Analysis of the Quality Improvement Initiative Quality improvement initiative at KPNC regional hospitals use of IHI guidelines and use of HEREOS processes will have a positive result. QI framework will reduce HAPU incidence rates and improve patient satisfaction and outcomes. Another benefit is decrease in healthcare costs related to decrease in cost of treating HAPUs. First, KPNC regional hospitals will require the use of IHI recommendations, including assessing staff knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention guidelines and strategies. Staff must be competent when performing direct patient care to reduce risk of developing pressure ulcers. All healthcare professionals must practice pressure ulcer prevention using the most current evidence-based guidelines and have knowledge on how those guidelines are applied. The expected outcomes will be measurable and provide positive practices that will reduce the incidence of HAPUs during their hospital admission. Pressure ulcer documentation has changed from paper documentation to electronic documentation. This effort has prompted healthcare organizations to implement prevention protocols to address this issue. Among the many nursing responsibilities addressing pressure ulcers has not been a top priority. To address this problem, healthcare facilities have been educating their staffs on pressure ulcers. They have also engaged in facility wide qualimprovement initiatives that enable them to minimize the occurrence of pressure ulcers (Hooper & Morgan, 2014). Many healthcare facilities have managed to successfully implement quality improvement initiatives. Most of the successful initiatives are ones informed by evidence-based guidelines. Quality improvement initiatives that have been successful begin with assessment that is completed on admission, it starts with identifying the risk by conducting a head to toe assessment and documenting any previous and current ulcers. The purpose of documentation was to ensure that measures are set in place related to ulcers that are present on admission, to assist in staging present pressure ulcers, and to assist healthcare professionals differentiate between pressure ulcers, wounds or other skin related conditions (Hopper & Morgan, 2014). Intervention strategies were implemented to identify patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers and how to prevent pressure ulcers from developing in patients that have been admitted within 24 hours of admission. Electronic medical records are used to document patient assessments and when identified skin assessment alerts are triggered based on findings when conducting patient admission head-to-toe assessment. Healthcare organizations have nurses that perform wound care on patients with pressure ulcers, these nurses adhere to wound care guidelines and best practices when treating the patient (Peterson & Rogers, 2012).
Order this paper