NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 1 Quality and Safety Gap Analysis

Systematic Problem in Organization 

NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 1 Quality and Safety Gap Analysis

It is vital for nurses to determine the ability of their organization to provide safe and quality care outcomes. As a leading nurse, my role is crucial to determine the safety and quality issues in our hospital. I have observed that after and during the pandemic restrictions, our organization’s failure to follow the benchmarks has led to increased hospital costs. The nurses have also been found not following compliance with healthcare regulatory laws such as HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). This has also affected the care outcomes of diabetes type 2 patients in emergency departments with multiple depression and cardiovascular symptoms. 

Processes to Improve Quality and Safety Outcomes 

In the US, the average cost of a patient in a hospital with diabetes is $16,752 per year (). The gap identified in patient care for diabetes type 2 is that nurses often forgot to share the new diagnosis of patients with physicians and never updated their conditions. As a result, the patient was denied the treatment and taking less interest in medication. The hypertension patients also refused to refill the blood thinners. Moreover, in emergency rooms, the mental health and diabetic patients were overcrowded. Since the medication expenditures of patients with diabetes rose 2.3 times greater than patients who did not have diabetes, it has become the most expensive chronic treatment in our hospital not afforded by many patients (Schartau, 2019). 

NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 1 Quality and Safety Gap Analysis KG

Cost-effective diabetic interventions are required to reduce such knowledge and safety gaps. For example, the number one strategy is to follow the guidelines of the CDC to help many American patients to reduce the risks of type 2 diabetes. Nurses should study and gain knowledge related to the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program which suggests affordable and evidence-based lifestyle behavioral changes to help improve the knowledge gap of nurses and patients (). In order to prevent diabetes complications in people, the CDC has also expanded efforts to improve self-management of diabetes through DSMES program. DSMES helps people and patients with effective blood sugar management, blood pressure management, and regular heart and eye examinations to prevent 90% of diabetic case. Moreover, Employee education is the most important process or strategy related to utilizing resources during the overcrowding of diabetic patients in the ED. This will allow nurses to understand their options to learn new knowledge and discover gaps in the treatments. Finally, increasing the employment and team of mental health and diabetes professionals in it his organization can also help to reduce that gap between actual practices and required safety. 

Priority of Processes Justified

Nurses should prioritize the interventions and processes to achieve the desired outcomes for managing and preventing type 2 diabetes in patients. For instance, since the knowledge gap is significant to understand the prevention of diabetes and reducing hospital costs, the first priority must be given to the education of nurses to reduce costs and improve safety outcomes (Moran-Peters, n.d). This can happen on training nurses through professional physicians and community health officers to give presentations and conduct workshops related to increasing knowledge about saving money on medicine and taking care of their own health during the pandemic. Education about choosing the right diabetes care plan is vital that will include patient interaction using telehealth tools and raising awareness of their families.  The second priority must be given to the intervention that can be related to reducing hospital costs with systematic techniques. This includes retaining the best employees and reducing turnover costs. Monitoring overtime and improving incentives of nurses working overtime can reduce their frustration and anxiety to utilize resources efficiently. A good way is to give leadership positions to DNP nurses to improve decision-making to reduce costs and knowledge gaps and turnover. 

NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 1 Quality and Safety Gap Analysis

How Proposed Practices Changes Quality Culture 

The training and education intervention can help nurses to reduce any impact the hospital’s costs significantly. They will be able to gain more information and feedback and advocate against unrealistic and costly treatments (Kubheka, 2019). They will also advise medications not overly expensive for patients and the hospital will make better clinical decisions and will control the pain of patients without around-the-clock medication. This will impact the safety outcomes and will allow using videoconferencing technologies to counsel remote patients by reducing their costs of travel and hospital’s cost of beds and ED for diabetes patients. Moreover, training will improve the knowledge of nurses to treat their subordinates and superiors with respect and fairness to reduce employee turnover. This cost-effectiveness model will link the organization with quality-of-care outcomes and the safety of patients. 

What a Cultural Hierarchy Can Promote Adverse Quality and Safety Outcomes? 

Safety culture reflects the attitudes and beliefs of employees to reduce errors and mistakes in departments. For example, the history of the blame games in the organization during the pandemic has increased costs and errors. The goal of patient safety is to create a culture committed to addressing concerns of patients. This involves changing the cultural hierarchy for promoting respect of all stakeholders where nurses are keen to help patients and reduce medication mistakes (Kaye, 2022). Cultural hierarchy is explained by scholars as the environment that promotes long-term sustainability, stability, and retention of healthy and positive employees. It is a consistently followed culture for nurses based on the best laws and practices such as HIPAA laws. Therefore, culture hierarchy in our organization can help nurses to follow standards and a set of values to improve communication and collaboration across all departments to reduce costs and turnover issues. 

NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 1 Quality and Safety Gap Analysis

Justification of Changes to Organizational Functions and Processes to Mitigate the Problem

The above interventions suggest that as team members and leaders, nurses and all DNP staff should maintain open lines of communication and encourage other stakeholders to openly talk about their conflicts to reduce turnover and impact the cost. As a team leader, a DNP nurses can change the policies and organizational structures and design functions to improve the system that embraces cost effectiveness, teamwork, and excellence to improve the safety and care outcomes of diabetes type 2 patients (Blackmon, 2019). 

References 

Blackmon, E. J. (2019). Communication and Teamwork in the ICU: An Interprofessional Approach (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Davis).

Kaye, S. P. (2022). Factors Affecting Nurses’ Intention to Leave Their Primary Nursing Position (Doctoral dissertation, City University of New York).

Kubheka, T. P. (2019). Support needs of enrolled nurses working in an intensive care unit (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria).

Moran-Peters, J. A. (n.d) Empowering Nurses to Become EBP Experts and Lifelong Learners.

Schartau, S., Holt, D. H., Lützen, T., Rytter, D., & Mølbak, K. (2019). On the contextual nature of vaccine safety monitoring: Adverse events reporting after HPV-vaccination in Denmark, 2015. Vaccine, 37(19), 2580-2585.