CASE SCENARIO

As a nurse in a healthcare organization, it has become evident that patient outcome data have been consistently declining in some patient care settings. Some of the outcomes under inspection include patient falls, (3 % increase in the last 6 months) .

You have been asked to investigate contributing factors to the declining outcomes and participate with a team approach to developing an evidence-based practice project. As you started this exploration, you came across this article Aiken Article titled “The effects of nurse staffing and nurse education on patent deaths in hospital with different nurse work environment” , which served as a starting point for the assignment you have been given. You may need to secure some current articles to support you as you develop the clinical question. For example, you may want to retrieve peer review articles on patient Fall.

1. Access the link to the Aiken article above and read the article. This article will provide some background information that links nurse-patient ratios to patient outcomes. The article is provided to get you started on the development of an evidence-based project (EBP).

2. Refer to the Iowa Model (available in the textbook) to serve as a guide in the development of the EBP project. Be sure to explain, in detail, how each step of the Iowa Model supports your project development.

3. Based on the information in the article, develop a PICO question to address the problem of a decline in patient outcomes.

4. Use the format below to develop the PICO:

5. Include additional articles as background information to provide information for the problem areas identified.

6. Discuss the influence of Scripture on the imperative for utilizing current evidence to deliver safe and quality patient care.