Quality Improvement Studies In Nursing

The American Nurses Association has a guideline for scope of practice that can guide any nurse working to implement a new procedure (Scope of Practice, 2018). The scope of practice and standards asks the nurse for the who, what, when, where, and why of a procedure. Can we legitimately apply these five qualifiers? Who is qualified to perform the action, is it within the licensure of the RN? What are we doing? Are we advancing the wellbeing of the patient through prevention, actions that promote healing, diagnosis and treatment and evaluation, and advocating for our patient? Where is the patient that needs this care? Are we providing this when the patient needs our knowledge, compassion, understanding, and skill? Why are we providing this care? Will it benefit the patient towards a positive outcome?
Each state also has a nurse practice act that guides nurses in their scope of practice with licensure in that state. Comparison of the procedure to the nurse …show more content…
Is this truly a procedure that will bring maximum benefit to all patients, or just a provider preference? Quality improvement studies allow you to plan the change by gathering data in recognition of the need, implement the change, study the outcomes and then introduce the change to the entire organization if the change is beneficial (Hall, 2018). The nice thing with quality improvement studies is that you make a change in a small, controlled area-such as a specialty floor-to gather data and analyze the outcome. At the time the change is to be implemented, there should be mandatory education on changes so that all nursing employees become competent in the new procedure. This may include hands on training, as well as computer based modules or classroom modules. New changes on the floor should also be followed up with evaluation to ensure that consistency of care and procedure is met by all nursing