Technology to develop and implement a near-miss policy and procedure

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The need

The Institute of Medicine (2001) has published a series of reports since 1999 discussing the need to reduce medical errors and develop a culture of safety. Stemming from this report, Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) was developed.

Using competencies found in the QSEN initiative, faculty can build learning experiences that reflect reality. There are six main competencies included in QSEN. These are patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality

Creating a culture of safety

The first step in the process was for the QSEN task force to administer a near-miss survey. After participating in the survey, faculty and administration became more aware of a need for a near-miss reporting policy in the nursing department. Students, during a senior-level evidence-based project, also showed interest in near-miss tracking to improve patient outcomes. It was identified that local area hospitals have near-miss reporting in place, but they are underutilized. A near-miss policy and

The technology

Technology was utilized in many ways to manage the aforementioned process. The near-miss reporting tool was developed as an online document with software called Google Doc (now known as Google Drive). This enabled the QSEN task force to include options with drop-down boxes and options that are open ended, allowing information for data to be collected on various aspects of a near miss. Because this is a free online tool, sharing was easy between the respondents and the QSEN task force.

When

Summary

It is clear that all areas of the QSEN competencies were addressed through the use of technology. Patient-centered care was evident in that the policy and procedure provided guidance to students for all areas of practice. Teamwork and collaboration were utilized through the shared review of data and information dissemination. Evidence-based practice was shared through bulletin alerts. Quality improvement will be pursued through continuous analysis of data from multiple clinical settings with

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