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NMHS42700

Academic Year 2024/2025

Quality, patient safety and outcomes (NMHS42700)

Subject:
Nursing,Midwifery & Health Sys
College:
Health & Agricultural Sciences
School:
Nursing,Midwifery & Health Sys
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Aoife De Brún
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
Blended
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module is designed to facilitate healthcare professionals to explore and critically appraise diverse theories and approaches to quality and patient safety in healthcare and evaluate the role of evidence-based practice as a mechanism to enhance and improve patient care quality. To understand issues pertaining to patient safety, a critical understanding of healthcare work complexity and its contribution towards adverse/near miss events will be explored. The role of human factors, patient/family engagement, collaborative approaches to staff engagement and learning from incidents as well as from good practice will be outlined. Implementing and testing changes to foster a culture of quality, learning and safety will then be explored. The effectiveness of quality improvement and patient safety processes and their impact on outcome indicators will be examined, and students will explore and critically evaluate the measurement and management of such outcomes with respect to their own workplace.

The module is relevant to healthcare staff of all levels and disciplines who are interested in developing their skills in managing quality and safety in healthcare.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a critical understanding of the current state of patient safety within healthcare.
• Describe and appraise the theories, methods and tools that can be used for quality and safety management and improvement in healthcare.
• Reflect on the factors that promote a collaborative and learning culture characterised by efforts at continuous quality improvement and proactive safety monitoring.
• Critically explore the drivers for quality and safety, the role of patient engagement and feedback, and understand the impact of human factors.
• Develop skills in quality and safety planning and apply this learning to improve patient safety and quality of care in students’ own workplace.

Indicative Module Content:

This module is designed to facilitate healthcare professionals to explore and critically appraise diverse theories and approaches to quality and patient safety management in healthcare and evaluate the role of evidence based practice as a mechanism to enhance and improve care quality. To understand issues pertaining to patient safety, a critical understanding of health care work complexity and its contribution towards adverse/near miss events will be explored and tools and techniques for evaluating work complexity will be critically analysed. Systems changes to facilitate a culture of quality, learning and safety will then be explored. The effectiveness of quality improvement processes/patient safety processes and their impact on outcome indicators will be examined, and students will explore and critically evaluate the measurement and management of such outcomes

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

10

Autonomous Student Learning

170

Lectures

20

Online Learning

10

Total

210


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Approaches to teaching and learning will include synchronous and asynchronous lectures, interactive discussions, guest lectures and workshops, directed learning activities, peer review/critical appraisal and applying learning to a local workplace issue.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Equivalents:
Quality, PT safety & outcomes (NMHS40730), Quality, PT safety & outcomes (NURS40730)


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Reflective Assignment: Peer review and feedback exercise Week 10 Alternative non-linear conversion grade scale 50% No
10
No
Assignment(Including Essay): To identify and explore a quality/patient safety issue in your own workplace and develop a plan to address, resolve and monitor this issue by adopting a quality improvement/patient safety approach. Week 14 Alternative non-linear conversion grade scale 50% Yes
90
Yes

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Peer review feedback during the trimester Individual and group-level feedback

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Online Learning Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 Mon 14:00 - 16:50