Evidence Based Practice For Health Professionals - Personal Improvement Project Report writing - Nursing Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Worked Example of a Personal Improvement Project Report  
The following is an illustrative (not factual) example to show what is needed in your PIP report for  Assessment 3. This is just an outline of how the report might be presented – your PIP report will be more  comprehensive than this. See the assessment briefing and marking rubric for more information.  
Background: level of evaluation and synthesis of evidence   
There is a problem on South Ward in my hospital with wound infections. According to the data we have  collected over the last two months there are around 25 wound infections on South Ward per month  (system?level problem). This is not acceptable and we need to reduce the number of wound infections  (system?level goal). Research (evidence) has demonstrated that when nurses wash their hands for five  minutes before doing a wound dressing there is less likelihood of wound infection than if they wash their  hands for less than five minutes (REFERENCES TO SUPPORT THIS). We know that for the most part (80% of  the time) nurses on South Ward wash their hands for less than five minutes before doing a wound dressing  (behaviour that needs improvement). Therefore we want to increase the number of times nurses wash their  hands for five minutes prior to doing a wound dressing.  
(In your PIP reports you will need to evaluate, synthesise and describe the research literature related to  your PIP topic , i.e. that demonstrates a link between the aim of your PIP (e.g. reducing the number of  cakes I eat each day) and the system?level goal (e.g. losing weight). You will also need to describe if there  are gaps in the research literature and implications of that for your PIP.   
Aim Statement   
Process analysis – process map and Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram (see marking rubric and  assessment briefing instructions)  
In my improvement project I would identify barriers and challenges to nurses washing their hands for a full  five minutes before doing a wound dressing. This would involve doing a cause and effect diagram (Ishikawa  Diagram) and introducing ways I could address the barriers to nurses washing their hands for a full five  minutes for a wound dressing.   
I would map the current process of nurses undertaking a wound dressing (to improve a process we need to  be able to "see" the process). That is, what is the current process when a nurse does a wound dressing on  South Ward? I would consider potential points in the process at which I might be able to introduce change  to improve the process.  
PIP illustrative example  Page 1  
Present a process map of wound dressing process  
Present a Cause and Effect Diagram of barriers to nurses washing their hands for five minutes  prior to a wound dressing.  
For example, when I map the process I might identify that when the patient is in a shared room the nurses  get interrupted while washing their hands so do not wash their hands for the full five minutes before doing  a dressing. I might also notice when I map the process that when a nurse does a wound dressing in room 5,  she/he has to walk to a sink in the corridor because there is no soap dispenser at the sink in room 5.   
Measurement (see marking rubric and assessment briefing instructions)  
I will need to collect data that demonstrate whether there has been an improvement in the behaviour I am  aiming to improve (the number of times nurses wash their hands for five minutes before doing a wound  dressing). I need to know how many times nurses washed their hands for five minutes before a wound  dressing (behaviour I am aiming to improve) before I changed the process and how many times they did  this after I changed the process, I would collect data on (measure) how long nurses washed their hands for  before each dressing. That way I can see how often they wash their hands for a full five minutes. I would  collect this data over the time of the project.   
I would then describe what the data means and I would present that data in a run chart or as a histogram  or frequency diagram so that I could visualise if there had been a change in the frequency with which  nurses washed their hands for five minutes before doing a wound dressing. I would make it clear on the  graph/histogram/run chart where I had introduced changes to address barriers I had identified to hand  washing for five minutes. Presenting the data in this way enables others to easily “see” whether there have  been improvements or not.  
To know whether or not there has been improvement in my system?level goal (decreased wound  infections) I would need to collect and present data on wound infections. 
Figure 1: Average hand washing time (in minutes) before wound dressing on South Ward between 1?21 July   
Making change: analysis (see marking rubric and assessment briefing instructions)  
I would describe the changes I made to address the barriers to hand washing. For example, when I map the  process I might identify that when the patient is in a shared room the nurses get interrupted while washing  their hands so do not wash their hands for the full five minutes before doing a dressing. I would then be  able to introduce a process change to address that barrier such as suggesting that the nurses wash their  hands at the sink outside the shared room before doing a dressing, or wearing a do not interrupt vest. I  might also notice when I map the process that when a nurse does a wound dressing in room 5, she/he has  to walk to a sink in the corridor because there is no soap dispenser at the sink in room 5. I would address  this barrier by installing a new soap dispenser at the sink in room 5 (changes the process). I would describe  whether these changes worked and present why they worked or why they did not work. I would present  other changes I might try or have tried.  
If there were no changes in the number of times nurses washed their hands for five minutes prior to doing  a wound dressing, I would propose an explanation of why this might be. (Please remember that your PIP  may not be successful – you may not be able to change what you were aiming to change. If this occurs you  need to still present and describe the data and offer possible explanations of why it did not change).   

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