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Executive Summary for Quality Improvement Initiative
Grand Canyon University
NRS 451: Nursing Leadership and Management
, 2
Quality Improvement Initiative
The purpose of this quality improvement initiative is to increase staffing on the sub-acute
care unit through independence in staffing and decreasing the reliance on the float pool. This
quality improvement initiative would target the sub-acute care unit at The Harborage, located in
North Bergen, New Jersey, as well as the registered nurses, unlicensed assistive personnel, and
the patients solely on the sub-acute unit. We will further discuss the benefits, interprofessional
collaboration needed, the budget, and the evaluation of the quality improvement initiative.
Benefit of the Quality Improvement Initiative
There are many benefits of increasing staff on the sub-acute unit that directly affect
patient care, but also affect the nurses. For starters, adequate nurse staffing levels are linked to
positive patient outcomes in both general ward setting and critical care areas (McGahan et al.,
2012). Furthermore, the study done by Stone et al. (2007) found a significant association
between nurse staffing levels and pressure ulcer. This study revealed that higher nurse staffing
levels contributed to lower incidence of pressure ulcers (Stone et al., 2007). According to
research done by Shin et al. (2018), increased RN staffing has been associated with lower
hospital mortality rate, hospital acquired pneumonia, unplanned extubation, and respiratory
failure. Not having adequate nurse staffing can affect the quality of patient care as well as the
nurses’ health and well-being (Shin et al., 2018). Safe nurse staffing levels leads to a higher
retention rate, overall job satisfaction, and increased patient satisfaction (Shin et al., 2018).
Without staff consistency the unit RN’s run a risk of burnout, job dissatisfaction, intent to leave,
and needle stick injuries, all of which can be very expensive for the hospital. With this being
said, greater nurse-to-patient ratio is related to increase in adverse nurse outcomes.
Executive Summary for Quality Improvement Initiative
Grand Canyon University
NRS 451: Nursing Leadership and Management
, 2
Quality Improvement Initiative
The purpose of this quality improvement initiative is to increase staffing on the sub-acute
care unit through independence in staffing and decreasing the reliance on the float pool. This
quality improvement initiative would target the sub-acute care unit at The Harborage, located in
North Bergen, New Jersey, as well as the registered nurses, unlicensed assistive personnel, and
the patients solely on the sub-acute unit. We will further discuss the benefits, interprofessional
collaboration needed, the budget, and the evaluation of the quality improvement initiative.
Benefit of the Quality Improvement Initiative
There are many benefits of increasing staff on the sub-acute unit that directly affect
patient care, but also affect the nurses. For starters, adequate nurse staffing levels are linked to
positive patient outcomes in both general ward setting and critical care areas (McGahan et al.,
2012). Furthermore, the study done by Stone et al. (2007) found a significant association
between nurse staffing levels and pressure ulcer. This study revealed that higher nurse staffing
levels contributed to lower incidence of pressure ulcers (Stone et al., 2007). According to
research done by Shin et al. (2018), increased RN staffing has been associated with lower
hospital mortality rate, hospital acquired pneumonia, unplanned extubation, and respiratory
failure. Not having adequate nurse staffing can affect the quality of patient care as well as the
nurses’ health and well-being (Shin et al., 2018). Safe nurse staffing levels leads to a higher
retention rate, overall job satisfaction, and increased patient satisfaction (Shin et al., 2018).
Without staff consistency the unit RN’s run a risk of burnout, job dissatisfaction, intent to leave,
and needle stick injuries, all of which can be very expensive for the hospital. With this being
said, greater nurse-to-patient ratio is related to increase in adverse nurse outcomes.
