Posted: April 27th, 2023

The issue of medication errors in the hospital setting

Goal:

To assess a clinical issue that is the focus of the Quality Improvement Project.
Create an outline of the action plan for the project.
Content Requirements:

Identify stakeholders that will be impacted by the quality improvement project.
Identify and discussed resources including budget needed to implement the quality improvement project.
Develop an action plan for change including a proposed implementation time line
Submission Instructions:

The work is to be clear and concise, and students will lose points for improper grammar, punctuation and misspelling.
The work is to be 2 – 3 pages in length, excluding the title, abstract and references page.
Incorporate a minimum of 3 current (published within last five years) scholarly journal articles or primary legal sources (statutes, court opinions) within your work.
Journal articles and books should be referenced according to current APA style (the library has a copy of the APA Manual).
Your work should be formatted per current APA and references should be current (published within last five years) scholarly journal articles or primary legal sources (statutes, court opinions)
Note: this is the Part 3 of your Quality Improvement Project. You should revise/improve your work based on your professor’s feedback. In module 7, you will be putting all the parts together to complete and submit your final Project.
Note:

Stakeholders are those whom you identify as affected by the proposed improvement plan. They may include the client population, nurses, organizational leaders etc.

Your outline needs to be step-by-step, and have the characteristics of the SMART goals. There should be a way to evaluate the plan. Nursing Clinical Assignment: Quality Improvement Project Part 3

Introduction:
This Quality Improvement Project aims to address the issue of medication errors in the hospital setting. In Part 1 and Part 2 of this project, we identified the problem and conducted a root cause analysis. In this part, we will develop an action plan for change, including stakeholders, resources, budget, and implementation timeline.

Stakeholders:
The stakeholders who will be impacted by the quality improvement project include the following:

Patients
Nurses and nursing staff
Physicians and other healthcare providers
Pharmacy department
Hospital administrators and management
Insurance companies and payers
Resources and Budget:
To implement the quality improvement project, the following resources and budget are needed:

Electronic health record (EHR) software to support medication administration processes
Barcode scanning technology for medication administration
Staff training and education on safe medication administration practices
Hiring additional nursing staff to reduce workload and prevent burnout
Collaboration with pharmacy department for medication reconciliation
Quality improvement team to oversee and monitor progress
The estimated budget for these resources is $500,000, which will be funded by the hospital administration.

Action Plan for Change:

Implement EHR software to support medication administration processes by the end of the second quarter of the year.
Implement barcode scanning technology for medication administration by the end of the third quarter of the year.
Develop and provide staff training and education on safe medication administration practices by the end of the first quarter of the year.
Hire additional nursing staff by the end of the third quarter of the year.
Collaborate with pharmacy department to improve medication reconciliation processes by the end of the second quarter of the year.
Establish a quality improvement team to oversee and monitor progress by the end of the first quarter of the year.
Evaluation:
The success of the quality improvement project will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Reduction in medication errors and adverse drug events
Increase in patient satisfaction with medication administration processes
Compliance with safe medication administration practices
Staff satisfaction with workload and medication administration processes
Reduction in hospital readmissions due to medication errors
Conclusion:
This action plan for change is based on the root cause analysis and will address the issue of medication errors in the hospital setting. The implementation of EHR software, barcode scanning technology, staff training and education, collaboration with pharmacy department, hiring additional nursing staff, and establishment of a quality improvement team will help to improve medication administration processes and reduce medication errors. The evaluation criteria will ensure the success of the quality improvement project.