Describe the types of patient-care technologies and how they are used across the care continuum in your system.

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Write 3–4 pages describing the effective use of patient-care technologies, communication systems, and information systems across the care continuum of a health care system of your choice. Add a one-page executive summary your organization could use to disseminate these ideas.
Because a lack of knowledge when using technology can lead to errors in patient care, effective use of technology in health care is paramount to providing a safe health care delivery environment.

 
In the role of a nurse leader, describe the effective use of patient-care technologies across the care continuum in a chosen health care system.
Preparation
Choose any type of health care system, for example, acute, ambulatory, or home health or telehealth.
Directions
Submit the following for this assessment:
Technology Across the Care Continuum
Include the following in your 3–4-page description:

A brief overview of the care continuum in your selected health care system.
Describe the types of patient-care technologies and how they are used across the care continuum in your system. Be sure to include communication and information systems.
Identify strengths and weaknesses in the systems and describe how to manage change and technology to improve patient outcomes.
Support your description of effective patient care with current nursing and informatics theoretical ideas.

Executive Summary
Based on the description above, add a 1-page executive summary that captures the following points:

Current state of technology across the care continuum in your system.
Proposed improvements.
Risks of making or not making changes or improvements.
Recommended next steps.

Additional Requirements

Written communication: Ensure written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
APA formatting: Format resources and citations according to current APA style and formatting guidelines.
Number of resources: Cite a minimum of four peer-reviewed resources.
Length: Submit 4–5 typed, double-spaced pages.
Font and font size: Use Times New Roman, 12 point. 

Explain the process for completing a comprehensive health assessment.

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Conduct a health assessment of a population of your choice. Explain the process and summarize the results. 

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

Competency 1: Health Assessment – Conduct comprehensive and focused assessments of health and illness parameters in individuals, groups, and vulnerable populations.       

Describe the key elements that make up a health assessment at the community, group, and individual levels.
Explain the process involved in conducting a comprehensive health assessment.
Summarize the findings of a health assessment for a specific population.

Competency 3: Nursing Research and Informatics – Incorporate evidence-based practice interventions (for example, information systems and patient care technologies) as appropriate for managing the acute and chronic care of patients, promoting health across the lifespan.       
Use valid, scholarly research resources relevant to the field of nursing to support information presented.

Competency 5: Communication – Communicate effectively with all members of the health care team, including interdepartmental and interdisciplinary collaboration for quality outcomes.       

Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate APA format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a nursing professional.

Assessment Instructions 
  
Conduct a health assessment of a population of your choice as you complete the following:

Describe the key elements that make up a health assessment at each of the following levels:      

Community.
Group.
Individual.

Explain the process for completing a comprehensive health assessment.
Summarize the findings of the health assessment you conducted. Be sure you include a brief description of the population you selected.

Additional Requirements

Format: Include a title page and reference. Use APA style and formatting.
Length: This assessment should be approximately 3–5 pages in length. 
References: Cite at least three current scholarly or professional resources.
Font: Use double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Describe strategies to overcome specific organizational barriers to change, based on your knowledge of the organization.

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Write 8-10 pages in which you identify a major patient-safety issue within your own organization and use evidence-based best practices and technology to develop a plan to improve the safety issue.
Quality improvement and patient safety are central to the nursing leadership role.
  
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 2: Safety and Quality Practices – Incorporate concepts of patient safety, clinical management, and quality improvement to improve patient outcomes.       

Describe a patient safety issue and compare currently used organizational processes for handling this issue with concepts, principles, and practices that contribute to quality improvement and patient safety.

Competency 3: Nursing Research and Informatics – Incorporate evidence-based practice interventions (for example, information systems and patient care technologies) as appropriate for managing the acute and chronic care of patients, promoting health across the lifespan.       

Recommend evidence-based interventions, including technology, to address specific patient-safety issues.

Competency 4: Policy, Finance, and Regulations – Understand the scope and role of policy, finance, and regulatory environments in relationship to individual and population outcomes.       

Analyze the legal and ethical consequences of not addressing patient-safety issues.

Competency 5: Communication – Communicate effectively with all members of the health care team, including interdepartmental and interdisciplinary collaboration for quality outcomes.       

Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate APA format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a nursing professional.

Competency 6: Organizational and Systems Management – Apply knowledge of organizational behavior, nursing theory, and systems (micro- and macro-) as appropriate for the scope and role of one’s own practice.       

Describe strategies to overcome specific organizational barriers to change.

Assessment Instructions 
  
Preparation
As you prepare for this assessment, complete the following:

Before you begin, examine your organization’s history of safety in a specific area and how your organization addresses patient safety issues. If possible, consult with a key stakeholder in the organization (such as an administrator) to better understand specific patient-safety concerns and how the organization is working to resolve the concerns. This person should also be able to discuss some of the organizational barriers impacting the patient safety issue.
Next, look at the basic concepts, principles, and practices that contribute to organizational quality improvement and patient safety. Review the literature for best practices and how technology might be used to improve the issue.
Finally, be sure to consider the legal and ethical implications associated with the safety issue, as well as possible organizational barriers to change.

Directions
As you construct this assessment, address each point as completely as possible:

Describe a patient-safety issue within your organization, comparing the way your organization addresses the issue with the concepts, principles, and practices that contribute to quality improvement and patient safety.
Analyze the legal and ethical consequences of not addressing the issue.
Recommend evidence-based interventions, including technology, to address the patient-safety issue.
Describe strategies to overcome specific organizational barriers to change, based on your knowledge of the organization.

Additional Requirements

Format: Include a title page and reference page. Use APA style and formatting.
Length: Ensure your completed assessment is 8–10 pages in length, not including the title page and reference page.
References: Cite at least five current scholarly or professional resources.
Font: Use double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font.

Describe changes that could be made that would improve compliance with the measure.

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Investigate your organization’s compliance rate with one specific core measure of your choice and write a 2-3-page (maximum) executive summary analyzing the financial and regulatory impact of organizational compliance with your chosen measure. Include recommendations for improving performance on the measure. 

In order to promote safe, caring, patient-centered environments, nurse leaders must both conceptually understand and be proficient at performing a wide variety of leadership skills. Effective nursing leaders develop and maintain awareness of issues that emerge at many levels within and outside of their organizations. In addition to developing self-assessing competencies necessary for their roles, nurse leaders must also acquire organizational and systems leadership skill sets.

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

Competency 4: Policy, Finance, and Regulations – Understand the scope and role of policy, finance, and regulatory environments in relationship to individual and population outcomes.       

Compare the compliance rates of a specific measure for different organizations.
Explain the importance of compliance in terms of policy, regulation, and finance.

Competency 5: Communication – Communicate effectively with all members of the health care team, including interdepartmental and interdisciplinary collaboration for quality outcomes.       

Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics as expected of a nursing professional.

Competency 6: Organizational and Systems Management – Apply knowledge of organizational behavior, nursing theory, and systems (micro- and macro-) as appropriate for the scope and role of one’s own practice.       

Explain strategies to overcome described organizational barriers to change.

Competency 9: Professional Role – Incorporate the qualities, skills, behaviors, and knowledge required to function as a patient advocate, practice high-quality care, assess and evaluate patient outcomes, and provide leadership in improving care.       

Identify the stakeholders affected by changes to a specific compliance measure and describe changes that would improve compliance of a specific measure.

Assessment Instructions 
  
For this assessment, write an executive summary analyzing the financial and regulatory impact of organizational compliance with a specific core measure of your choice. The summary must include recommendations for improving performance on the measure.

You must be able to explain the financial implications associated with the measure, as well as its importance in terms of policy, regulation, and finance. This is another good opportunity to consult with a key stakeholder within the organization. Talking to someone who works closely with the organization’s finances can help you develop a deeper understanding of the financial aspects of compliance. You also need to suggest ways your organization can improve compliance and how you would implement changes and overcome obstacles.

This may seem like an enormous undertaking, but you should approach it as if you were to present this information to your supervisor or manager. Keeping in mind that people in these positions do not have time to read a 10–12-page report, you would typically give them only an executive summary of your analyses and recommendations. That means that you will need to be very clear and very concise with the information you choose to include in the executive summary. Say as much as possible with as few words as possible.
Directions
Select a core measure and investigate your organization’s compliance rate with the measure. In your executive summary, address the following:

Compare the compliance rates of your organization with those of other organizations.
Explain why the measure is important in terms of policy, regulation, and finance.
Describe changes that could be made that would improve compliance with the measure.
Identify the stakeholders who would be affected by the changes.
Identify obstacles you would expect to encounter and explain strategies to overcome these obstacles.

Additional Requirements

Format: Include a title page and references page. As this is an executive summary, do not use APA style and formatting. To determine the appropriate format, it may be helpful for you to review the documents used in your organization. How do they look? What kind of language is used in memos? These can help guide your development of this executive summary. Certainly, feel free to use bullet points as appropriate.
Length: Write a 2–3-page (maximum) summary of your information, not including the title page and references page.
References: You must still reference scholarly resources to support your work. Use at least three current scholarly or professional resources.
Font: Use 12-point, Times New Roman font.