Enhancing Quality and Safety

Paper details
For this assessment, you will develop a 3-5 page paper that examines a safety quality issue pertaining to
medication administration in a health care setting. You will analyze the issue and examine potential
evidence-based and best-practice solutions from the literature as well as the role of nurses and other
stakeholders in addressing the issue.
Health care organizations and professionals strive to create safe environments for patients however, due to
the complexity of the health care system, maintaining safety can be a challenge. Since nurses comprise the
largest group of health care professionals, a great deal of responsibility falls in the hands of practicing
nurses. Quality improvement (QI) measures and safety improvement plans are effective interventions to
reduce medical errors and sentinel events such as medication errors, falls, infections, and deaths. A 2000
Institute of Medicine (IOM) report indicated that almost one million people are harmed annually in the
United States, (Kohn et al., 2000) and 210,000–440,000 die as a result of medical errors (Allen, 2013).
The role of the baccalaureate nurse includes identifying and explaining specific patient risk factors,
incorporating evidence-based solutions to improving patient safety and coordinating care. A solid
foundation of knowledge and understanding of safety organizations such as Quality and Safety Education
for Nurses (QSEN), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and The Joint Commission and its National Patient
Safety Goals (NPSGs) program is vital to practicing nurses with regard to providing and promoting safe and
effective patient care.