Welcome to part one! This is the beginning of our four-part simulated quality im

Welcome to part one! This is the beginning of our four-part simulated quality improvement (QI) project assignment! You will be working
through the steps of the Model for Improvement framework that you learned about in your IHI certificate program. This framework
consists of asking three guiding questions and conducting a PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) Cycle. Each of the four assignments complete a portion of this process and at the end, you will have a fully planned QI project. These assignments build on each other. Each assignment will receive feedback that will need to be incorporated into the next in order to build a strong project.
Since this is a simulated project, you can practice these skills wherever you feel most comfortable or interested. It is time to choose your unit – Unit A, Step-down, CVICU, NICU, ER, wherever you want to work! You are now the quality team for the unit. You will decide how large your unit is and what type of patients you see. If you need help with this modeling it after an actual unit please let me know and I can provide some examples.
Select a problem with quality or safety that you want to improve. Use inspiration from your clinical or work experience. When selecting your problem you want to choose something that has the SMART criteria – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. Some examples for projects past are: Handwashing, Patient Falls, Pressure Injuries, Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), Nurse
Response Time. Welcome to part one! This is the beginning of our four-part simulated quality improvement (QI) project assignment! You will be working through the steps of the Model for Improvement framework that you learned about in your IHI certificate program. This
ramework consists of asking three guiding questions and conducting a PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) Cycle. Each of the four assignments
complete a portion of this process and at the end, you will have a fully planned QI project. These assignments build on each other. Each assignment will receive feedback that will need to be incorporated into the next in order to build a strong project.
Since this is a simulated project, you can practice these skills wherever you feel most comfortable or interested. It is time to choose your unit – Unit A, Step-down, CVICU, NICU, ER, wherever you want to work! You are now the quality team for the unit. You will decide how large your unit is and what type of patients you see. If you need help with this modeling it after an actual unit please let me know and I can
provide some examples.
Select a problem with quality or safety that you want to improve. Use inspiration from your clinical or work experience. When selecting your problem you want to choose something that has the SMART criteria – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. Some examples for projects past are: Handwashing, Patient Falls, Pressure Injuries, Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), Nurse Response Time. Welcome to part one! This is the beginning of our four-part simulated quality improvement (QI) project assignment! You will be working through the steps of the Model for Improvement framework that you learned about in your IHI certificate program. This framework
consists of asking three guiding questions and conducting a PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act) Cycle. Each of the four assignments complete a portion of this process and at the end, you will have a fully planned QI project. These assignments build on each other. Each assignment
will receive feedback that will need to be incorporated into the next in order to build a strong project.
Since this is a simulated project, you can practice these skills wherever you feel most comfortable or interested. It is time to choose your unit – Unit A, Step-down, CVICU, NICU, ER, wherever you want to work! You are now the quality team for the unit. You will decide how
large your unit is and what type of patients you see. If you need help with this modeling it after an actual unit please let me know and I can provide some examples.
Select a problem with quality or safety that you want to improve. Use inspiration from your clinical or work experience. When selecting
your problem you want to choose something that has the SMART criteria – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. Some
examples for projects past are: Handwashing, Patient Falls, Pressure Injuries, Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI), Nurse Response Time.
QI Project Assignment Part #1
1. Describe the unit or patient care area in detail. Include the name, what type of
patient you serve (conditions, ages, demographics), number of beds, nurse to
patient ratio, and any other information you think is important.
2. Clearly describe your problem and why you believe it needs improvement.
Describe how you know this is a problem using background information, data,
observations, interviews with people involved in the process, national
benchmarks, or other evidence. Provide resources as necessary.
3. Explore how your problem is addressed by National Quality and Safety
Initiatives. Use one of the following organizations and provide an example of how
they have addressed your problem. Have they provided education, a protocol, a
call to action, standards of care, public education articles, etc. Use more than
one if you want. Provide citations and references
1. The Joint Commission (TJC)
2. National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG)
3. National Quality Forum (NQF)
4. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
5. Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
6. Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)
7. Healthy People 2020
4. Form an aim statement for your quality improvement project. This sets a goal and
will guide your project and keep you one track. Review the information in the
modules and IHI courses about writing aim statements. Make sure the statement
is SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely). Use the
format “The aim for this project is to….(make what change) (by how much) (by
what time)”. Examples:
 The aim of this project is to improve handwashing rates on the R3 Rehab
unit to 100% by the end of three months.
 The aim of this project is to decrease the rate of CAUTIs in the TBICU by
50% by the end of September 2022.
 The aim of this project is to improve the transfer time of patients from the
ER to inpatient bed after deciding to admit to 1 hour by the end of 9
months.
5. Using at least one reference, discuss the difference between accreditation and
regulation and how each might affect your selected problem and efforts to
improve it in the given patient care area. Use more sources if needed.