NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 2 Executive Summary

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Capella university

NURS-FPX 6212 Health Care Quality and Safety Management

Prof. Name

Date

Executive Summary

Inpatient falls are quality and safety issues that result from insufficient fall prevention measures within Methodist University Hospital (MUH). Being, a nurse leader, it is crucial to state and assess outcome measures related to inpatient falls in the MUH. The executive summary outlines inpatient falls’ quality and security results and their importance. It also underlines the leadership role for suggested changes. 

Quality and Safety Outcomes Measures

Optimizing inpatient falls at MUH is critical to boosting security and treatment quality. The proposed changes aim to reduce patient falls, injuries, admissions, and medical expenses. The outcome measurements establish practical indicators for MUH’s performance. First, fall rates provide quantifiable data. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), fall rates are measurable data that analyze the incidence of falling per 1,000 patients or covered bed days during one or three months (AHRQ, 2024). Its strength is its capacity to enable medical facilities to detect patterns, higher-risk patients, and the efficacy of fall prevention practices.

However, one limitation of this measure is the dependence on precise reporting and it cannot distinguish between the severity of falls and related injuries, impacting care quality and safety. Second, injuries due to falls can be a reliable measure at MUH. The strength exhibits that fall-related injury rates show the effectiveness of practices in making inpatients secure about falls. (AHRQ, 2024). The study found that evidence-based strategies reduced 900 fall injuries to 759 (Dykes et al., 2023). The limitation of focusing merely on injury rates is that it can fail to assess near-miss cases or emotional effects on patients, misrepresenting the efficacy of efforts. 

Third, patient satisfaction levels reflect patients’ opinions of the hospital’s fall prevention efforts, impacting patient engagement and staff commitment to safety practices. For example, the patient satisfaction score with the fall prevention strategy at MUH is 65%. The benefit of the outcome measure is its capacity to offer clear patient input on their encounters, identifying areas for improvement that impact patient safety and trust. However, the limitation lies in its subjective nature and could be affected by variables irrelevant to the inpatient falling. Last, the cost aspect can be a useful quality outcome measure, offering economic data on fall avoidance and appropriate actions. According to Dykes et al. (2023), adopting a research-based patient fall avoidance cause cost savings of $14,600 every 1000 patient days. However, this measure’s drawbacks include a lack of indirect expenses due to a loss of credibility.

Strategic Value of Outcome Measures

For MUH, tracking and assessing outcomes has strategic significance in enhancing care quality while building a safe setting. Outcome metrics provide crucial details about MUH patient safety and the efficacy of fall mitigation measures. Fall rate measurement has strategic value for care level and patient security, aligning with MUH’s goal. Hospitals can use fall rate comparison and measurement as a benchmark for improving quality (Bernet et al., 2022). Fall rate reduction improves clinical results, lowers medical expenses, avoids reputational harm, and reduces the probability of undesirable events and linked injuries.

This metric accurately indicates patient safety and the success of preventive measures by concentrating on the extent and effects of falls. For example, monitoring the frequency and kinds of fall-related injuries, like fractures, brain injuries, or wounds, enables caregivers to assess how well a measure works to prevent patient damage. Measuring patient satisfaction levels is strategically beneficial. It affects patient experience, level of care, patient confidence, and flow of patients within the MUH. More patient fulfillment improves patient stay rates, which will ultimately boost income. Finally, calculating costs related to in-patient falls offers valuable strategic information on the monetary effect of negative incidents on patients and hospitals (Dykes et al., 2023). This helps achieve strategic objectives of asset reservation, operational effectiveness, and economic viability.

Current outcome measurements should be incorporated into a performance management framework that aligns with the MUH’s strategic objectives to optimize its value. Patient satisfaction ratings and fall data can be linked to identifying underlying problems affecting experience and safety. Fall rates and patient outcomes are used to evaluate the initiative’s efficacy and pinpoint areas requiring modification. Regular evaluation of vital indicators by leadership guarantees informed choices and ongoing quality enhancement goals. However, there can be serious repercussions if MUH does not measure fall-related outcomes. Failing to measure outcomes can lead to the ineffectiveness of quality advancement initiatives. It causes unnoticed care gaps, worsening patient outcomes by increasing the risk of falls and serious injuries.

The Relationship between Inpatient Falls and Outcome Measures

At the MUH, inpatient falls are a systemic problem that affects quality and safety outcomes. For example, an elevated patient fall rate indicates poor safety practices. It directly affects patient outcomes, increasing the chance of injuries, compromising patient security, lengthening hospitalizations, causing medical complications, and raising wellness costs. The problem of patient falls is also linked to lower patient satisfaction ratings because patients feel that their security is in jeopardy, which results in poor feedback, lower patient influx, and damaging hospital credibility and fiscal health. Further, there is a strong correlation between patient falls and the hospital’s income. Increased patient fall rates exhibit insufficient staff education or safety procedures, demanding funding and assets to treat patients’ issues. Study shows that the cost rises for non-injurious and traumatic falls were $35,366 and $36 777 (Dykes et al., 2023). By adopting suggested practice modifications, inpatient falls can be reduced.

Additional information about the time, place, and behavior of each fall can be included to understand better patient falls and assist in detecting trends. Further, data on nurse-to-patient ratio and staff training can be used to analyze assets, and patient feedback regarding experience can improve preventive efforts. Further, the data on external hospital factors is crucial, as they contribute to falls. 13.4% of falls are due to furniture, equipment, and patient-attached supplies. Wet floors cause 11.9% of falling events (Janse et al., 2020). By examining this data, MUH can better understand the systemic issue of inpatient falls and enhance security and treatment quality. 

Outcome Measures and Strategic Initiatives

MUH’s inpatient fall mitigation strategy is centered on improved medical practices. First, organizing training programs for staff is a strategic approach based on fall prevention techniques, risk evaluation tools, and patient security practices. It equips personnel with the information and abilities required to recognize hazards and collaborate to respond appropriately (DiGerolamo et al., 2021). This promotes protocol compliance and responsibility and develops a safe setting. Second, implementing standard fall risk analysis guidelines in every unit will increase the precision and reliability of risk recognition, ensuring that patients acquire reliable and secure care by avoiding falls, which results in better results.

Third, implementing environmental changes like using supportive gadgets, proper lighting, sitters, and bed alarms, avoiding the risk of falls, and preventing severe injuries, particularly for patients with disabilities. Last, fostering multidisciplinary collaboration guarantees a comprehensive approach to fall avoidance via shared duty and accountability. Professionals collaborate to address underlying risk factors, create individualized care plans, and track patient progress. Achieving positive results requires collaboration through interaction and role clarity for fall prevention (Albertini & Peduzzi, 2024).

The proposal is in line with and supported by outcome metrics, covering cost, patient satisfaction, fall-related injury rates, and fall rates. For instance, the MUH wants to cut the fall rate by 60%. Furthermore, the goal is to raise the patient satisfaction score to 95% from the present level of 65%. Lastly, it is intended to increase the cost savings by up to 85%. By tracking these indicators, MUH can create and execute focused training initiatives to improve staff proficiency in identifying fall risk factors and implementing preventative measures. Further, these outcome metrics offer standards for maintaining standard procedures and treatments in lowering fall rates (Bernet et al., 2022; AHRQ, 2024) and related costs. 

Leadership Role

Nurse leadership can promote the adoption and execution of the suggested practice modifications by promoting a safe setting, allocating the required assets, and motivating staff members in all positions to participate actively. The leadership must communicate the significance of the suggested modifications. By practicing effective leadership, nurse leaders can foster open communication, a common knowledge of the objectives, team alignment, and engagement in the changes. Regular conferences, seminars, and input sessions that highlight these objectives and their alignment with the hospital’s strategic goals can help achieve change. Murray and Cope (2021), asserted that effective leadership is crucial for proper communication, cooperation, understanding situations, task and management, and making choices that directly affect patient care. 

Leaders can establish regulations that encourage compliance with safety procedures and deliver resources for fall prevention tools.  Finally, strong leadership is crucial for interdisciplinary collaboration between teams, including therapists, nurses, doctors, and environmental staff. Through collaborative practice, leaders should develop multidisciplinary fall prevention committees to promote development by analyzing data and executing proven prevention measures. MUH’s leadership should also establish a supportive workplace where fall accidents and near-miss situations are reported. According to Gaur et al. (2021), a blame-free atmosphere that allows employees to disclose mistakes or near-misses without worrying about criticism or punishment is essential for fostering a safety culture.

Conclusion 

Managing the problem of inpatient falls at MUH necessitates a holistic approach that includes rigorous outcome metrics, proactive efforts, and effective leadership. Outcome measurements yield useful information. Strategic efforts complement outcome metrics and foster an atmosphere of safety and constant enhancement. Successful leadership is critical for directing and supporting these efforts and boosting care level and patient security at MUH.

References

AHRQ. (2024). How do you measure fall rates and fall prevention practices? Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.gov. https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/fall-prevention/toolkit/measure-fall-rates.html

Albertini, A. C. D. S., & Peduzzi, M. (2024). Interprofessional approach to fall prevention in hospital care. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 58, e20230239. https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-220x-reeusp-2023-0239en

Bernet, N. S., Everink, I. H., Jos MGA Schols, Ruud JG Halfens, Richter, D., & Hahn, S. (2022). Hospital performance comparison of inpatient fall rates; the impact of risk adjusting for patient-related factors: A multicentre cross-sectional survey. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-07638-7

NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 2 Executive Summary

DiGerolamo, K. A., & Chen-Lim, M. L. (2020). An educational intervention to improve staff collaboration and enhance knowledge of fall risk factors and prevention Guidelines. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 57, 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2020.10.027

Dykes, P. C., Bowen, M., Lipsitz, S., Franz, C., Adelman, J., Adkison, L., & Bates, D. W. (2023). Cost of inpatient falls and cost-benefit analysis of implementation of an evidence-based fall prevention program. In Journal of American Medical Association Health Forum, 4(1), e225125. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.5125

Gaur, S., Kumar, R., Gillespie, S. M., & Jump, R. L. P. (2021). Integrating principles of safety culture and just culture into nursing homes: Lessons from the pandemic. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 23(2), 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2021.12.017

Janse, R., Anita, & Crowley, T. (2020). Factors influencing patient falls in a private hospital group in the Cape Metropole of the Western Cape. Health SA Gesondheid, 25, 1392. https://doi.org/10.4102/hsag.v25i0.1392

Murray, M., & Cope, V. (2021). Leadership: Patient safety depends on it!. Collegian Journal of the Royal College of Nursing Australia, 28(6), 604–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2021.07.004

NURS FPX 6212 Assessment 2 Executive Summary

 

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