Week 6 Discussion

Improving Quality

Improving the quality of health care delivery and patient
safety continues to be a political concern and has been at the heart of reform
issues for many years. The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Institute
of Medicine (IOM) have increased awareness of health care quality and safety
issues, as well as advocated for health care reform. The documents featured at
the ANA and IOM websites listed in this week’s Learning Resources focus on many
of the current issues surrounding quality and safety in the health care
industry.

To prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, focusing on the Six
Aims for Improvement presented in the landmark report “Crossing the Quality
Chasm: The IOM Health Care Quality Initiative.”

Consider these six aims with regard to your current
organization, or one with which you are familiar. In what areas have you seen
improvement? What areas still present challenges? As a nurse leader, how can
you contribute to improving the organization’s achievement of these aims?

Select one specific quality or safety issue that is
presenting a challenge in the organization. Consider at least one quality
improvement strategy that could be used to address the issue, as well as which
of the six aims for improvement would then be addressed.

Reflect on your professional practice and your experiences
with inter-professional collaboration to improve quality and safety. How has
inter-professional collaboration contributed to your organization’s efforts to
realize the IOM’s six aims for improving health care? Where has
inter-professional collaboration been lacking?

By Day 3

Post a description of the quality or safety issue you
selected and a brief summary of the impact that this issue has on health care
delivery. Describe at least one quality improvement strategy used to address
this issue. Then explain which of the six “aims for improvement” are addressed
by the strategy. Finally, explain how inter-professional collaboration helps
improve quality in this area.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different
days in one or more of the following ways:

Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional
background information, evidence, or research using an in-text citation in APA
format.

Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings,
synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings
from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.

Validate an idea with your own experience and additional
research.

Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from
readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.

Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional
insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

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