care surrounding the event.
