HESI Nursing Research II
HESI Nursing Research II ( 54 Questions)
The nurse leader on the risk management committee notices an alarming increase in medication errors on a quarterly report.
Which is the first step in initiating a quality improvement project?
Going to various nursing units and talking with nurses on a daily basis is not the first step in initiating a quality improvement project when there is an increase in medication errors. While communication with nursing staff is essential, it should come after data collection and analysis to understand the specific patterns and causes of the errors.
Offering a two-hour educational program about the costs of medication errors is a well-intentioned initiative but may not address the immediate need to understand and address the causes of the increase in errors. Education can be part of a broader quality improvement plan, but it should follow data collection and analysis.
This is the correct answer. Collecting monthly data at the nursing unit level to isolate specific patterns is the first step in addressing the increase in medication errors. It allows the risk management committee to identify when and where errors are occurring, which is crucial for effective problem-solving and quality improvement.
Recommending the purchase of a bar code scanner system is a solution that should be considered after identifying specific patterns and causes of medication errors. It may be a valuable intervention, but it should come later in the quality improvement process.
Choice A rationale:
Going to various nursing units and talking with nurses on a daily basis is not the first step in initiating a quality improvement project when there is an increase in medication errors. While communication with nursing staff is essential, it should come after data collection and analysis to understand the specific patterns and causes of the errors.
Choice B rationale:
Offering a two-hour educational program about the costs of medication errors is a well-intentioned initiative but may not address the immediate need to understand and address the causes of the increase in errors. Education can be part of a broader quality improvement plan, but it should follow data collection and analysis.
Choice C rationale:
This is the correct answer. Collecting monthly data at the nursing unit level to isolate specific patterns is the first step in addressing the increase in medication errors. It allows the risk management committee to identify when and where errors are occurring, which is crucial for effective problem-solving and quality improvement.
Choice D rationale:
Recommending the purchase of a bar code scanner system is a solution that should be considered after identifying specific patterns and causes of medication errors. It may be a valuable intervention, but it should come later in the quality improvement process.