Patient safety focuses on the minimization of errors in treatment and the prevention of adverse effects associated with patient care. In this course, students will be introduced to relevant theories, principles, practices, and operational issues as they relate to patient safety and quality. Patient safety problems and high-risk contexts for error occurrence will be explored, and appropriate tools and evidence-based practices to address these issues will be determined. Students will also examine external drivers and policy initiatives related to quality and patient safety improvement in nursing, including accreditation, and performance. Through the utilization of error theory and systems thinking, as well as methods of risk assessment, students will be challenged to consider the roles of various stakeholders in patient safety.

In the management of healthcare and nursing, the application and utilization of data are critical to achieving better healthcare outcomes and improvement. Nursing analytics encompasses the technology and skills utilized in data analysis and data visualization for enhanced decision-making.

In this course, you will be introduced to how data analytics is utilized in nursing quality and patient safety. You will re-visit Quality Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) principles for best patient outcomes. This course will provide an overview of data management for effective health systems evaluation and tools utilized for organization, analysis, and presentation of data. Understanding how to develop data collection plans that support continuous quality improvement will also be included.

The tools and techniques utilized for performance and process improvement help nurses identify inefficiencies, ineffective care, and preventable errors, and perform root cause analysis to identify gaps in best practice. In this course, you will explore various processes utilized for quality control and assurance to support performance improvement in the healthcare settings. Performance improvement tools and techniques explored during this course will include Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle, Lean Six Sigma, project management, and process mapping. You will gain an understanding of how to apply effective performance improvement tools in the role of a nurse leader in health systems management.

High reliability organizations (HRO) are organizations that operate in complex, high-hazard domains for extended periods without serious accidents or catastrophic failures. The nursing professional is instrumental in ensuring a culture of safety and continuous quality improvement exists within the HRO. In the role of a nursing quality professional, you will contribute to enhancing care delivery, optimizing value, and improving outcomes by leading activities that improve quality and patient safety. In this course, you will explore the nursing quality professional’s role and examine the necessary competencies and ethical standards required of today’s nursing quality professional. You will focus on collaboration with various healthcare stakeholders to assess and identify quality issues that may impact the healthcare organizations’ reputation, safety, security, and financial prosperity.