Overview
Nurses combine their knowledge of clinical care with quality improvement (QI) to benefit individual patients and healthcare as a whole. This course provides an overview of the strategies used to promote successful QI initiatives. Additionally, this course shows that QI is an important part of a nurse’s role as they advocate for improved safety and quality in healthcare.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) created The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education to guide the education of nursing. We will be focusing on the most prominent competencies aligned with this course: Domain 5, Quality and Safety. Within Domain 5, you will find three Domain 5 competencies, and multiple entry-level sub-competencies.
This journal will allow you to review the information from the course and connect it to Domain 5 of the AACN Essentials. This review will supply a foundation for reflecting on your newly developed knowledge. The competencies and entry-level sub-competencies for the AACN Essentials Domain 5 include the following:
Domain 5 Competencies
Competency 5.1: Apply quality improvement principles in care delivery.
Sub-Competency 5.1a: Recognize nursing’s essential role in improving healthcare quality and safety.
Sub-Competency 5.1b: Identify sources and applications of national safety and quality standards to guide nursing practice.
Sub-Competency 5.1d: Interpret benchmark and unit outcome data to inform individual and microsystem practice.
Sub-Competency 5.1e: Compare quality improvement methods in the delivery of patient care.
Sub-Competency 5.1f: Identify strategies to improve outcomes of patient care in practice.
Sub-Competency 5.1g: Participate in the implementation of a practice change.
Sub-Competency 5.1h: Develop a plan for monitoring the quality improvement change.
Competency 5.2: Contribute to a culture of patient safety.
Sub-Competency 5.2a: Describe the factors that create a culture of safety.
Sub-Competency 5.2b: Articulate the nurse’s role within an interprofessional team in promoting safety and preventing errors and near misses.
Sub-Competency 5.2c: Examine basic safety design principles to reduce risk of harm.
Sub-Competency 5.2d: Assume accountability for reporting unsafe conditions, near misses, and errors to reduce harm.
Sub-Competency 5.2e: Describe processes used in understanding causes of error.
Sub-Competency 5.2f: Use national patient safety resources, initiatives, and regulations at the point of care.
Competency 5.3: Contribute to a culture of provider and work environment safety.
Sub-Competency 5.3a: Identify actual and potential level of risks to providers within the workplace.
Sub-Competency 5.3b: Recognize how to prevent workplace violence and injury.
Sub-Competency 5.3c: Promote policies for prevention of violence and risk mitigation.
Sub-Competency 5.3d: Recognize one’s role in sustaining a just culture reflecting civility and respect.
Directions
For this journal, reflect on the knowledge you have gained in this course. Explain the role of QI in healthcare and specifically, a nurse’s role in QI. Consider the significance of entry-level competencies of Domain 5 in QI initiatives. Refer to the Course Infographic, located in the Start Here section of this course, and the AACN Essentials Domain 5 Competencies and Sub-competencies to inform your responses. An APA-style template can be found in the library guide linked in the Start Here section of the course.
You must cite at least two current scholarly sources. To be considered current, scholarly sources must have been published within the last five years.
Specifically, you must address the following rubric criteria:
Importance: Discuss the importance of QI in healthcare. Include the following in your response:
Reasons for CQI in healthcare
Nurse’s Role: Discuss a nurse’s role in QI in healthcare. Consider the following in your response:
What impact will your role as a team member have in QI?
What examples of QI have you experienced in your nursing practice?
Reflect on Entry-Level Competency: Reflect on one of the entry-level Domain 5 competencies. Include the following in your response:
The entry-level competency’s connection to QI in healthcare.
The entry-level competency’s connection to what you have learned in this course.
Reflect on Entry-Level Sub-Competency: Reflect on one of the entry-level Domain 5 sub-competencies. Include the following in your response:
The entry-level sub-competency’s connection to QI in healthcare.
The entry-level sub-competency’s connection to what you have learned in this course.
Course Infographic: Reflect on the skills, knowledge, and dispositions from the course infographic. Consider the following in your response:
Were any of the skills, knowledge, and dispositions in the course infographic unexpected?
How might an unexpected skill, knowledge or disposition change your nursing practice?
How does this course help you expand on existing skills, knowledge, or dispositions you already possess?
How might this change your nursing practice?
What to Submit
Submit your completed journal. Your submission should be a 1- to 2-page Word document with a reference page that is not part of the page count. Follow APA Style standards for formatting and citing your sources.
