Quality and Safety in Healthcare and Nursing Practice
How will you, as a future DNP-prepared nurse, keep patients safe? This is a multi-layered question with many different answers, yet it is important to note that—as the nurse leader—quality and safety measures are at the forefront of how you deliver nursing practice.
Quality and safety measures are integral components in healthcare. There is documentation across multiple decades of disparities and inequities in quality health care delivery. “Despite recent improvements in some aspects of population health, many disparities have persisted or even worsened” (Ransom, 2023, p. 181).
Understanding the prominence of error, it is important to consider your role as a DNP-prepared nurse.
For this Discussion, take a moment to consider your experience with quality and safety in your nursing practice. Examine how the selected organization integrates principles of just culture and addresses health equity. Reflect on your experience and consider how your role may support quality and safety measures.
Mistakes happen. Even though your healthcare organization may establish a target of “zero” preventable harm, human factors, and gaps in system processes will result in some error. Reporting errors initiates the inquiry process to activate necessary stakeholders to create a plan to identify, act, and mitigate future risk of harm.
· How might your practice change if reporting mistakes was welcomed versus penalized?
· How might this practice change lead to a better understanding of quality improvement and safety needs?
· How might patient safety be improved?
Resources
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
To prepare:
· Review the Learning Resources for this week.
· Reflect on your experience with nursing practice, specifically as it relates to the function of quality and safety. For example, consider how your current organization supports quality, safety, and health equity.
· Reflect on the role and obligations of the DNP-prepared RN in nursing care delivery and quality improvement
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By Day 3 Of Week 1
Post a scholarly response to the following criteria:
· Explain the rationale for the recent increased focus on health equity and quality improvement.
· Analyze the role of a DNP-prepared nurse leading, participating, and promoting patient care quality improvement and safety.
· Analyze the role of the DNP-prepared nurse in promoting just culture within a healthcare organization.
