Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan

Paper details
For this assessment, you will use a supplied template to conduct a root-cause analysis of a quality or safety
issue in a health care setting of your choice and outline a plan to address the issue.
As patient safety concerns continue to be addressed in the health care settings, nurses can play an active
role in implementing safety improvement measures and plans. Often root-cause analyses are conducted
and safety improvement plans are created to address sentinel or adverse events such as medication
errors, patient falls, wrong-site surgery events, and hospital-acquired infections. Performing a root-cause
analysis offers a systematic approach for identifying causes of problems, including process and systemcheck failures. Once the causes of failures have been determined, a safety improvement plan can be
developed to prevent recurrences. The baccalaureate nurse’s role as a leader is to create safety
improvement plans as well as disseminate vital information to staff nurses and other health care
professionals to protect patients and improve outcomes.
As you prepare for this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Quality and Safety
Improvement Plan Knowledge Base activity and to review the various assessment resources, all of which
will help you build your knowledge of key concepts and terms related to quality and safety improvement.
The terms and concepts will be helpful as you prepare your Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement
Plan. Activities are not graded and demonstrate course engagement.
Demonstration of ProficiencyBy successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Analyze the elements of a successful quality improvement initiative.
Apply evidence-based and best-practice strategies to address a safety issue or sentinel event pertaining to
medication administration. ;
Create a viable, evidence-based safety improvement plan for safe medication administration.
Competency 2: Analyze factors that lead to patient safety risks.
Analyze the root cause of a patient safety issue or a specific sentinel event pertaining to medication
administration in an organization.
Competency 3: Identify organizational interventions to promote patient safety.
Identify existing organizational resources that could be leveraged to improve a safety improvement plan for
safe medication administration.
Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly, evidence-based strategies to communicate in a manner that
supports safe and effective patient care.
Communicate in writing that is clear, logical, and professional, with correct grammar and spelling, using
current APA style.
Professional Context
Nursing practice is governed by health care policies and procedures as well as state and national
regulations developed to prevent problems. It is critical for nurses to participate in gathering and analyzing
data to determine causes of patient safety issues, in solving problems, and in implementing quality
improvements.
Scenario
For this assessment, you may choose from the following options as the subject of a root-cause analysis
and safety improvement plan:
The specific safety concern identified in your previous assessment pertaining to medication administration
safety concerns.
The readings, case studies, or a personal experience in which a sentinel event occurred surrounding an
issue or concern with medication administration.
Instructions
The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your understanding of and ability to analyze a root cause
of a specific safety concern in a health care setting. You will create a plan to improve the safety of patients
related to the concern of medication administration safety based on the results of your analysis, using the
literature and professional best practices as well as the existing resources at your chosen health care
setting to provide a rationale for your plan.
Use the Root-Cause Analysis and Improvement Plan Template [DOCX] to help you to stay organized and
concise. This will guide you step-by-step through the root cause analysis process.
Additionally, be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the
scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so you understand ;what is needed for a
distinguished score.
Analyze the root cause of a patient safety issue or a specific sentinel event pertaining to medication
administration in an organization.
Apply evidence-based and best-practice strategies to address the safety issue or sentinel event pertaining
to medication administration.
Create a feasible, evidence-based safety improvement plan for safe medication administration.
Identify organizational resources that could be leveraged to improve your plan for safe medication
administration