NURS-FPX4035 – Making Evidence-Based Decisions

Assessment 1: Enhancing Quality and Safety

Nursing students searching for complete guidelines on NURS-FPX4035 Assessment 1 often look for structured instructions on analyzing a patient safety quality issue and proposing evidence-based interventions to improve outcomes in healthcare settings.

For this assessment, you will develop a 3–5 page paper that examines a safety quality issue in a healthcare setting and identifies evidence-based best practices that could improve patient safety and quality of care.

Introduction

Overview

Preparation

Instructions

Select one of the safety quality issues presented in the Assessment 01 Supplement: Enhancing Quality and Safety [PDF]. Download Assessment 01 Supplement: Enhancing Quality and Safety [PDF] for a list of safety quality issues. You may also choose a safety quality issue of your own choosing if it is relevant to your practice setting and approved by faculty. Recent emphasis on diagnostic accuracy has highlighted preventable errors as a key focus area in quality improvement.

Then, in your paper, address the following:

• Describe the selected safety quality issue and its impact on patient outcomes. Provide context from your practice setting or a hypothetical scenario.
• Analyze factors contributing to the issue, including organizational, environmental, and individual elements.
• Identify evidence-based best practices to address the issue. Support with scholarly sources. Interventions like structured communication tools continue to demonstrate strong results in reducing handoff errors.
• Explain how nurses and interprofessional teams can implement these practices to enhance safety and quality.
• Discuss potential barriers to implementation and strategies to overcome them.

Remember to use current scholarly sources (within the last 5 years) to support your analysis. Make sure your paper follows APA format, including title page and references.

Here is an example structure for your paper:

• Introduction: Present the safety issue and its significance.
• Body: Discuss contributing factors, evidence-based practices, and implementation strategies.
• Conclusion: Summarize key points and implications for nursing practice.

Additionally, be sure that your paper addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the rubric. Please study the rubric carefully so you understand what is needed for a distinguished score.

• Describe a safety quality issue and its impact on patient outcomes.
• Analyze contributing factors to the safety quality issue.
• Identify evidence-based best practices to address the issue.
• Explain implementation strategies and potential barriers.
• Communicate in a clear, professional manner following APA style.

Example Assessment: You may use the following example to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like but keep in mind that your paper will focus on the safety quality issue you selected. Note that you do not have to submit additional materials; the example is for reference.

• Assessment 1 Example [PDF].

To submit your assessment, upload the Word document in the submission box.

Note: If you experience technical or other challenges in completing this assessment, please contact your faculty member.

Additional Requirements

• Length: 3–5 pages, excluding title and reference pages.
• APA format: Use current APA style for citations and references. Include at least 3 scholarly sources published within the last 5 years.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Competencies Measured

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

• Competency 1: Analyze elements of a successful quality improvement initiative.
• Describe a safety quality issue and its impact.
• Competency 2: Analyze factors that lead to patient safety risks.
• Analyze contributing factors to the issue.
• Competency 3: Identify organizational interventions to promote patient safety.
• Identify evidence-based best practices.
• Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly strategies to communicate effectively.
• Communicate clearly following APA style.

Scoring Guide

Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.

Expand All

Criterion 1

Describe a safety quality issue and its impact on patient outcomes.

Distinguished

Describes a safety quality issue and its impact on patient outcomes with detailed context and supporting evidence.

Proficient

Describes a safety quality issue and its impact on patient outcomes.

Basic

Describes the issue but impact is unclear or unsupported.

Non Performance

Does not describe a safety quality issue or its impact.

Criterion 2

Analyze contributing factors to the safety quality issue.

Distinguished

Analyzes contributing factors with depth, including organizational and individual elements, supported by evidence.

Proficient

Analyzes contributing factors to the safety quality issue.

Basic

Lists factors without analysis.

Non Performance

Does not analyze contributing factors.

Criterion 3

Identify evidence-based best practices to address the issue.

Distinguished

Identifies evidence-based best practices with strong scholarly support and clear relevance.

Proficient

Identifies evidence-based best practices to address the issue.

Basic

Identifies practices without evidence support.

Non Performance

Does not identify evidence-based practices.

Criterion 4

Explain implementation strategies and potential barriers.

Distinguished

Explains implementation strategies and barriers with practical, evidence-informed recommendations.

Proficient

Explains implementation strategies and potential barriers.

Basic

Mentions strategies or barriers vaguely.

Non Performance

Does not explain implementation or barriers.

Criterion 5

Communicate clearly following APA style.

Distinguished

Communicates with exceptional clarity, organization, and flawless APA adherence.

Proficient

Communicates clearly following APA style.

Basic

Communication has organizational or APA issues.

Non Performance

Does not communicate clearly or follow APA.

Diagnostic errors represent a major safety quality issue contributing to patient harm and increased healthcare costs. Contributing factors include cognitive biases, inadequate information transfer, and system-level pressures. Evidence-based best practices involve structured diagnostic checklists and team-based reviews. Implementation requires staff training and policy updates while barriers like resistance to change can be addressed through leadership support. Sustained monitoring ensures ongoing improvement (Singh et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.7326/M21-3690).

Recommended References

• Singh, H., Bradford, C., Petersen, L.A., Upadhyay, D.K. and Meyer, A.N.D., 2022. Reducing diagnostic error through improvement in cognitive processes. Annals of Internal Medicine, 175(8), pp.1181-1189. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7326/M21-3690
• Carvajal Villalba, C., Tuay Sigua, R.N. and Medina Moya, J.L., 2025. Elevating patient safety education in undergraduate nursing: An integrative review beyond trends. International Journal of Nursing Sciences. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2025.10.013
• Kristensen, K., Wang, S., Arnal Velasco, D., Põlluste, K., Žaludek, A., Sousa, P., Orrego, C. and Groene, O., 2025. Sustaining perioperative patient safety improvement: the relevance of patient safety policies and contextual factors in European healthcare systems. International Journal of Quality in Health Care, 37(4), mzaf105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzaf105
• Wallner, M., Mayer, H., Adlbrecht, L., Hoffmann, A. L., Fahsold, A., Holle, B., Zeller, A. and Palm, R., 2023. Theory-based evaluation and programme theories in nursing: A discussion on the occasion of the updated Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 140, p.104451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2023.104451

Assessment 2: Developing a Nursing Safety Improvement Plan Proposal

Step by step preparation of a focused nursing safety improvement plan proposal helps students connect patient safety theory with practical actions that reduce clinical risks and improve quality of care outcomes.

For this assessment, you will design a formal proposal that outlines a specific patient safety problem and presents an evidence-based improvement plan to address that issue in a real or simulated healthcare setting. Structured planning encourages nurses to think critically about root causes and achievable solutions.

The safety improvement plan you create in this assessment will become the foundation for later assignments in the course. Careful attention to detail at this stage will make subsequent work easier and more effective.

Introduction

Nurses play a central role in identifying patient safety concerns and leading improvement initiatives. Practical experience shows that well-designed plans increase the likelihood of successful change.

This assessment requires you to analyze a safety problem of your choice and propose a clear strategy for improvement. Evidence-based decision making is essential for developing credible and realistic recommendations.

Preparation

Review the patient safety issue you selected in Assessment 1 or choose a new issue that is relevant to your professional interests. Thoughtful selection of a meaningful topic will help you engage more fully with the assignment.

Conduct a brief literature search to locate current research and professional guidelines related to your topic. Reliable sources will strengthen the rationale for your proposal.

Reflect on your own clinical experiences and observations related to the safety problem. Personal insight can help you recognize practical barriers and opportunities for change.

Assessment Instructions

Write a formal safety improvement plan proposal in a 3- to 4-page paper that addresses a clearly defined patient safety issue. Organized writing will help communicate your ideas effectively to decision makers.

Your proposal must include the following components:

1. Description of the Patient Safety Issue

• Identify a specific and measurable patient safety problem in a healthcare environment.
• Explain why the issue is important to nursing practice and patient outcomes.
• Provide background information that demonstrates the scope of the problem.

2. Analysis of Contributing Factors

• Describe at least three factors that contribute to the safety issue.
• Discuss how organizational processes, human factors, or environmental conditions influence the problem.
• Use current evidence from scholarly sources to support your analysis.

3. Proposed Safety Improvement Strategies

• Present practical interventions that could reduce or eliminate the identified risk.
• Explain how the proposed strategies align with best practices in nursing and healthcare quality improvement.
• Recent advances in electronic health record alerts and clinical decision support systems provide new options for strengthening safety initiatives.

4. Implementation Considerations

• Identify the resources required to implement your plan.
• Discuss potential barriers to success and ways to overcome them.
• Professional collaboration among nurses, physicians, and administrators increases the likelihood of sustainable change.

5. Expected Outcomes

• Describe measurable results that would indicate the plan is effective.
• Include both short-term and long-term outcome goals.
• Clear outcome measures allow leaders to evaluate progress and adjust strategies as needed.

Writing and Submission Requirements

• Length: 3–4 pages, not including title and reference pages.
• Use current APA format for citations and references.
• Include at least four scholarly, peer-reviewed sources published within the last five years.
• Submit the paper as a Word document through the course submission area.

Grading Criteria Overview

Your paper will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Clearly describe a specific patient safety problem relevant to nursing practice.
2. Analyze contributing factors using scholarly evidence.
3. Propose realistic and evidence-based improvement strategies.
4. Identify resources and potential barriers to implementation.
5. Define measurable outcomes to evaluate plan effectiveness.
6. Communicate ideas in a professional manner using proper APA style.

Competencies Measured

By completing this assessment, you will demonstrate the ability to:

• Analyze factors that lead to patient safety risks.
• Design evidence-based strategies to improve safety and quality.
• Apply scholarly communication skills in professional nursing contexts.
• Develop practical plans that support organizational change.

Sample Answer Content

A patient safety improvement plan addressing hospital-acquired falls can include staff education, environmental modifications, and standardized risk assessment tools. Implementation of hourly rounding programs supports early identification of patient needs and reduces unassisted mobility. Evidence shows that multifactorial interventions decrease fall rates and related injuries in acute care settings. Leadership support and continuous monitoring help sustain these improvements over time. Consistent data collection allows nursing teams to evaluate effectiveness and make timely adjustments to practice (LeLaurin & Shorr, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2019.01.115).

Suggested Scholarly References

LeLaurin, J. H., & Shorr, R. I. (2019). Preventing falls in hospitalized patients: state of the science. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 20(9), 1129–1134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2019.01.115

Vaismoradi, M., Tella, S., Logan, P. A., Khakurel, J., & Vizcaya-Moreno, F. (2020). Nurses’ adherence to patient safety principles: a systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(6), 2028. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062028

Hessels, A. J., Paliwal, M., Weaver, S. H., Siddiqui, D., & Wurmser, T. A. (2019). Impact of patient safety culture on missed nursing care and adverse patient events. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 34(4), 287–294. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000378

Lee, S. E., Scott, L. D., Dahinten, V. S., Vincent, C., Lopez, K. D., & Park, C. G. (2021). Safety culture, patient safety, and quality of care outcomes: a literature review. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 43(1), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945920939836

Olds, D. M., & Clarke, S. P. (2022). The effect of work environment on patient safety outcomes in nursing. Nursing Management, 53(2), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NUMA.0000821287.62345.5a

Assessment 3: Developing an Annotated Resource Tool Kit for Nursing Safety Improvement Initiatives

Practical steps for creating a high-quality annotated resource tool kit help nursing students and professionals locate, evaluate, and apply credible evidence to strengthen patient safety improvement initiatives in real clinical settings.

Nursing professionals often seek comprehensive instructions for assembling annotated resource repositories or documents with at least 12 scholarly sources to support patient safety plans in quality improvement assessments. Clear guidance assists learners in organizing information so it remains useful long after the assessment is completed.

For this assessment, you will develop a Word document or an online resource repository of at least 12 annotated professional or scholarly resources that you consider critical for the audience of your safety improvement plan to understand or implement to ensure the success of the plan. Careful selection of high-quality sources ensures that the final tool kit is practical and evidence based.

Integrating digital tools like shared drives can facilitate collaboration in maintaining these resources over time. Thoughtful organization allows teams to update and expand the tool kit as new research becomes available.

Introduction

The purpose of this assignment is to strengthen your ability to identify, evaluate, and communicate scholarly resources that support nursing safety improvement initiatives. These professional skills are essential for effective leadership and lifelong learning in healthcare environments.

Overview

You will create an annotated resource tool kit that could realistically be used by nurses, managers, and interdisciplinary team members in a healthcare organization. Emphasis is placed on practical application rather than simply summarizing articles.

Preparation

Review the safety improvement initiative you developed in earlier assessments. Reflection on previous work will help you identify the types of resources most relevant to your chosen patient safety issue.

Instructions

Using Google Sites, assemble an online resource tool kit containing at least 12 annotated resources that you consider critical to the success of your safety improvement initiative. Consistent formatting and clear writing will make the tool kit easier for others to use.

These resources should enable nurses and others to implement and maintain the safety improvement you have developed. Practical resources often include guidelines, tool kits, policies, training materials, and research articles.

Recent emphases on interdisciplinary collaboration highlight the value of diverse resource perspectives in these kits. Including materials that address multiple professional roles increases the usefulness of the final product.

It is recommended that you focus on the three or four most critical categories or themes with respect to your safety improvement initiative. Organizing sources by theme helps readers quickly locate relevant information.

For example, if your initiative concerns improving workplace safety for practitioners, you might choose broad themes such as general organizational safety and quality best practices; environmental safety and quality risks; individual strategies to improve personal and team safety; and process best practices for reporting and improving environmental safety issues. Selecting focused themes prevents the tool kit from becoming unfocused or overly broad.

Following the recommended scheme, you would collect at least three resources on average for each of the four categories. Balanced coverage across categories demonstrates careful planning and critical thinking.

Required Elements for Each Resource

Each resource listing should include the following:

• An APA-formatted citation of the resource with a working link. Accurate citations allow readers to locate materials efficiently.
• A description of the information, skills, or tools provided by the resource. Virtual reality simulations now offer immersive training options in many safety resources.
• A brief explanation of how the resource can help nurses better understand or implement the safety improvement initiative. Clear explanations show the direct relevance of each source.
• A description of how nurses can use this resource and when its use may be appropriate. Practical examples help translate evidence into everyday clinical practice.

Remember that you must make your site public so that your faculty can access it. Early verification of access prevents technical problems at the time of submission.

Check out the Google Sites resources in the Wiki Resources above for more information. Reviewing tutorials can help you present your work in a professional format.

Example Entry

Ko, S., Hsieh, M., & Huang, R. (2023). Human error analysis and modeling of medication-related adverse events in Taiwan using the human factors analysis and classification system regression. Healthcare, 11(14), 2063. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11142063

Nurses have a crucial responsibility in preventing medication errors. They should follow the five rights of medication to reduce the risk of such errors.

These include the right patient, right medication, right time, right dose, and right documentation. Updated protocols incorporate barcode scanning to enhance these practices.

Applying these principles in daily routines helps nurses manage medication administration effectively and ensure patient safety. Educational resources such as this article strengthen awareness of common error patterns.

Grading Criteria Overview

Additionally, be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the grading criteria in the rubric. Careful attention to these elements will improve the quality of your final submission.

• Identify necessary resources to support the implementation and sustainability of a safety improvement initiative.
• Analyze the usefulness of resources to the role group responsible for implementing quality and safety improvements.
• Analyze the value of resources to reduce patient safety risk. Data analytics tools now aid in quantifying these values more precisely.
• Present reasons and relevant situations for use of resource tool kit by its target audience.
• Communicate resource tool kit in a Word document or Google Sites in a clear, logically structured, and professional manner that partially follows APA style and formatting.

Submission Instructions

To submit your online tool kit assessment, paste the link to your Google Site in the assessment submission box. Double-check that all links function correctly before final submission.

Additional Requirements

• Number of resources: Your tool kit must include at least 12 professional or academically relevant resources that support the continued learning and implementation of knowledge and processes related to a safety improvement initiative.
• See the BSN Nursing Program Library Guide as needed. Open educational resources have expanded options for accessible materials in this area.
• APA format: Use proper APA formatting for in-text citations and each annotated resource. See the APA Module.

Competencies Measured

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

1. Analyze the elements of a successful quality improvement initiative.
2. Analyze factors that lead to patient safety risks.
3. Identify organizational interventions to promote patient safety.
4. Apply professional, scholarly, evidence-based strategies to communicate in a manner that supports safe and effective patient care.

Sample Answer Content to Guide Development

General organizational safety and quality best practices include frameworks like the Just Culture model which promotes balanced accountability for errors. Environmental safety resources focus on hazard identification tools such as checklists for fall prevention in patient rooms. Individual strategies encompass mindfulness training programs to reduce burnout and enhance focus during shifts. Process best practices involve root cause analysis guides for incident reporting to foster continuous improvement. Nurses benefit from interactive e-learning modules on medication safety to simulate real scenarios. Leadership resources provide templates for safety huddles to encourage team communication. Overall these annotations equip staff with actionable insights for sustained safety enhancements (Alanazi et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1063).

References

Alanazi, F.K., Sim, J. and Lapkin, S., 2022. Systematic review: Nurses’ safety attitudes and their impact on patient outcomes in acute-care hospitals. Nursing Open, 9(1), pp.30-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1063

Althobaiti, F.M., 2026. The effects of leadership on patient safety culture in health care: a systematic review. BMC Nursing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-04263-7

Carvajal Villalba, C., Tuay Sigua, R.N. and Medina Moya, J.L., 2025. Elevating patient safety education in undergraduate nursing: An integrative review beyond trends. International Journal of Nursing Sciences. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2025.10.013

Gwag, H.S. and Kim, J.A., 2026. Patient Safety and Quality Improvement in Nursing Practice: Associations Among Workload, Occupational Coping Self-Efficacy and Medical Device-Related Pressure Injury Prevention. Healthcare, 14(2), p.270. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14020270

Kristensen, K., Wang, S., Arnal Velasco, D., Põlluste, K., Žaludek, A., Sousa, P., Orrego, C. and Groene, O., 2025. Sustaining perioperative patient safety improvement: the relevance of patient safety policies and contextual factors in European healthcare systems. International Journal of Quality in Health Care, 37(4), mzaf105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzaf105

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