Identify a quality improvement (QI) issue in your chosen scenario, and discuss the issue in relation to the risks or impact of low-quality care

For Part A of your essay you need to choose ONE clinical scenario (see below), and using relevant and appropriate literature:

1. write an introduction to the topic that includes a clear description of what your chosen scenario is, its related NSQHS Standards, and the aim of the essay. You also need to write a conclusion in which you summarise the essay and provide a brief recap of the main points without introducing any new concepts (suggested word count 175 words for each = 350 words in total).

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2. Identify a quality improvement (QI) issue in your chosen scenario, and discuss the issue in relation to the risks or impact of low-quality care (suggested word count 300 words).

3. Briefly describe the NSQHS Standard that link to the QI issue in your chosen scenario (suggested word count 250 words).

4. Discuss a clinical care activity central to your chosen scenario. In your discussion you need to:

a) Identify ONE appropriate clinical care activity that is tailored to the specific issue in your chosen scenario and justify why your chosen care activity is essential to improve clinical care (suggested word count 300 words).

b) Discuss TWO strategies for implementing quality improvement (200 words).

Clinical scenarios (choose ONE from numbers 1 to 5)

A tertiary hospital’s annual report highlighted the main areas for quality improvement. A Registered Nurse (RN) has been assigned 10% of their work time to “Quality Improvement (QI)” in order to assist the clinic in addressing long-standing quality of care issues and to begin working on operational and clinical improvements.

The five priority areas for quality improvement include:

1) Surgical site infection rates have increased by more than 5% in patients with total knee replacements due to poor hand hygiene, as staff did not follow the 5-Moments for Hand Hygiene protocol.

2) The incidence of pressure injuries have risen in the rehabilitation ward, particularly for older adults. According to a subsequent audit report, the key concerns were a lack of detail about the screening and assessment processes used by healthcare staff to prevent and manage pressure injuries.

3) The incidence of omissions in nursing care have risen due to non-comprehensive clinical handover, especially when transferring the patients from the operating theatre to the general surgical ward, as no clearly structured handover tools were used by the nursing staff.

4) There has been a 5% increase in the incidence of near-miss blood transfusion errors in the pre-transfusion checking procedures as staff were unfamiliar with policies and guidelines for the administration of blood products.

5) Overall patient satisfaction has decreased 10% from last year due to the COVID pandemic causing a shortage of healthcare staff.