1) Introduction (10 marks, approximately 380 words)

• Identify the area of nursing practice that would benefit from a quality improvement process (hereafter … your topic)
• Include a description of the topic that covers details on the setting (ward type, location etc.), the people involved and what inefficiencies/errors you noticed  

• Briefly state which NSQHS Standard/s that this area of nursing practice addresses

Note – this section is worth 10 marks – approximately 380 words. Therefore, please ensure that you are factual and brief and give context to your topic without judgement or being too verbose.

It is important that any identifying information is anonymised so that the organisation or people cannot be recognised.

2) Review of the literature (20 marks, approximately 760 words)

• Analyse the research literature that has been completed in relation to your topic
  • How have others worked to improve practice in this area?
• Discuss the literature related to the extent of the problem/issue and the causative factors

• Discuss the potential solutions for your topic from the literature evidence.

Note – it is expected that you include a range of credible and reliable literature in this section.

3) Discussion of quality improvement project (20 marks, approximately 760 words)

• Describe which of the solution/s from your review of the literature that you will implement as your quality improvement project to improve your topic.
• State a SMART goal for your QI project.
• Discuss what your quality improvement idea is including:
  • What would be needed to implement this in practice?
  • Who the key stakeholders are?
  • How you will measure the change (how will you know your project was or was not successful)?
  • What the likely impact is on staff and patients?

  • How you will plan for your QI project to be sustained long term?

    4) Policies, procedures and/or clinical practice guidelines (10 marks, approximately 380 words)

    • Provide details of evidence-based resources that are relevant to your topic
      • Policies and/or procedures and/or clinical practice guidelines
    • Discussion of these resources and comparison with clinical practice
      • How do these resources relate to your topic?

      • Does clinical practice differ from the guidelines/policies?

    Note – you may not be able to find evidence based resources on a particular, specific topic, but there are always over-arching documents that would either include that topic broadly, or could be adapted to include that topic.

    5) Australian Safety and Quality Framework (10 marks, approximately 380 words)

    • Describe how your quality improvement project aligns with each of the three principals of the Australian Safety and Quality Framework
      • Consumer centred
      • Driven by information

      • Organised for safety

    6) Conclusion (10 marks, approximately 380 words)

    • Conclude the main findings of your paper

    • Discuss the implications of your quality improvement project in terms of improving quality and patient safety outcomes.

    7) References (10 marks)

    Students must adhere to APA 7th edition referencing.  References should be no more than 7 years old (unless a seminal paper). Number of references: overall, we would be looking for somewhere around 12-20 current, scholarly references (depending on the quality and relevance of the references).