NUR 550 Evidence-Based Practice Project Proposal: Identification of Nursing Practice Problem

NUR 550 Evidence-Based Practice Project Proposal: Identification of Nursing Practice Problem

Part 1: Medication errors in nursing as a result of staffing shortage

The selected nursing issue for the evidence-based practice (EBP) project is medication errors in nursing that happen due to staffing shortage. Medication errors are a significant problem in healthcare sector, especially at this time when there is nursing shaortage and high nurse turnovers. With reduced number of nurses working in the healthcare sector, the susceptibility of patients to medication errors increases, particularly adverse drug events that can lead to death and prolonged stays in hospitals (Buerhaus et al., 2017). The project will focus on the effectiveness of implementation of health information technology compared to the conventional ways of medication management to mitigate medication errors in critically ill patients. The selection of critically ill patients as the population of interest emanates from their increased vulnerability to injuries that need high-risk medication and more use of intravenous infusions which rises the possibility of medication errors. Health information technology can play an essential role in enhancing efficiency of nurses to offer required care and reduce medication errors.

While errors are inevitable and lead to detrimental effects on patients, healthcare providers can leverage technological tools to reduce their likelihood through establishing appropriate measures. Health systems and providers can reduce the problem through organization-wide processes and not just through medication administration component alone (Trimble et al., 2017). Due to the increased demand on healthcare services that has resulted in provider shortage, health information technology can offer solutions to the issue. The EBP project will delve into the issue using evidence-based practice intervention and translational research to provide possible solutions to the health systems and practitioners like nurses.

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS NUR 550 Evidence-Based Practice Project Proposal: Identification of Nursing Practice Problem:

Part II:

PICOT Question
P	Population	Critically ill patients
I	Intervention	Integration of health information technology in the medication administration process
C	Comparison	Use of conventional medication management process
O	Outcome	Reduction of medication errors
T	Timeframe	Duration of hospital stay
PICOT	Among the critically ill patients (P), does the integration of health information technology (I) compared to conventional methods in medication administration process (C), reduce medication error (O) during hospital stay (T)?
Problem Statement	Medication errors remain a critical health challenge which impacts not just the nursing staff but also patients under their care. Medication errors sometimes do not cause harm. However, in most instances, they can be devastating to the nurses and harmful to patients. Nurses play a critical roel in protection of patients against mistakes and errors in the medication administration as they are exclusively responsible for administration, dispensation and monitoring of medications to patients (Trimble et al., 2017). While the healthcare struggles with increased nurse shortage due to high turnover, providers can leverage health information technology to reduce these adverse events and enhance protection of patients under their care. In their study, Alotaibi et al. (2017) assert that health information technology (HIT) offers numerous chances for enhancing and transforming healthcafe that include reduction of human errors, facilitating effective coordination and improving practice efficiencies. Therefore, through levarging on health information technologies like barcode scanning, electronic medication administration record (eMAR) and patient data management systems, electronic incident reporting and E-prescribing among other interventions, health organizations and providers can reduce medication errors and enhance patient safety despite having nurse staffing shortage. The implication is that these technologies reduce the possibility of errors that are mainly human mistakes by providers during the medication administration process.

References

Alotaibi, Y. K. & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi

            Medical Journal, 38(12):1173-1180. doi: 10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631

Buerhaus, P., Skinner, L., Aurhach, D. & Staiger, D. (2017). Four challenges facing the nursing workforce in

            the United States. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 8(2), 40-46. DOI:10.1016/S2155-8256(17)30097-2

Trimble, A. N., Bishop, B., & Rampe, N. (2017). Medication errors associated with transition from insulin pens

            to insulin vials. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 74(2), 70-75. doi:10.2146/ajhp150726