Nursing quality improvement project

Nursing Leadership and Management: Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Project Brief

Unit context

Nursing Leadership and Management courses in BSN and RN-to-BSN programs at institutions such as Grand Canyon University often expect students to connect leadership theory with quality improvement and patient safety initiatives in clinical settings. The following assignment brief models those expectations and reflects common formats used for written QI project papers, planning assignments, and practice-focused leadership assessments.

Assessment overview

Students develop a concise quality improvement and patient safety project paper that targets a specific issue in their current or recent practice environment. The paper focuses on the role of the nurse leader in diagnosing the problem, using evidence to design a change, and anticipating how outcomes will be measured and sustained over time.

Assessment type: Quality improvement and patient safety project paper.
Recommended course level: Upper-division BSN or RN-to-BSN leadership/management course (e.g. NRS-451VN-type unit).

Length: 1,050- to 1,400-word paper.
Weight: 15–25% of final course grade (adapt to local syllabus).

Assessment task: Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Project Paper

Purpose

The task evaluates the ability to identify a priority patient safety or quality concern, analyse its impact, and outline a realistic improvement plan that reflects current evidence and sound leadership practice. Students show how a nurse leader can support a team through change and maintain accountability for results.

Task description

Select a quality and safety issue
Choose a clearly defined problem such as falls, medication errors, hospital-acquired infections, communication failures at handoff, or delayed pain management.
Focus on one unit or service area (for example, medical-surgical, emergency, long-term care, perioperative, or community clinic) that you know well.

Describe the problem and context
Summarise the setting, patient population, and staffing model that form the background to the issue.
Explain how the problem affects patient outcomes, staff workload, and organisational goals, using any relevant baseline data if available (such as incident reports, internal audits, or national benchmarks).

Review the evidence
Locate at least three current peer-reviewed articles (2018–2025) that examine your chosen problem and support interventions or strategies to improve quality and safety.
Summarise the key findings and explain how the evidence informs your proposed project in clear, concise language.

Outline a quality improvement plan
Describe the QI approach or framework that will guide your project, such as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) or a similar cyclical model.
Identify 3–5 specific, stepwise interventions that your team will implement (for example, standardised checklists, staff education, changes in documentation, or new communication processes).
Explain how each intervention addresses known root causes or contributing factors, such as workflow gaps, staffing issues, or inconsistent adherence to protocols.

Clarify leadership roles and team engagement
Identify the nurse leader’s responsibilities in this project and describe how leadership behaviours will support change (for example, role modelling, coaching, providing feedback, or facilitating interprofessional meetings).
Explain how you will involve staff and other disciplines, encourage input, and support accountability at the unit level.

Define outcomes and evaluation
State at least two specific, measurable outcomes that will help determine whether the project has improved quality or safety (for example, reduction in falls, reduced time to first analgesia, fewer medication discrepancies at discharge).
Describe how data will be collected, how often it will be reviewed, and how results will be reported to staff and leaders.
Comment briefly on how successful changes will be sustained and integrated into everyday practice.

Structure and format

Length: 1,050–1,400 words, excluding title page and references.
Suggested headings: Introduction, Problem and Context, Evidence Summary, Quality Improvement Plan, Leadership and Team Involvement, Outcomes and Evaluation, Conclusion.
Formatting: Double-spaced, standard academic font, clear subheadings.
Referencing: Current APA style for in-text citations and reference list, following institutional guidelines.

Marking rubric: Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Project Paper

Criterion 1: Problem definition and contextual analysis
Exemplary: Presents a specific, well-defined quality or safety issue and a clear description of the clinical context. Explains the impact on patients, staff, and organisational priorities with reference to available data or benchmarks.
Proficient: Identifies a relevant problem and context with adequate detail. Addresses impact on patients and staff, although data or examples may be limited.
Developing: Refers to a general concern with limited focus or context. Impact on outcomes is implied rather than fully explained.
Limited: Provides a vague or unsupported problem statement and minimal context, with little connection to patient or organisational outcomes.

Criterion 2: Use of evidence
Exemplary: Integrates at least three recent, high-quality peer-reviewed sources and relevant guidelines to support the analysis and proposed interventions. Summarises evidence accurately and connects it directly to the project plan.
Proficient: Uses the required number of scholarly sources with generally accurate summaries. Links between evidence and specific interventions are present but sometimes implicit.
Developing: Includes some references, but recency, relevance, or integration is limited. Evidence is described but not consistently applied to project decisions.
Limited: Makes minimal use of scholarly sources or relies mainly on opinion, with little or no clear link to research or guidelines.

Criterion 3: Quality improvement plan and feasibility
Exemplary: Presents a coherent QI plan with clear steps, a suitable framework, and realistic interventions that directly address identified causes of the problem.
Proficient: Describes an organised plan with appropriate steps and a recognisable model or structure, although some details are brief.
Developing: Outlines general interventions without a strong sense of sequence, framework, or feasibility.
Limited: Provides an incomplete or disorganised plan that does not clearly respond to the defined problem.

Criterion 4: Leadership and team engagement
Exemplary: Shows a clear understanding of the nurse leader’s role in guiding the project, supporting staff, and working with interprofessional colleagues. Describes strategies for engagement, communication, and accountability that are specific and actionable.
Proficient: Describes leadership and team roles with reasonable clarity, though strategies may be less detailed.
Developing: Mentions leadership or teamwork concepts but does not describe precise behaviours or structures.
Limited: Provides minimal discussion of leadership or team engagement and does not link these aspects to project success.

Criterion 5: Outcomes, evaluation, and sustainability
Exemplary: Defines measurable outcomes, describes sound data collection and review processes, and explains how successful changes will be maintained over time.
Proficient: Identifies appropriate outcomes and describes basic evaluation steps, with some reference to sustainability.
Developing: Refers to outcomes or evaluation in general terms with limited detail or specificity.
Limited: Provides little or no plan for measuring results or sustaining improvements.

Criterion 6: Academic writing and APA style
Exemplary: Uses precise, clear academic language and well-organised paragraphs. Demonstrates strong control of grammar, spelling, and syntax. Applies APA style accurately throughout.
Proficient: Communicates clearly with minor errors that do not distract from meaning. APA formatting is mostly correct.
Developing: Shows recurring issues with grammar, structure, or APA style that occasionally interfere with clarity.
Limited: Writing is difficult to follow due to frequent errors. APA style is inconsistent or largely missing.

Nursing students in ASU and GCU-style RN-BSN leadership and management courses often search for clear examples of quality improvement and patient safety project assignments that match typical 1,050- to 1,400-word requirements and leadership outcomes. This assignment brief offers a realistic model for QI and patient safety papers, including expectations for evidence use, leadership roles, and measurable outcomes that align with current nursing education standards and accreditation priorities.

References

Davis, R, Kingsley, C, Rozario, A & Kausar, I 2021, ‘Quality improvement in hospitals: barriers and facilitators from the perspective of frontline nurses’, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, vol. 33, no. 2, mzab037, doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzab037.

Jones, KJ, Skinner, AM, Xu, L, Sun, J & Mueller, K 2019, ‘The AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture: a tool to improve safety in hospitals’, Journal of Patient Safety, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 433–436, doi:10.1097/PTS.0000000000000525.

Berwick, DM 2018, ‘Improvement, trust, and the healthcare workforce’, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 319, no. 17, pp. 1721–1722, doi:10.1001/jama.2018.3934.

Slåtten, T, Mutonyi, BR & Lien, G 2022, ‘Empowering leadership, work engagement, and patient safety culture among nurses’, BMC Health Services Research, vol. 22, 311, doi:10.1186/s12913-022-07695-2.

Välimäki, M, Marjanen, K, Ruotsalainen, H, Hatu, A & Kankkunen, P 2024, ‘Evidence-based nursing leadership in healthcare: a mixed methods systematic review’, International Journal of Nursing Studies, vol. 152, 104314, doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2024.104314.