Guidelines for
National Patient Safety Goals Assignment

Purpose

This exercise is designed to increase the students’ awareness of the National Patient Safety Goals developed by The Joint Commission. Specifically, this assignment will introduce the Speak Up Initiatives, an award-winning patient safety program designed to help patients promote their own safety by proactively taking charge of their healthcare.

Course Outcomes

This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes.

CO #2: Apply the concepts of health promotion and illness prevention in the laboratory setting. (PO #2)

CO #8: Explain the rationale for selected nursing interventions based upon current nursing literature. (PO #8)

Due Date

Requirements

• Select a Speak Up brochure developed by The Joint Commission. Follow this link to the proper website: http://www.jointcommission.org/topics/speakup_brochures.aspx.
• Write a short paper reviewing the brochure. Use the Grading Criteria (below) to structure your critique, and include current nursing or healthcare research to support your critique.
  • The length of the paper is to be no greater than three pages, double spaced, excluding title page and reference page. Extra pages will not be read and will not count toward your grade.
• This assignment will be graded on quality of information presented, use of citations, and use of Standard English grammar, sentence structure, and organization based on the required components.
• Create the review using Microsoft Word 2007 (a part of Microsoft Office 2007), the required format for all Chamberlain documents. You can tell that the document is saved as a MS Word 2007 document because it will end in “.docx.”
• Any questions about this paper may be discussed in the weekly Q & A Forum in your online course or directly with your faculty member if you are taking NR224 on campus.
• APA format is required with both a title page and reference page. Use the required components of the review as Level 1 headers (upper- and lowercase, bold, centered).
  • Introduction
  • Summary of Brochure
  • Evaluation of Brochure
  • Conclusion

Preparing the Paper

The following are the best practices in preparing this paper.

• Read the brochure carefully and take notes. Highlighting important points has been helpful to many students.
• Title page: Include title of your paper, your name, Chamberlain College of Nursing, NR224 Fundamentals—Skills, faculty name, and the date. Center all items between the left and right margins, beginning approximately 3 inches from the top margin.
• Use the CCN library or online library to find current nursing research that supports your findings.
• The brochure you select must be properly cited in the body of your paper and on the reference list.

NOTE: This style of cover page is required by the college and is a variance of APA formatting.

Directions and Grading Criteria

Category

Points

%

Description

Introduction

3

6

This first part of your paper should be one paragraph that includes the brochure title, date published, and your understanding of who the information would benefit.

Summary of the brochure’s recommendations

10

20

Summary of brochure must include

• main topics discussed; and
• how communication between patients and healthcare providers is encouraged.
• Was the information provided in the brochure beneficial? Could you incorporate it in your patient education?
• Was the information presented clearly?
• Did current nursing or healthcare related research support the information presented in the brochure?
• What population or individuals does this article apply to (i.e., who will benefit the most from this brochure)? Who else can use this information?
• Will this information increase patient safety? Defend your answer.

Evaluation of the brochure

20

40

Critique the brochure. Include a full one- to two-page critique that answers all of the following questions.

• What was done well, and what could have been improved in the brochure?
• Why did this topic interest you?

Conclusion

5

10

An effective conclusion identifies the main ideas and major support points from the body of your report. Minor details are left out. Summarize the benefits of following the brochure’s advice to a person at risk.

Clarity of writing

10

20

Use Standard English grammar and sentence structure. No spelling or typographical errors (typos) are present. The paper is organized around required components, using appropriate headers.

APA format

2

4

All information taken from another source, even if summarized, must be cited in the paper and listed in the references using (APA sixth ed.) format.

• Document setup
• Title and reference pages.
• Citations in the text and reference page.