The Role of the Leader in Evaluating Data to Improve Quality and Safety Paper
The nurse’s position in between the patient and the health care agency provides a unique platform for viewing and addressingquality-care issues.Nurses can gain personal feedback from their patients, who may trust them more and speak with greater openness. They can also work collaboratively with their colleagues to create strategies toimprovepatient care.
Recall how nurses can usedatatoimprovepatientsafetyandquality-care delivery. In NURS 4005, you analyzed a Dashboard to determine nursing practice improvements. This week, you reviewed the importance of and focus on patientqualityandsafety.
The followingdataare shared by the unit manager with her staff at a recent staff meeting. There has been a higher than acceptable level of patient falls on the telemetry unit in the last 4 months. The distribution of falls is outlined below. Information about the unit also includes the following:
• The average age of the patients is 72.4 years old, and every patient has a cardiac diagnosis.
• The majority (68%) of the patients are women.
• Recently, 1 FTE of nursing assistants were moved from the night shift (11P–7A) to the evening shift (3P–11P).
• The rooms on this unit are all private.
• 94% of the patients are on diuretics.
• 12% of the patients have secondary diagnoses of confusion or disorientation.
In a 3–5 pagepaper, respond to the following:
• Describe some possible interpretations of thedatarelated to the patient fall rate on the telemetry unit.
• Discuss thequalitymanagement process you would follow toimprovepatient fall rates on the unit.
• What change management strategies would you incorporate in yourqualityimprovement plan?
• What leadership characteristics are needed to assist in improving the patient fall rates?

Although an organization may be a jungle of personalities and numerous challenges, positive changes can occur. This happens because of the dedication nursing leaders and those around them have. It is not easy to change the minds of many individuals, but with knowledge of appropriate change theories and perseverance, it is possible to bring about the changes you desire.
Based on the theories of organizational and change management presented in the text and this week’s readings, analyze a change that has happened at your place of employment, including how effectively this change was handled. Write a 2–3 page paper addressing how well the change process worked. As a nurse leader, what would you have done differently to make the change more effective?