Dashboard Analysis Essay Discussion Paper

After review of the quarterly Dashboard (insert dashboard link here), select one Quality Indicator that needs improvement. Thoroughly review the statistical data provided in the Dashboard and develop a nursing action plan based on best practices.
To prepare
• Review the Week Assignment Rubric, provided in the Course Information area.
• Review the Week 4 Resources that pertain to the NDNQI and use of dashboards
• Choose a Nurse-Sensitive Quality Indicator that needs improvement based on the data presented in the Dashboard. Include information on why this area was chosen.
• Develop a nursing plan that outlines suggestions on how to improve performance in the chosen area.
• Provide at least three best practices from evidenced-based literature to support your nursing plan.
Assignment
• Draft a 3- to 4 page paper analyzing areas where there is good performance and areas of opportunity from the sample Dashboard.
• Analyze the data provided in the Dashboard and select an area of performance that needs improvement.
• Develop a nursing plan that includes suggestions on how to improve performance on the selected indicator. Each suggestion should be based on at least three best practices.

Dashboard Analysis

In a bid to pursue health care delivery improvements, medical facilities leverage the medical data they collect to understand the specific care areas that can be improved. In fact, dashboard offer opportunities for medical facilities to meet core measures and set standard to earn accreditation and recognition. In this case, a dashboard is presented as a user interface that organizes and presents performance information in a manner that is easy to rid and highlights. They are designed to present the performance of key activities that either directly or indirectly have an impact on the satisfaction of patients and other stakeholders. Making effective use of the data presented in the dashboard (acquired from patients and care providers) allows for a successful medical facility (Kelley, 2016). The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the data presented in a dashboard and identify a low scoring area with the purpose of developing a nursing plan to improve the performance.  Dashboard Analysis Essay Discussion Paper

Analysis of dashboard data

The dashboard presents information on the nurse-sensitive quality indicates for an inpatient rehabilitation unit. A review of the data reveals significance variance in patients who were assessed for pressure ulcers within 24 hours of point-prevalence assessment. The data shows that the unit’s actual performance in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2009 met the target performance with the variance being 0.00%. However, a review of the performance for the first quarter of 2010 reveals that actual performance fell short of the target performance by 39.13%. The implication is that there is a need for significant changes in nursing performance at the unit with a focus on ensuring that all patients are assessed for pressure ulcer in a timely manner so as to reverse the negative trend and improve performance results as presented in the dashboard.

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Nursing plan

Pressure ulcers present a significant concern in inpatient health care delivery. The present of pressure ulcers is a concern because they increase the number of hospital days and cost of care. Besides that, pressure ulcers have a significant respiratory failure and failure to rescue rate. Given the nursing care issues resultant from increasing personnel shortages and fragmented care, it is anticipated that pressure ulcer incidences are likely to increase. To help with addressing this concern, there is a need to assess patients in a timely manner (Perry, Potter & Ostendorf, 2016).  Dashboard Analysis Essay Discussion Paper

Towards this end, four suggestions have been offered as appropriate nursing care interventions for addressing the need for timely assessment of the pressure ulcers at the facility. The first suggestion is adopting a supportive culture that includes pressure assessment policies and procedures designed to conduct assessments in a timely manner. This would be incorporated in the workflows so that nurses are able to conduct routine pressure assessments as part of their core professional responsibilities, and not as peripheral concerns or afterthoughts (Perry, Potter & Ostendorf, 2016).

The second suggestion is to educate the patients on the concerns about pressure ulcers and indicators. This would help the patients to better communicate with the nursing personnel during rounds, express their concerns, and make better use of the call button. Other than improving the patients’ knowledge of the underlying physiology of pressure ulcers, the education helps them to recognize the factors that contribute to pressure ulcers (Burton & Ludwig, 2015).

The third suggestion is to develop an evidence-based plan for identifying patients at high risk of developing pressure ulcers for greater monitoring and early interventions when concerns present. This would include the identification of risk, extrinsic factors, and intrinsic factors that contribute to the occurrence of pressure ulcers. Risk factors include patients sitting or lying for too long in one place, reduced skin sensation, wet fabrics, trauma, multiple sclerosis, stroke, spinal cord injury, diabetes, medication use, cognitive impairment, and obesity. Extrinsic factors reduce the skin tolerance to pressure, and they include friction, moisture, and shear. Intrinsic factors reduce skin tolerance by impacting the vascular bed, supporting structures and lymphatic system, caused by chronic ailments and conditions that impair lymphatic function, tissue perfusion, sensation, and oxygen deliver. The intrinsic factors include depressed immune system, cardiopulmonary disease, peripheral arterial disease, carcinoma, circulatory abnormalities, renal impairment/failure, impaired nutrition status, dehydration, elevated skin temperature, lymphedema, diabetes, low blood pressure, anemia, and smoking (Doenges, Moorhouse & Murr, 2019).

The final suggestion is the use of a standardized patient assessment tool that evaluates and scores factors that are significant to the occurrence of pressure ulcers.  The factors of significance would include equipment and mobility that would be scored, assigned a risk category, and a plan of nursing care offered to address the specific concerns. For instance, inspecting the skin twice daily for patients assessed as being at risk for developing pressure ulcers, and inspecting the skin hourly for patients identified as being at very high risk of developing pressure ulcers (Doenges, Moorhouse & Murr, 2019).

Conclusion

One must accept that pressure ulcers presents a concern owing to the low performance score as presented in the dashboard. Although it is unclear why there are low scores, nursing best practices identify four suggestions for improving performance. The four suggestions are: adopting a supportive culture; educating patients; conducting a comprehensive patient assessment; and using a standardized tool with matching interventions.

References

Burton, M., & Ludwig, L. (2015). Fundamentals of Nursing Care: Concepts, Connections & Skills (2^nd ed.). F.A. Davis Company.

Doenges, M., Moorhouse, M., & Murr, A. (2019). Nursing Care Plans: Guidelines for Individualizing Client Care Across the Lifespan (10^th ed.). F.A. Davis Company.

Kelley, T. (2016). Electronic Health Records for Quality Nursing and Health Care. DEStech Publications, Inc.

Perry, A., Potter, P., & Ostendorf, W. (2016). Nursing Interventions & Clinical Skills (6^th ed.). Elsevier, Inc.

After review of the quarterly Dashboard (insert dashboard link here), select one Quality Indicator that needs improvement. Thoroughly review the statistical data provided in the Dashboard and develop a nursing action plan based on best practices.

To prepare

• Review the Week Assignment Rubric, provided in the Course Information
• Review the Week 4 Resources that pertain to the NDNQI and use of dashboards
• Choose a Nurse-Sensitive Quality Indicator that needs improvement based on the data presented in the Dashboard. Include information on why this area was chosen.
• Develop a nursing plan that outlines suggestions on how to improve performance in the chosen area.
• Provide at least three best practices from evidenced-based literature to support your nursing plan.

Assignment

• Draft a 3- to 4 page paper analyzing areas where there is good performance and areas of opportunity from the sample Dashboard.
• Analyze the data provided in the Dashboard and select an area of performance that needs improvement.
• Develop a nursing plan that includes suggestions on how to improve performance on the selected indicator. Each suggestion should be based on at least three best practices.  Dashboard Analysis Essay Discussion Paper