The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment

Assessment Description In this assignment, you will propose a quality improvement initiative from your place of employment that could easily be implemented if approved. Assume you are presenting this program to the board for approval of funding. Write an executive summary (750-1,000 words) to present to the board, from which the board will make its decision to fund your program or project. Include the following: The purpose of the quality improvement initiative. The target population or audience. The benefits of the quality improvement initiative. The interprofessional collaboration that would be required to implement the quality improvement initiative. The cost or budget justification. The basis upon which the quality improvement initiative will be evaluated. You are required to cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment.

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Pressure Ulcers Quality Improvement

Quality healthcare is the goal of every healthcare organization since it facilitates patient satisfaction, increasing the healthcare facility’s market competitiveness and sustainability. Hence, if the healthcare facility notices a factor that may affect patient satisfaction, it is essential to evaluate it keenly and implement projects to curb the problem in advance. Quality improvement projects aim at ensuring that the healthcare services prevailing gap in the patient population decreases. The paper’s main purpose is to design a quality improvement initiative project. Therefore, the focus will be on outlining the project’s purpose, target population, the project benefits, interprofessional collaboration, the project’s cost, and project evaluation basis The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment.

Quality Improvement Project

Our healthcare organization has been experiencing an increase in pressure ulcer cases. According to Anthony et al. (2019), pressure ulcers are injuries that occur to a patient’s skin and its underlying tissues and are mostly due to prolonged skin pressure. The most affected patient groups are those confined within a wheelchair or a bed for long periods. Pressure ulcers are devastating because they can lead to hospital overstays and affect the patients’ quality of life and health. Also, pressure ulcers cause an increase in health care utilization, serious infections, associated risks, and pain. Hence, the nursing staff should always evaluate the admitted patients’ chances of developing pressure ulcers and engage in preventive initiatives as soon as possible. The problem requires early interventions because the United States handles over 2.5 million individuals with pressure ulcers yearly (Klugarová et al., 2022)The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment. Hence, it is important to ensure that healthcare organizations consider pressure ulcer prevention to prevent its adverse effect on patients’ well-being.

Project Purpose

There are different interventions that healthcare providers can offer to pressure ulcer patients. However, the paper’s primary purpose is to outline the effectiveness of Mepilex Border Flex, a practice foam dressing. Mepilex is a proven intervention for pressure ulcers that healthcare providers must use along with the Braden Scale. As Klugarová et al. (2022) postulate, Braden Scale helps clinicians identify the patient’s pressure ulcer risk level. The reason why using Mepilex Border Flex is the most effective prevention for pressure ulcers is that it reduces friction, redistributes pressure, and provides the affected area with an optimal microclimate. In addition, the Mepilex foam contains soft silicone and ionic silver antimicrobial actions that increase the healing process and reduces pain The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment.

The Target Patient Population

The target population to benefit from the Mepilex Border Flex Interventions are the elderly aged 70 years and above. The main reason the population is considered in the project is that the elderly presents more chances to attain mobility issues like stroke, making them confined for long periods in bed. Also, the patient population develops skin issues that can easily be affected by dehydration

The Project Benefits

The pressure ulcer occurrence frequencies and the increased cost of treating it are the foundation of this project. That is because healthcare providers need to ensure that they formulate effective ways to intervene in these occurrences to increase patient satisfaction with their healthcare services. Furthermore, the healthcare environment should always aim to present patients with the safest medical interventions, thus the need to adopt measures that will increase the quality of health and reduce care costs to enable all target patient populations to recover quickly (Anthony et al., 2019)The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment. Hence, the project will offer healthcare professionals to receive training and workshops to help them resonate with the proper wound care protocols. Such education will effectively ensure that healthcare providers manage and prevent pressure ulcers, thus increasing patient satisfaction.

Interprofessional Collaboration

Interprofessional collaboration in a healthcare organization is crucial since patient care takes different multidisciplinary approaches. Hence, the team that will be viable for the project includes the project manager, nurses, physicians, a quality improvement team, acute care unit supervisors, a quality coordinator, and nurse leaders (Delmore et al., 2020)The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment. However, to ensure that the team collaborates effectively, the project manager must engage in various strategies like incorporating transformational leadership styles to motivate the team.

The Project Cost Justification

The United States uses approximately $11.6 billion annually for pressure ulcer costs. According to Klugarová et al. (2022), every individual undergoing pressure ulcer treatment costs approximately $20900 and $151,700 yearly. However, purchasing a 7.5cm x 7.5cm Dressing 10 Pack, Mepilex Border Flex is approximately $44.99, which can be used for up to seven days depending on the wound severity (Molnlycke, n.d)The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment. Such extended dressing time decreases patient costs when seeking wound dressing and reduces the dressing frequency costs like pain medication, nursing materials, and time.

Project Evaluation

When a project implementation starts, the project team must evaluate its effectiveness for the target population. Hence, during the project implementation process, the project team must attend weekly meetings to evaluate the project’s success. That is to evaluate different sizes of Mepilex Border Flex since apart from the 7.5cm x 7.5cm Dressing 10 Pack, there are other sizes like the 7.5cm x 7.5cm Dressing 5 Pack Mepilex Border Lite that has cost $22.99 and 4cm x 5cm Dressing 10 Pack that cost $23.99 (Molnlycke, n.d)The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment. The reason for such assessment will help the healthcare providers have an optimal picture of different Mepilex sizes to address different situations. Also, the project team will survey the patient population, their families, and other healthcare providers to evaluate Mepilex Border Flex’s effectiveness. However, to determine Mepilex foam dressing’s cost-effectiveness, the project team will evaluate it yearly.

Conclusion

The paper evaluates the quality improvement of the pressure ulcer prevention project. The research shows that the United States experiences over 2.5 cases of pressure ulcers yearly, thus making the project more viable in our healthcare. Hence, the proposed project concerns using Mepilex foam dressing that reduce pressure ulcer impact and will involve a multidisciplinary project team. The team will conduct weekly meetings to evaluate the project’s effectiveness. However, after implementation survey technique will be used by the team to assess if the Mepilex foam dressing will reduce the pressure ulcers The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment.

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References

Anthony, D., Alosoumi, D., & Safari, R. (2019). Prevalence of pressure ulcers in long-term care: a global review. Journal of wound care, 28(11), 702-709. https://doi.org/10.12968/jowc.2019.28.11.702

Delmore, B., VanGilder, C., Koloms, K., & Ayello, E. A. (2020). Pressure injuries in the pediatric population: analysis of the 2008–2018 international pressure ulcer prevalence survey data. Advances in Skin & Wound Care, 33(6), 301-306. doi: 10.1097/01.ASW.0000661812.22329.f9

Klugarová, J., Pokorná, A., Hussain, S., Vrbová, T., Slezáková, S., Búřilová, P., … & Klugar, M. (2022). Economic evaluations of interventions for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers: an umbrella review protocol. JBI Evidence Synthesis, 20(2), 633-639. doi: 10.11124/JBIES-21-00037

Molnlycke (n.d). Mepilex foam dressings. https://www.molnlycke.us/products-solutions/mepilex-foam-dressings/ The Quality Improvement Initiative Assignment