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NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 YEAR 2026
Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
Your Name
School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University
NURS4020: Improving Quality of Care and Patient Safety
Instructor Name
Month, Year
, 2
For this assessment, you can use a supplied template to conduct a root-cause analysis.
The completed assessment will be a scholarly paper focusing on a quality or safety
issue in a health care setting of your choice as well as a safety improvement plan.
Introduction
As patient safety concerns continue to be addressed in the health care settings, nurses
can play an active role in implementing safety improvement measures and plans. Often
root-cause analyses are conducted and safety improvement plans are created to
address sentinel or adverse events such as medication errors, patient falls, wrong-site
surgery events, and hospital-acquired infections. Performing a root-cause analysis
offers a systematic approach for identifying causes of problems, including process and
system-check failures. Once the causes of failures have been determined, a safety
improvement plan can be developed to prevent recurrences. The baccalaureate nurse's
role as a leader is to create safety improvement plans as well as disseminate vital
information to staff nurses and other health care professionals to protect patients and
improve outcomes.
As you prepare for this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the
Quality and Safety Improvement Plan Knowledge Base activity and to review the
various assessment resources, all of which will help you build your knowledge of key
concepts and terms related to quality and safety improvement. The terms and concepts
will be helpful as you prepare your Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan.
Activities are not graded and demonstrate course engagement.
Professional Context
Nursing practice is governed by health care policies and procedures as well as state
and national regulations developed to prevent problems. It is critical for nurses to
participate in gathering and analyzing data to determine causes of patient safety issues,
in solving problems, and in implementing quality improvements.
Scenario
For this assessment, use the specific safety concern identified in your previous
assessment as the subject of a root-cause analysis and safety improvement plan.
Instructions
The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your understanding of and ability to
analyze a root cause of a specific safety concern in a health care setting. You will create
a plan to improve the safety of patients related to the safety quality issue presented in
, 3
your Assessment Supplement PDF in Assessment 1. Based on the results of your
analysis, using the literature and professional best practices as well as the existing
resources at your chosen health care setting, provide a rationale for your plan.
Use the
template to help you to stay organized and concise. This will guide you step-by-step
through the root cause analysis process.
Additionally, be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the
grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so you
understand what is needed for a distinguished score.
• Analyze the root cause of a specific patient safety issue in an organization.
• Apply evidence-based and best-practice strategies to address the safety issue.
• Create a feasible, evidence-based safety improvement plan to address a specific
patient safety issue.
• Identify organizational resources that could be leveraged to improve your plan.
• Communicate in writing that is clear, logical, and professional, with correct
grammar and spelling, using current APA style.
Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a
Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like but keep in mind that
your Assessment 2 will focus on the quality issue you selected in Assessment 1.
•
Additional Requirement
• Length of submission: Use the provided Root-Cause Analysis and
Improvement Plan template to create a 4–6 page root cause analysis and
safety improvement plan pertaining to a specific patient safety issue.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3 sources of scholarly or professional
evidence that support your findings and considerations. Resources should be
no more than 5 years old.
• APA formatting: Format references and citations according to current APA
style.
Competencies Measured
NURS-FPX4020 Assessment 2 YEAR 2026
Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan
Your Name
School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University
NURS4020: Improving Quality of Care and Patient Safety
Instructor Name
Month, Year
, 2
For this assessment, you can use a supplied template to conduct a root-cause analysis.
The completed assessment will be a scholarly paper focusing on a quality or safety
issue in a health care setting of your choice as well as a safety improvement plan.
Introduction
As patient safety concerns continue to be addressed in the health care settings, nurses
can play an active role in implementing safety improvement measures and plans. Often
root-cause analyses are conducted and safety improvement plans are created to
address sentinel or adverse events such as medication errors, patient falls, wrong-site
surgery events, and hospital-acquired infections. Performing a root-cause analysis
offers a systematic approach for identifying causes of problems, including process and
system-check failures. Once the causes of failures have been determined, a safety
improvement plan can be developed to prevent recurrences. The baccalaureate nurse's
role as a leader is to create safety improvement plans as well as disseminate vital
information to staff nurses and other health care professionals to protect patients and
improve outcomes.
As you prepare for this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the
Quality and Safety Improvement Plan Knowledge Base activity and to review the
various assessment resources, all of which will help you build your knowledge of key
concepts and terms related to quality and safety improvement. The terms and concepts
will be helpful as you prepare your Root-Cause Analysis and Safety Improvement Plan.
Activities are not graded and demonstrate course engagement.
Professional Context
Nursing practice is governed by health care policies and procedures as well as state
and national regulations developed to prevent problems. It is critical for nurses to
participate in gathering and analyzing data to determine causes of patient safety issues,
in solving problems, and in implementing quality improvements.
Scenario
For this assessment, use the specific safety concern identified in your previous
assessment as the subject of a root-cause analysis and safety improvement plan.
Instructions
The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your understanding of and ability to
analyze a root cause of a specific safety concern in a health care setting. You will create
a plan to improve the safety of patients related to the safety quality issue presented in
, 3
your Assessment Supplement PDF in Assessment 1. Based on the results of your
analysis, using the literature and professional best practices as well as the existing
resources at your chosen health care setting, provide a rationale for your plan.
Use the
template to help you to stay organized and concise. This will guide you step-by-step
through the root cause analysis process.
Additionally, be sure that your plan addresses the following, which corresponds to the
grading criteria in the scoring guide. Please study the scoring guide carefully so you
understand what is needed for a distinguished score.
• Analyze the root cause of a specific patient safety issue in an organization.
• Apply evidence-based and best-practice strategies to address the safety issue.
• Create a feasible, evidence-based safety improvement plan to address a specific
patient safety issue.
• Identify organizational resources that could be leveraged to improve your plan.
• Communicate in writing that is clear, logical, and professional, with correct
grammar and spelling, using current APA style.
Example Assessment: You may use the following to give you an idea of what a
Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like but keep in mind that
your Assessment 2 will focus on the quality issue you selected in Assessment 1.
•
Additional Requirement
• Length of submission: Use the provided Root-Cause Analysis and
Improvement Plan template to create a 4–6 page root cause analysis and
safety improvement plan pertaining to a specific patient safety issue.
• Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3 sources of scholarly or professional
evidence that support your findings and considerations. Resources should be
no more than 5 years old.
• APA formatting: Format references and citations according to current APA
style.
Competencies Measured
