Attachement

PROJECT
TOPIC

Improving Patient Care

PREPARED BY DATE

Jacquelyn Bell

December 2020

OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION

(Item 1)

·

130 longterm bed facility and a 40-bed rehabilitation facility located in Northport, Al

· Mission: To create a patient-centered care environment for elderly patients and acute rehabilitation.

· Vision: To be a facility where innovative care, comfort, and compassion help older adults continue leading lives with purpose and joy.

· Services provided: Wound care, IV therapy, Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, and self-care needs

· amenities: Room services, Beauty salon, Gym, and Laundry services.

IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS

(Item 2)

· There has been an increased case of disease and infectious outbreaks. Inadequate infection control and improper wound-care practices likely lead to an outbreak of severe infections in a skilled nursing facility (Nanduri, 2019).

· Pressure injuries are considered a high propriety injury in long term healthcare. Risk factors for bed ulcers include immobility, incontinence, poor nutrition, dehydration, blood flow problems, or the inability to sense pain (Ward, 2020). They are often costly and hard to heal (Wynn, 2020). Therefore the increased cases of bed ulcers need to be addressed within the facility.

· Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are particularly prone to weight loss (AAD M. M. Berkhout, 2020). Dementia patients make up a large group in long term healthcare as well. The dementia disease process often causes patients to lose the ability to perform self-care needs and they rely on staff to perform these tasks (AAD M. M. Berkhout, 2020). Nurses are often have limited feeding time due to staffing shortages which in return leads to Extensive patient weight loss (AAD M. M. Berkhout, 2020).

SOLUTIONS

(Item 3)

· Hand washing is the number one preventative in the prevention of infection and cross-contamination (Ogundeji Kolawole Damilare, 2020). From an outbreak review, it was noted staff was only 41% complaint about handwashing (Nanduri, 2019). Staff should be trained and educated on the importance of and checked off on wound care procedures.

· The main solution is education. Educate the patient on the importance of bedsore prevention and staff (Wynn, 2020). Ensure bedbound patients are repositioned and documented within regulation hourly to prevent the issue.

· Nursing-home patients with one or more feeding disabilities depended on nursing assistance (AAD M. M. Berkhout, 2020). To address the weight loss issue in combination with nursing shortages, all patients should feed in the dining room. This allows for more assistance and more feeding time to ensure patients are properly nourished.

MEASURABLE PROJECT GOALS

(Item 4)

· The facility will be checked monthly by the Director of Nursing for any infection and disease occurrences and shall remain under 10% for 6 months to show improvements.

· Nursing staff will ensure that bed ulcer rates decrease by enforcing monitoring rotation and existing are continuing to heal according to the treatment plan of care within three months.

· Patients’ weight will be monitored by the restorative team twice a week with noted improvement within six months.

OBSTACLES

AND

OPPORTUNITIES

(Item 5)

· Obstacles that could be faced include staffing shortages and ethical issues amongst staff. Task conflicts could brew due to the strains between staff over responsibilities (Walston, 2017).

· The opportunity presents itself to truly provide the best care for patients and reduce illnesses.

STRATEGIC (or ACTION) PLAN

(Item 6)

CONCLUSION

Many patients have limitations and require staff to provide self-care needs. With these standards in place, we are the first line of defense for patients. Therefore we need to ensure patients keep healthy skin, free from disease, and are well nourished as well.

REFERENCES

AAD M. M. Berkhout, H. J. (2020, July 1). The relationship between difficulties in feeding oneself and loss of weight in nursing-home patients with dementia. British Geriatrics Society, pp. 637-641.

Nanduri, S. (2019, February). A prolonged and large outbreak of invasive group A Streptococcus disease within a nursing home: repeated interfacility transmission of a single strain. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, pp. Volume 25, Issue 2.

Ogundeji Kolawole Damilare, R. (2020, January- April ). Hand Washing: An Essential Infection Control Practice. International Journal of Caring Sciences, pp. Volume 13, Issue 1.

Walston, S. L. (2017). Organizational Behavior, Organizational Theory, and Their Importance In Healthcare. In S. L. Walston, Organizational Behavior and Theory in Healthcare (pp. 3-5). Chicago: Association of University Program.

Ward, B. (2020, October 1). How to prevent hospital-acquired. Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, pp. Vol 23, Issue 10.

Wynn, M. (2020, November 12). Patient expectations of pressure ulcer. British Journal of Nursing, pp. 1-6.

Goals

Required Tasks

Individuals involved

Resources Needed

Timeline

Measurements

1.Prevent bed ulcers

Patient rotation

Use of wedges

CNA, LPN, RN

Wedges, chart documents for signature

6-month improvement

The decrease in bed ulcers and a healing rate of current

2. Decrease in infection

Improved wound care, improved hand hygiene

All staff members

Increased hand sanitizer stations and handwashing stations and retaining

Infection percentage and outbreak

3. Weight management in dementia patients

Provide more staff during feeding periods, provide in-between snacks

Dietary, feeding staff, CNA, LPN, RN

Prepared meals, Staff

3 month

Improved patient weight management decrease weight loss