3 Credits

This is a required course of the Doctorate of Nursing Practice Programs, but students in any clinical discipline or those planning to lead health care programs or organizations would benefit from this course. The course focuses on the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that when acquired and applied effectively, can assure a high-quality and safe patient and family health care experience in a variety of practice settings.

The importance of setting aims, applying statistical methods to measure variation, hypothesis identification, and planning change using the PDCA (plan, do, check, and act) cycle form the basis of the course. Current health policy issues related to assuring safe, high-quality, effective, equitable, timely, patient-centered, and efficient care (Institute of Medicine [IOM] 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2007) will be addressed. Given the importance of patient- and family-centered care, interdisciplinary teamwork and collaboration, and positive practice environments, these areas of study will enrich the course content.

Building cultures of safety that are fair and just and assuring high accountability and reliability in care processes will also be studied. Access and cost issues will be addressed, including pay for performance, quality outcomes, and nurse-sensitive outcomes. Health care reform’s focus on quality will be considered. The work of key national and international regulatory, discipline-specific, and quality-/safety-oriented professional associations will be reviewed, including the Joint Commission for Health Care Accreditation, the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) Magnet and Pathway Programs, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, ISO 9000, and others.