Option #1: Clinical Improvement Opportunities
Scenario:
You are the director of quality in a 100-bed hospital. The organization has identified three clinical improvement opportunities: reduce surgical site infections, reduce patient falls, and improve compliance with congestive heart failure clinical guidelines.
For this assignment, select one of these clinical improvement opportunities. Your task, as sponsor and team facilitator, is to develop a robust team charter (see exhibit 7.2 in our textbook).
- First, research the opportunity you selected to understand how progressive organizations have addressed the challenge.
- Next, determine and justify the size of the team and identify the specific positions (to include physicians) that you would include as members. Describe the role of each member.
- Then, craft a robust problem statement and team charter.
- Finally, create a draft agenda and Gantt chart or timeline (select just one) for the first meeting of the team.
The paper should be well-written and meet the following requirements:
- Four pages in length (excluding title page, reference list and exhibits)
- The team charter, draft agenda, and Gantt chart / timeline should be included as exhibits in the paper, but thoroughly discussed and justified in the body of the paper.
- Include at least three references from the peer-reviewed articles. The CSU-Global Library is a good place to find peer-reviewed articles.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
This assignment for medical college students requires them to select one clinical improvement opportunity and create a team charter, problem statement, draft agenda, and Gantt chart or timeline for the first meeting of the team. The selected opportunity should be researched thoroughly, and a team of appropriate size with specific positions (including physicians) should be identified. The team charter, draft agenda, and Gantt chart/timeline should be included as exhibits in the paper, which should be well-written and include at least three references from peer-reviewed articles.
Answer:
As a medical college professor, I would recommend selecting “reduce patient falls” as a clinical improvement opportunity for this assignment. According to studies, patients fall in healthcare settings due to various reasons like environmental factors, medical conditions, and medication side-effects. Several possible interventions can help to reduce patient falls, such as bed alarms, slip-resistant socks, and educating patients and staff.
To develop a robust team charter for reducing patient falls, I would suggest having a multidisciplinary team consisting of healthcare providers and hospital staff. The team should have an appointed leader who will oversee the fall prevention program, and a physician who can provide insights into the various medical conditions that increase the risk of falls. Other team members can include a nurse manager, a safety officer, a physical therapist, a clinical pharmacist, and a risk management representative.
The role of each member would be to evaluate the fall prevention program, ensure compliance with established fall prevention protocols, identify areas for improvement and provide education and feedback to patients and staff regularly.
The problem statement for this team would revolve around falls prevention. The team would aim to reduce the number of patient falls within the hospital by identifying high-risk patients and implementing targeted interventions.
For the first meeting of the team, the draft agenda should include a review of the problem statement, an overview of the evidence-based interventions, a discussion on the roles and responsibilities of team members, and a plan for data collection and analysis. Furthermore, a Gantt chart can be utilized to show the timeline for the team’s work, including regular meetings, data collection, analysis, and intervention implementation.
In conclusion, reducing patient falls can be a challenging opportunity, but with the right team and interventions in place, it is achievable. By following the steps mentioned above, medical college students can successfully create a fall prevention team charter, problem statement, draft agenda, and Gantt chart or timeline.
