HRSA Executive Summary

The overall goal through all phases of The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) is to address the challenge of preparing future nurses with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems in which they work. In order to accomplish this goal, six competencies were defined. These competencies from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) are patient centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, informatics and safety. Over a decade has passed since the Institute of Medicine’s reports on the need to improve the American healthcare system. The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses

Over time the health care industry has become more complex. Health care is rapidly evolving and continuing to complicate our delivery of care, which in turn has the same effect on quality of care. This steady evolution and change results in nursing shortages and an increase in the prevalence of errors being made. In hopes of preventing these errors and creating safe and high quality patient care, with the focus on new and improved ways of thinking, The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative was developed. The QSEN focuses on the following competencies: patient-centered care, quality improvement, safety, and teamwork and collaboration. Their initiatives work to prepare and develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary to make improvements in the quality and safety of health care systems (Qsen.org, 2014).

The vision of the HRSA is to provide and implement health communities and healthy people. The mission is to, “to improve health and achieve health equity through access to quality services, a skilled health workforce and innovative programs.” ("About HRSA"). The Goals of this agency is to, “improve access to quality care and services, strengthen the Health Workforce, build healthy communities, and improve health equity (“About HRSA”).

Today we will have the pleasure of learning about the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This government agency is tasked with improving safety, quality, effectiveness and efficiency in the health care system. We will examine the role of this governmental regulatory agency and the impact it has on the health care industry, current laws and regulations being faced by the AHRQ and the impact these laws and regulations have on providers and hospitals. Once we are done learning, we will all be able to relate situations we see or have seen in our own lives and communities.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a federal health reform legislation engineered to provide Americans with high quality, affordable cost and better access to health care [1]. To address these overarching aims, the ACA requires the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care, also known as the National Quality Strategy (NQS) [2]. The strategy sets three aims. First, to make health care more reliable,

Quality management is essential to the success of the quality improvement of the health care industry. “Management uses management and planning tools to organize the decision making process and create a hierarchy when faced with competing priorities “( Ransom, et al., 2008). Quality measures should have these goals: effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable, and timely care (Quality Measures, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2011).

This quality improvement discussion will review the purpose of quality management in health care industry and why it is needed. Included in this QI report will be an explanation of the

Several agencies fall under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services. Among those agencies I felt may be of benefit to Jimmy were the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA); the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR); and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Other governmental agencies that might have been of assistance to Jimmy are The Department of Labor (DOL) which falls under the Government Accountability Office.

A quality improvement (QI) project involves data-guided activities with short timelines to improve health care delivery systems (Arndt & Netsch, 2012). The setting of QI projects take place in a single setting and are monitored in the institution where the QI project is conducted. The purpose of a QI project is to change practice outcomes and apply known solutions to a known problem in that institution (Arndt & Netsch, 2012). Data obtained from the activities is disseminated through newsletters, flyers, through staff meetings, or submitted for publication and presented in

For health care organizations quality data collection is an essential tool used for data collection. The information produced from the data assists the health care organization in other functions such as effective ways to manage and perform decision making for the organization, this includes the strategic planning process. Quality improvement is the method of assessing processes and provides the information necessary to improve services. All of this together allows the health care organization to become a high producing system of

When properly integrated into health care organizations, it enables an infrastructure for identifying patient safety risks, arranging interventions, and using technology to advance national health and safety aims. (Improving Healthcare Quality, 2009)

HRSA has a major impact on a neighborhood’s needs. Shortages such as primary medical care, dental or mental health providers happen due to budget cuts for the underserved population such as the homeless. Medically underserved areas and or populations are areas or populations chosen by HRSA as having not enough PCP’s, high infant death rates, high poverty and or high elderly population. Homeless teens often have a higher number of physical and or mental health issues than their housed peers due to the high stress, anxiety levels and a lack of love and

The purpose of this paper is to identify a quality safety issue. I will summarize the impact that this issue has on health care delivery. In addition, I will identify quality improvement strategies. Finally, I will share a plan to effectively implement this quality improvement strategy.

Department of Health & Human Services. (2011). National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Healthcare. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Quality is something that every health care agency strives to achieve. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggests that health care organizations develop a culture of safety such that an organization's care processes and workforce are focused on improving the reliability and safety of care for patients (Groves, Meisenbach, & Scott-Cawiezell, 2011). In order to address an issue related to health care quality, it is important to look at the frameworks that will analyze an organization and identify opportunities to improve performance. The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of an organization and an analysis of the following: mission, vision and values, strategic plan, goals,