TOOLS AND METHODS FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Leading Organizations for Quality Improvement Initiatives

The role of quality improvement allows for continual improvement. The goal is not perfection—an impossible feat—but rather the goal is for continual improvement, continual growth, and continual learning. Understanding the need to improve, and identifying the tools and methods needed for improvement, are what characterizes success in practice.

As a future DNP-prepared nurse, you will demonstrate the importance of quality improvement in healthcare through your desire to improve on day-to-day workflows and processes in delivering nursing care. Furthermore, utilizing the tools and methods for quality improvement will allow you to deliver patient care that is both effective and efficient. Throughout your program of study, you will strengthen your practice through analysis of these tools and methods.

Reference:

· Tracy, B. (2008). 
Effective leadership. Jaico Publishing.

Module 2: Tools and Methods for Quality Improvement is a 2-week module—Weeks 3 and 4 of the course—in which you focus on quality improvement, specifically the tools and methods used in nursing practice. In the Discussion for Week 3, you will explore the gaps in practice for quality improvement. In Week 4, you will continue to explore the use of the tools used to measure quality. As you engage with the content for this module, you will explore your understanding and ability to analyze and examine approaches for promoting quality improvement in practice.

How might you identify quality improvement practice gaps in your practice or organization? What tools and methods might you recommend to address these gaps?

Successful quality improvement relies on appropriate data and its analysis. It is not enough to just want to improve care and safety. Instead, measures and tools must be considered, analyzed, and evaluated to ensure that their implementation aligns with what the data demonstrates as a potential area for quality improvement. Furthermore, the application of quality improvement measures and tools must also be considered in light of the and with the quality improvement goals and expectations set forth by the needs of the organization or nursing practice.
This week, you will explore and analyze the different approaches of data collection and analysis as it relates to identifying an area for quality improvement. You will consider the importance of identifying practice gaps and explore recommendations for improvement.

Discussion

IDENTIFYING PRACTICE GAPS FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

What should be happening in practice? What is happening or observed in practice?

These two questions help to identify where quality improvement practice gaps might exist in nursing practice. If we know what 

should be
 happening does not coincide with 

what is
 happening, we know there is an issue, or more appropriately, a practice gap.

A practice gap is the difference between a desirable or achievable state of practice and current reality. For example, a common gap in practice in healthcare organizations today, are healthcare associated infections (HAIs), such as central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs), or catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs).

The ongoing identification of practice gaps is critical to quality improvement and involves identifying the current state, comparing that current state to the desired state, identifying the causes of the gaps in practice, and validating those gaps to develop a process for improvement.

For this Discussion, reflect on quality improvement practice gaps that may exist in your practice or organization. Consider what quality improvement methods and/or tools might be useful in improving this practice gap. Then, think about how you might address these challenges and what strategies you might implement as a future DNP-prepared nurse.

TO PREPARE:

· Review the Learning Resources on tools and methods for quality improvement.

· Reflect on a potential quality improvement practice gap, you have seen in your practice or organization, which you might consider using for your DNP project.

· Consider the tools and methods you might use to address this quality improvement practice gap.

Post a brief explanation of how you would identify a quality improvement practice gap in your practice or organization. Describe a potential quality improvement practice gap you might use for your DNP project, and explain why. Then, explain at least two types of tools and/or methods you might use to address this quality improvement practice gap, and explain why. Be specific and provide examples.

MY PRACTICE

TELEMEDICINE

Our customized Telemedicine solutions bring the best specialty care to our partners and our clinics.  Our Telepsychatrists currently provide clinical care remotely to Indiana, with expansions to other states coming shortly.

PSYCHIATRY

·
MEDICATION MANAGEMENT

· DIAGNOSTICS & TREATMENT

·
ADHD Testing

·
Genetic Testing

·
Ketamine Therapy

·
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

·
PSYCHOTHERAPY

·
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

·
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

·
EMDR

·
Grief Counseling

·
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

·
Motivational Interviewing

·
Solution Focused Therapy

·
Trauma Focused Therapy

·
Virtual Reality Therapy

·
CONDITIONS WE TREAT

·

·
ADHD

·
Autism Spectrum Disorder

·
Anxiety & Stress Disorders

·
Bipolar Disorder

·
Cognitive Disorders

·
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

·
Depression

·
Eating Disorders

·
LGBTQI+ Mental Health

·

·
Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

·
Oppositional Defiant Disorder

·
Personality Disorders

·
Psychotic Disorders

·
Sexual Dysfunction

·
Sleep Disorders

·
PTSD & Traumatic Disorders

·
Women’s Mental Health

GAPS FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

What should be happening in practice? On site VITAL SIGNS / PYSICAL PATIENT MONITORING/ monitoring for illicit drug levels

What is happening or observed in practice? Outsourcing to laboratory testing centers for. MEDICATION MANAGEMENT WITHOUT PYSICAL MONITORING OF VITAL SIGNS/ WEIGHT/ MONITORING blood levels for illicit drugs.

LEARNING RESOURCES

Required Readings

· Nash, D. B., Joshi, M. S., Ransom, E. R., & Ransom, S. B. (Eds.). (2019). The healthcare quality book: Vision, strategy, and tools (4th ed.). Health Administration Press.

· Chapter 4, “Data Collection” (pp. 107–26)

· Chapter 5, “Statistical Tools for Quality Improvement” (pp. 127–169)

· Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2018)). 

Key driver 2
Links to an external site.

: Implement a data-driven quality improvement process to integrate evidence into practice procedures. https://www.ahrq.gov/evidencenow/tools/keydrivers/implement-qi.html

Required Media

· Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (n.d.). 

Quality improvement essentials toolkitLinks to an external site.
 [Multimedia file]. http://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/Tools/Quality-Improvement-Essentials-Toolkit.aspx

image1.jpeg