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Improvement Plan Toolkit Sample Paper

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Improvement Plan Toolkit Sample Paper

Introduction

The adoption of value-based care calls for continuous quality improvement. An improvement plan toolkit aims to eliminate inefficient or ineffective systems in health care with the view of patient outcomes, health experiences and the quality of care. Some of the unique qualities of an improvement plan include; guarantee of quality, improving patient outcomes, and improving safety by eliminating errors, injuries, and harm to patients. Below are the sources used to explain the concept of improvement plan toolkit.

Annotated Bibliography

In this article, authors Mojtaba Vaismoradi, Susanna Tella, Patricia A. Logan, Jayden Khakurel, and Flores Vizcaya-Moreno assert that prevention of practice-errors and the improvement of patient safety depend on nurses’ ability to adhere to patient safety principles. The authors point out that patient harm is one of the leading concerns for the healthcare sector because it is ranked among the top ten leading causes of disability and death to patients (Vaismoradi et al., 2020). Besides, the authors continue to assert that losses associated with practice errors amount to several trillion dollars every year-something adversely affects the provision of quality care to patients.

Snezana Kusljic and Angela Wu in this article look at the importance of reducing medication errors by using different interventions such to curb prescription, dispensing, and administration medication errors. The authors assert that a combination of effective intervention methods such as prescriber education, computerized medication, patient education, using trained medication experts, and using automated drug distributors are some of the most effective methods to control medication errors.

In this article, Albert Wu and Isolde Busch assert that the lack of patient safety in many healthcare facilities is caused by lack the right training and attitude on patient safety for healthcare professionals. The authors assert that bulk of the practice-errors committed by nurses and other caregivers can be traced to the lack of schools in the health profession to offer any or adequate training on patient safety. Wu and Busch maintain that training on patient safety must be introduced early at the college/university level for nurses and the training must continue beyond postgraduate level.

Carayon, Wooldridge, Hose, Salwei, & Benneyan assert that human factors and system engineering-HF/SE are some of the emerging solutions to understanding and improving safer care for patients. According to the authors, HF/SE can help healthcare facilities to curb most of the safety issues leading to improved patient safety. The authors assert that HS/SE contains numerous principles, methods, and approaches that improve and optimize patient safety. They give the example of effective systems as a contributor to patient safety.

In this article, the authors assert that nurses with training on patient safety early in their education approach the issue with the seriousness it deserves and avoid making mistakes/errors leading to patient safety. Slawomirski, Auraaen, and Klazinga refer to a study by the World Health Organization-WHO that cites preventable harm as the world’s twentieth-most cause of morbidity and mortality (Slawomirski, 2017). To prevent the increasing cases of preventable harm, the authors assert that there is evidence that education and training through safety curricula helps to improve the quality of care while boosting patient safety.

Amr Hossein Khoshakhlagh, Elham Khatooni, Isa Akbarzadeh, Saeid Yazdanirad and Ali Sheidaei conducted a cross-sectional study to analyze the impact of patient safety culture as one of the critical components to achieving quality health and patient safety. The objective of this study was to analyze the factors that affect patient safety in private and public healthcare facilities.  A sample of 1203 caregivers in three private and three public facilities participated in the study using a stratified random sampling.

In this article, Sloane, Smith, McHugh, & Aiken assert that the behaviour of healthcare workers is directed by a positive patient safety culture. The authors assert that shared cultural perceptions, teamwork, continuous training and learning, communication, problem-solving skills, and personal responsibility are some of the factors that contribute to a positive culture in healthcare sector. The authors assert that a positive patient safety culture is the first step to eliminating errors, reducing patient harm, and improving patient outcomes (Sloane et al., 2018). To this end, the authors assert that before implementing structural interventions, it is critical for healthcare facilities to first instill a patient-safety culture.

In this article, the singles out burnout as one of the leading causes of patient harm leading to compromised patient safety. The authors base their argument on Roteinstein’s study that found out that up to 80% of nurses in America suffer from burnout (Garcia et al., 2019). The authors assert that at least one-in- three nurses have either professional achievement, depersonalization, or emotional exhaustion at any given time. The authors show that there is a link between nurse burnout and patient safety.

In this article, Satorre examines the prevalence of medical errors as one of the leading causes of patient harm. He asserts that medication errors is one of the factors that contribute to high level of patient comorbidity and mortality. Satorre discusses some of the effective ways of managing medication errors. To curb medication errors, Satorre asserts that only qualified personnel must be used in dispensing medication to avoid errors.

Jamileh Farokhzadian, Nahid Dehghan Nayeri and Fariba Borhani provide that safety culture is a recent discovery that has the potential to contain patient harm while improving patient safety and outcomes.  The authors assert that the experiences, skills, and knowledge of nurses can facilitate the creation of better strategies to improve patient safety. They assert that healthcare facilities can avert preventable harm by “designing and planning safety processes and techniques” (Farokhzadian et al., 2018). The authors conclude that preventing harm in healthcare facilities require the implementation of safety improvement programs that lead to improved patient safety.

Levine, Carmody, and Silk (2020) argue that the culture of remaining silent when medical errors occur is a huge contributor to lack of patient safety. The authors assert that it is critical for nurses and other healthcare workers to report incidences of errors so that appropriate action can be taken. Besides, the authors assert that reporting medical errors help healthcare facilities to avoid similar errors in future by putting in place measures to prevent them. In their conclusion, the authors assert that organizations with a culture of reporting events and incidences record fewer errors if any.

In this article, the authors assert that there as link between the physical and mental health, self-reported errors, and work environment with patient safety. Regarding physical and mental health, the authors assert that nurses in poor physical and mental health committed more medical errors. Melnyk, et al. (2021) assert that nurses with better mental and physical health committed little or no errors. To improve patient safety in hospitals, the authors assert that it is critical for such facilities to ensure a conducive work place devoid of too much stress and pressure. This will ensure that employees are of good mental and physical health.

References

  • Carayon, P., Wooldridge, A., Hose, B. Z., Salwei, M., & Benneyan, J. (2018). Challenges and opportunities for improving patient safety through human factors and systems engineering. Health Affairs, 37(11), 1862-1869. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0723
  • Farokhzadian, J., Nayeri, N. D., & Borhani, F. (2018). The long way ahead to achieve an effective patient safety culture: challenges perceived by nurses. BMC health services research, 18(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3467-1
  • Garcia, C. D. L., Abreu, L. C. D., Ramos, J. L. S., Castro, C. F. D. D., Smiderle, F. R. N., Santos, J. A. D., & Bezerra, I. M. P. (2019). Influence of burnout on patient safety: systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicina, 55(9), 553. https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina55090553
  • Khoshakhlagh, A. H., Khatooni, E., Akbarzadeh, I., Yazdanirad, S., & Sheidaei, A. (2019). Analysis of affecting factors on patient safety culture in public and private hospitals in Iran. BMC health services research, 19(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1787/5a9858cd-en
  • Manias, E., Kusljic, S., & Wu, A. (2020). Interventions to reduce medication errors in adult medical and surgical settings: A systematic review. Therapeutic advances in drug safety, 11, 2042098620968309. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2042098620968309
  • Melnyk, B. M., Tan, A., Hsieh, A. P., Gawlik, K., Arslanian-Engoren, C., Braun, L. T., & Wilbur, J. (2021). Critical care nurses’ physical and mental health, worksite wellness support, and medical errors. American Journal of Critical Care, 30(3), 176-184. https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2021301