NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan – Step-by-Step Guide
The first step before starting to write the NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan, it is essential to understand the requirements of the assignment. The first step is to read the assignment prompt carefully to identify the topic, the length and format requirements. You should go through the rubric provided so that you can understand what is needed to score the maximum points for each part of the assignment. It is also important to identify the audience of the paper and its purpose so that it can help you determine the tone and style to use throughout. You can then create a timeline to help you complete each stage of the paper, such as conducting research, writing the paper, and revising it to avoid last-minute stress before the deadline. After identifying the formatting style to be applied to the paper, such as APA, you should review its use, such as writing citations and referencing the resources used. You should also review how to format the title page and the headings in the paper.
How to Research and Prepare for NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
The next step in preparing for your paper is to conduct research and identify the best sources to use to support your arguments. Identify the list of keywords from your topic using different combinations. The first step is to visit the university library and search through its database using the important keywords related to your topic. You can also find books, peer-reviewed articles, and credible sources for your topic from PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar. Ensure that you select the references that have been published in the last words and go through each to check for credibility.
Ensure that you obtain the references in the required format, for example, in APA, so that you can save time when creating the final reference list. You can also group the references according to their themes that align with the outline of the paper. Go through each reference for its content and summarize the key concepts, arguments and findings for each source. You can write down your reflections on how each reference connects to the topic you are researching about. After the above steps, you can develop a strong thesis that is clear, concise and arguable. Next you should create a detailed outline of the paper so that it can help you to create headings and subheadings to be used in the paper. Ensure that you plan what point will go into each paragraph.
How to Write the Introduction for NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
The introduction of the paper is the most crucial part as it helps to provide the context of your work, and will determine if the reader will be interested to read through to the end. You should start with a hook, which will help capture the reader’s attention. You should contextualize the topic by offering the reader a concise overview of the topic you are writing about so that they may understand its importance. You should state what you aim to achieve with the paper. The last part of the introduction should be your thesis statement, which provides the main argument of the paper. Note that the next task, which is NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 3 improvement plan in-service presentation, will build on this assignment.
How to Write the Body for NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
The body of the paper helps you to present your arguments and evidence to support your claims. You can use headings and subheadings developed in the paper’s outline to guide you on how to organize the body. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to help the reader know what point you will be discussing in that paragraph. Support your claims using the evidence conducted from the research, ensure that you cite each source properly using in-text citations. You should analyze the evidence presented and explain its significance and how it connects to the thesis statement. You should maintain a logical flow between each paragraph by using transition words and a flow of ideas.
How to Write the In-text Citations for NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
In-text citations help the reader to give credit to the authors of the references they have used in their works. All ideas that have been borrowed from references, any statistics and direct quotes must be referenced properly. The name and date of publication of the paper should be included when writing an in-text citation. For example, in APA, after stating the information, you can put an in-text citation after the end of the sentence, such as (Smith, 2021). If you are quoting directly from a source, include the page number in the citation, for example (Smith, 2021, p. 15). Remember to also include a corresponding reference list at the end of your paper that provides full details of each source cited in your text. An example paragraph highlighting the use of in-text citations is as below:
The integration of technology in nursing practice has significantly transformed patient care and improved health outcomes. According to Smith (2021), the use of electronic health records (EHRs) has streamlined communication among healthcare providers, allowing for more coordinated and efficient care delivery. Furthermore, Johnson and Brown (2020) highlight that telehealth services have expanded access to care, particularly for patients in rural areas, thereby reducing barriers to treatment.
How to Write the Conclusion for NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
When writing the conclusion of the paper, start by restarting your thesis, which helps remind the reader what your paper is about. Summarize the key points of the paper, by restating them. Discuss the implications of your findings and your arguments. End with a call to action that leaves a lasting impact on the reader or recommendations.
How to Format the Reference List for NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
The reference helps provide the reader with the complete details of the sources you cited in the paper. The reference list should start with the title “References” on a new page. It should be aligned center and bolded. The references should be organized in an ascending order alphabetically and each should have a hanging indent. If a source has no author, it should be alphabetized by the title of the work, ignoring any initial articles such as “A,” “An,” or “The.” If you have multiple works by the same author, list them in chronological order, starting with the earliest publication.
Each reference entry should include specific elements depending on the type of source. For books, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the book in italics, the edition (if applicable), and the publisher’s name. For journal articles, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the article (not italicized), the title of the journal in italics, the volume number in italics, the issue number in parentheses (if applicable), and the page range of the article. For online sources, include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or the URL at the end of the reference. An example reference list is as follows:
References
Johnson, L. M., & Brown, R. T. (2020). The role of telehealth in improving patient outcomes. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 35(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000456
Smith, J. A. (2021). The impact of technology on nursing practice. Health Press.
An Example NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan Follows:
Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
Surgical site infections (SSIs) are common hospital-associated infections that pose a patient safety concern. These SSIs are mainly associated with longer hospital stays, and additional surgical procedures may lead to needing intensive care and may even lead to death (de Jonge et al., 2020). In my organization, a patient developed an SSI following a surgical procedure, leading to wound dehiscence.
In addition, he was moved to the intensive care unit following the progression of the SSI. This Root Cause Analysis (RCA) will analyze the sentinel event. This paper analyzes the root cause of a surgical site infection and a patient safety issue affecting the organization and applies evidence-based and best practice strategies to address the safety issue. Furthermore, the paper will create a feasible evidence-based safety improvement plan to address the patient safety issue and identify organizational resources that could be leveraged to improve the plan.
Analysis of the Root Cause
The sentinel event of focus entails the development of a surgical site infection in a patient following a surgical procedure. The issue is a major patient safety concern due to the negative effects it causes on the patient. The nurses at the postoperative surgical ward detected the problem following a wound dehiscence on the surgical site, which was a sign of infection. The infection led to an increase in the patient’s length of hospital stay, considering the infection led to the patient being moved to the intensive care unit. The patient also had more suffering due to pain and the possibility of having an additional surgical procedure to address the infection.
Ideally, the operating room is one of the places where care providers should maintain optimum infection prevention guidelines and protocols to prevent HAIs, such as surgical site infections, which may have adverse effects on the patient. The SSI issue occurred following various factors. These factors include inadequate sterilization and disinfection, failure to adhere to hand hygiene protocols, and improper placement of surgical drains. The environmental factors that may have contributed to the problem, which could have been controlled, are inadequate sterilization and disinfection and failure to maintain hand hygiene protocols. In addition, human factors such as improper placement or management of surgical drains may have caused the issue. However, uncontrollable environmental factors that may have caused the issue include poor ventilation and inadequate air quality in the operating room environment.
Based on the factors mentioned above that influenced the issue that may have caused it, the safety issue is most likely caused by procedure-related and environmental factors. The procedural factor that caused the SSI in the patient is an improper placement of surgical drains. Additionally, the environmental factor that caused the issue is inadequate sterilization and disinfection of the surgical instruments, equipment, and surfaces. These are the root causes of the problem, which risked the patient’s safety and led to the issue.
Application of Evidence-Based Strategies
Studies show that patient-related, procedural, and environmental factors increase the risk of SSIs (Dangwan et al., 2020). Other factors increasing the risk of SSIs and influencing them include communication and human factors. Therefore, Addressing the issue requires a comprehensive and multidimensional approach. The dimensions of addressing the issue include preoperative, intraoperative, environmental controls, and postoperative care practices.
Various best practice strategies exist to address the SSI patient safety issue. Studies show that optimizing preoperative practices, such as administering preoperative oral antibiotics, helps reduce the risk of SSIs and prevent them (Basany et al., 2020). Other preoperative best practices include preoperative screening and assessment to identify patients at a higher risk of SSIs. Intraoperative practices are also crucial in addressing SSIs.
These practices include administering antibiotic prophylaxis within the appropriate timeframe before surgical incision, appropriate surgical site preparation, and sterile technique adherence, including proper draping and hand hygiene. Wade et al. (2021) note that environmental controls such as sterilization and disinfection and maintaining the operation room in good condition minimize the risk of contamination and infections. Additionally, postoperative care practices such as proper wound monitoring and dressing play a vital role in preventing and minimizing SSIs.
These strategies will address the SSI safety issue in the organization. The care providers can ensure that patients are assessed prior to the operation, thus identifying patients with an increased risk for SSIs. Patients with an increased risk should be provided with preoperative oral antibiotics. The scrub nurses can also maintain the available infection prevention protocols and guidelines while preparing the surgical site to prevent infections. The nurses at the postoperative wards should also maintain proper wound care, including monitoring and dressing, to prevent postoperative SSIs.
Improvement Plan with Evidence-Based and Best-Practice Strategies
To address the SSI problem in this patient and others, the healthcare organization needs an improvement plan tailored to the organization’s needs. The improvement plan will be called the surgical site infection prevention initiative. The goal is to prevent SSIs and reduce the rate of SSIs reported in the institution significantly by implementing some of the above-mentioned evidence-based practices across the perioperative continuum.
The safety improvement plan will entail a multidisciplinary team comprising all care providers involved in perioperative care: surgeons, anesthetists, perioperative nurses, an infection control team, and pharmacists. Tomsic et al. (2020) note that having a multidisciplinary team in interventions is essential to address SSI prevention interventions. The team will oversee the implementation of the SSI prevention best practices. The development and implementation of the plan will take roughly six weeks.
Furthermore, the team will review the current guidelines and protocols used in the institution and develop standardized checklists. The healthcare institution will also conduct training and staff development sessions to educate the perioperative care providers on the new standardized guidelines and protocols. As Tomsic et al. (2020) further contend, staff education and development for healthcare providers in perioperative care significantly improves infection control, thus reducing the rate of recorded SSIs. In this case, the educational program will train the perioperative team on antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical site preparation, environmental maintenance (sterilization and disinfection), and proper surgical wound monitoring and dressing. In addition, these training programs will be held frequently to keep the care providers updated on current infection control protocols and guidelines.
Existing Organizational Resources
Mobilizing organizational resources is crucial in improving the implementation plan and ensuring that the goal/outcomes of the plan are met. The most essential resource in the plan is the administrative personnel in the institution. These administrators are responsible for providing a go-ahead in the development and implementation of the initiative. Therefore, their buy-in and support are needed. Financial resources are also required for the success of the plan. The training, educational programs, and items required for the session need finances. The existing quality improvement infrastructure, such as performance dashboards, can also be leveraged to enhance the improvement plan. For instance, the performance dashboards on perioperative care can be used to learn the trends in reported SSIs, thus informing prevention interventions.
Conclusion
The root cause analysis presented above depicts the possible root causes of the SSI problem and identifies the actual cause. Following the root cause analysis and identification of evidence-based and best practices to address the patient safety issue, it is imperative to develop an improvement action plan to assist the institution in addressing the issue. The improvement plan detailed above will be used to apply best practices to prevent and reduce SSIs across the perioperative continuum in the institution. Organizational resources such as administrative personnel and finances will help achieve the plan’s outcomes.
NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan References
Danwang, C., Bigna, J. J., Tochie, J. N., Mbonda, A., Mbanga, C. M., Nzalie, R. N. T., Guifo, M. L., & Essomba, A. (2020). Global incidence of surgical site infection after appendectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 10(2), e034266. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-034266
de Jonge, S. W., Boldingh, Q. J. J., Solomkin, J. S., Dellinger, E. P., Egger, M., Salanti, G., Allegranzi, B., & Boermeester, M. A. (2020). Effect of postoperative continuation of antibiotic prophylaxis on the incidence of surgical site infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet. Infectious Diseases, 20(10), 1182–1192. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30084-0
Basany, E. E., Solís-Peña, A., Pellino, G., Kreisler, E., Fraccalvieri, D., Muinelo-Lorenzo, M., Maseda-Díaz, O., García-González, J. M., Santamaría-Olabarrieta, M., Codina-Cazador, A., & Biondo, S. (2020). Preoperative oral antibiotics and surgical-site infections in colon surgery (ORALEV): a multicentre, single-blind, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial. The Lancet. Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 5(8), 729–738. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30075-3
Tomsic, I., Heinze, N. R., Chaberny, I. F., Krauth, C., Schock, B., & von Lengerke, T. (2020). Implementation interventions in preventing surgical site infections in abdominal surgery: a systematic review. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 236. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4995-z
Wade, R. G., Burr, N. E., McCauley, G., Bourke, G., & Efthimiou, O. (2021). The Comparative Efficacy of Chlorhexidine Gluconate and Povidone-iodine Antiseptics for the Prevention of Infection in Clean Surgery: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Annals of Surgery, 274(6), e481–e488. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000004076
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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A 500-word essay usually spans about one page if single-spaced or two pages when double-spaced, with standard margins and a 12-point font size.
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Formatting guidelines typically involve using a legible font like Times New Roman or Arial, size 12, with double-spacing and one-inch margins on all sides. Check any specific requirements your instructor might have provided.
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For a personal essay, focus on a singular event or characteristic, ensuring your ideas are clear and you reflect on the significance of the subject matter. Use concise language and powerful imagery to maximize impact.
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Depending on your familiarity with the topic and writing proficiency, allocate anywhere from one to several hours for planning, drafting, and revising to ensure a well-presented essay.
