Improvement Plan Tool Kit
Overview
Nurses are often asked to implement processes, concepts, or practices—sometimes with little preparatory communication or education. One way to encourage sustainability of quality and process improvements is to assemble an accessible, user-friendly tool kit for knowledge and process documentation. Creating a resource repository or tool kit is also an excellent way to follow up an education or in-service session, as it can help to reinforce attendees’ new knowledge as well as the understanding of its value. By practicing creating a simple online tool kit, you can develop valuable technology skills to improve your competence and efficacy.
For this assignment, consider taking one of these two approaches:
Build on the work that you have done in your previous assignments and create an online tool kit or resource repository to help the audience of your in-service understand the research behind your safety improvement plan and put the plan into action.
Use a safety improvement plan from your current organization, the Institution for Healthcare Improvement, or a publicly available safety improve initiative and create an online tool kit or resource repository to help an audience understand the research behind a safety improvement plan and how to implement the plan.
Preparation
Google Sites is recommended for this assignment; the tools are free to use and should offer you a blend of flexibility and simplicity as you create your online tool kit. Please note that this requires a Google account; use your Gmail or GoogleDocs login, or create an account following the directions under the “Create Account” menu.
Refer to the links in Resources to get started with Google Sites.
Instructions
Using Google Sites, assemble an online resource tool kit containing at least 12 annotated resources that you consider critical to the success of your safety improvement initiative. These resources should enable nurses and others to implement and maintain the safety improvement you have developed.
It is recommended that you focus on the 3 or 4 most critical categories or themes with respect to your safety improvement initiative. For example, if your initiative concerns improving workplace safety for practitioners, you might choose broad themes such as general organizational safety and quality best practices; environmental safety and quality risks; individual strategies to improve personal and team safety; and process best practices for reporting and improving environmental safety issues.
Following the recommended scheme, you would collect at least 3 resources on average for each of the 4 categories. Each resource listing should include the following:
An APA-formatted citation of the resource with a working link.
A description of the information, skills, or tools provided by the resource.
A brief explanation of how the resource can help nurses better understand or implement the safety improvement initiative.
A description of how nurses can use this resource and when its use may be appropriate.
Here is an example entry:
Merret, A., Thomas, P., Stephens, A., Moghabghab, R., & Gruneir, M. (2011). A collaborative approach to fall prevention. Canadian Nurse, 107(8), 24–29. Retrieved from www.canadian-nurse.com/articles/issues/2011/october-2011/a-collaborative-ap
This article presents the Geriatric Emergency Management-Falls Intervention Team (GEM-FIT) project. It shows how a collaborative nurse lead project can be implemented and used to improve collaboration and interdisciplinary teamwork, as well as improve the delivery of health care services. This resource may prove more useful to nurses for its strategies and models for assembling and participating in an interdisciplinary team than for specific fall-prevention strategies. It is suggested that this resource be reviewed prior to creating an interdisciplinary team for a collaborative project in a health care setting.
Additionally, be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so you understand what is needed for a distinguished score.
Identify necessary resources to support the implementation and sustainability of a safety improvement initiative.
Analyze the usefulness of resources to the role group responsible for implementing quality and safety improvements.
Analyze the value of resources to reduce patient safety risk.
Present compelling reasons and relevant occasions for use of resource tool kit by its target audience.
Communicate in a clear, logically structured, and professional manner that applies current APA style and formatting.
Example Assignment: You may use the example, linked in the resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like for an annotated bibliography. Note that you do not have to submit your bibliography in addition to the Google Site; the example bibliography is merely for your reference.
To submit your online tool kit assignment, paste the link to your Google Site in the assignment submission box.
Example Google Site: You may use the example Google Site, Resources for Safety and Improvement Measures in Geropsychiatric Care, linked in the resources, to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like for this assignment.
Note: If you experience technical or other challenges in completing this assignment, please contact your instructor to discuss alternatives.
Additional Requirements
Number of resources: Your tool kit must include at least 12 professional or academically relevant resources that support the continued learning and implementation of knowledge and processes related to a safety improvement initiative.
APA format: Use proper APA formatting for in-text citations and each annotated resource.
