By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

-Competency 1: Analyze the elements of a successful quality improvement initiative.
-Explain evidence-based and best-practice solutions to improve patient safety focusing on medication administration and reducing costs.
-Competency 2: Analyze factors that lead to patient safety risks.
-Explain factors leading to a specific patient-safety risk focusing on medication administration.
-Competency 4: Explain the nurse’s role in coordinating care to enhance quality and reduce costs.
-Explain how nurses can help coordinate care to increase patient safety with medication administration and reduce costs.
-Identify stakeholders with whom nurses would need to coordinate to drive quality and safety enhancements with medication administration.
-Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly, evidence-based strategies to communicate in a manner that supports safe and effective patient care.
-Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar or punctuation, word choice, and spelling.
-Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.

Scenario
Consider a previous experience or hypothetical situation pertaining to medication errors, and consider how the error could have been prevented or alleviated with the use of evidence-based guidelines.

Choose a specific condition of interest surrounding a medication administration safety risk and incorporate evidence-based strategies to support communication and ensure safe and effective care.

For this assessment:

Analyze a current issue or experience in clinical practice surrounding a medication administration safety risk and identify a quality improvement (QI) initiative in the health care setting.

Instructions
The purpose of this assessment is to better understand the role of the baccalaureate-prepared nurse in enhancing quality improvement (QI) measures that address a medication administration safety risk. This will be within the specific context of patient safety risks at a health care setting of your choice. You will do this by exploring the professional guidelines and best practices for improving and maintaining patient safety in health care settings from organizations such as QSEN and the IOM. Looking through the lens of these professional best practices to examine the current policies and procedures currently in place at your chosen organization and the impact on safety measures for patients surrounding medication administration, you will consider the role of the nurse in driving quality and safety improvements. You will identify stakeholders in QI improvement and safety measures as well as consider evidence-based strategies to enhance quality of care and promote medication administration safety in the context of your chosen health care setting.

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 that you know what is needed for a distinguished score.

Explain factors leading to a specific patient-safety risk focusing on medication administration.
Explain evidence-based and best-practice solutions to improve patient safety focusing on medication administration and reducing costs.
Explain how nurses can help coordinate care to increase patient safety with medication administration and reduce costs.
Identify stakeholders with whom nurses would coordinate to drive safety enhancements with medication administration.
Communicate using writing that is clear, logical, and professional, with correct grammar and spelling, using current APA style.