Assignment: Comprehensive Needs Assessment – MSN 6610

Assignment: Comprehensive Needs Assessment – MSN 6610

Assignment: Comprehensive Needs Assessment – MSN 6610

Complete an interactive simulation exploring the role of the nurse in health care coordination. Then, complete a comprehensive patient needs assessment of 4–5 pages.

Note: Each assessment in this course builds on your work in the preceding assessment; therefore, complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.

Care coordination is an emerging and complex field in the health care system because of the growing number of providers, the various settings of care, and the numerous methods of delivering care. Hospitals are implementing several interventions to address gaps in care coordination, such as enhanced systems of communication, information technology, and personnel resourcing. This assessment provides an opportunity for you to complete a comprehensive needs assessment.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
•Competency 1: Determine the influence of current health care legislation, policy, and research on evidence-based practice in assessment by care coordinators. ◦Identify current gaps in a patient’s care.
◦Develop a strategy for gathering additional necessary assessment data not readily available from an initial patient interview.

•Competency 2: Evaluate current factors (such as population health, cost, interprofessional communications) affecting patient outcomes related to care coordination. ◦Identify factors most likely to affect patient outcomes.
◦Advocate for the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster.

•Competency 3: Determine appropriate care coordination performance measures for driving high-quality patient outcomes, based on current accrediting standards and benchmarks. ◦Identify specific patient and care coordination outcome measures related to specific accrediting standards.

•Competency 4: Apply relevant evidence-based practices that reflect a shift toward a broader population health focus on patient outcomes. ◦Identify evidence-based practices from the literature necessary to successfully implement a plan of care.

•Competency 5: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with applicable organizational, professional, and scholarly standards. ◦Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.
◦Support main points, claims, and conclusions with credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using

Context:

In their book To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Kohn, Corrigan, and Donaldson (2000) identified collaborative communication and the reduction of medical errors as top priorities to improve the quality and safety of patient care. In response to this, the National Quality Forum (NQF), a nonprofit organization that works to catalyze improvements in health care, identified care coordination as an important national strategy to improve patient safety and quality of care delivery.

Coordination of care supports patient safety and quality and is a recognized professional standard shared by registered nurses regardless of their practice setting. Whether educating a patient about his or her medication and plan of care, or reviewing follow-up care, nurses are essential in facilitating the continuity of care for all patients.

Historically, nurses have engaged in coordinating care for every one of their patients. As the landscape of health care evolves, so does care coordination.

Assignment: Comprehensive Needs Assessment – MSN 6610

Reference

Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J. M., & Donaldson, M. S. (Eds.). (2000). To err is human: Building a safer health system. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=9728

Questions to consider:

As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
•What are the key reasons for completing a patient needs assessment?
•Which types of information are likely to be most valuable for improving patient outcomes?
•What are the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to coordinated care?

Assessment Instructions

Note: Complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

Preparation

To prepare for this assessment, complete the Vila Health: The Nurse’s Role in Care Coordination simulation (linked in the Required Resources). You will use the patient information from the simulation for your needs assessment.

Note: Remember that you can submit all—or a portion of—your draft to Smarthinking for feedback before you submit the final version of this assessment. However, if you plan on using this free service, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24–48 hours for receiving feedback.

Requirements

Complete a comprehensive needs assessment for Mr. Decker, based on the information provided in the Vila Health simulation.

Needs Assessment Format and Length

Format your needs assessment using APA style:
•Use the APA Style Paper Template, linked in the Required Resources. An APA Style Paper Tutorial is also provided (linked in the Suggested Resources) to help you in writing and formatting your needs assessment. Be sure to include: ◦A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.
◦A running head on all pages.
◦Appropriate section headings.

•Your needs assessment should be 4–5 pages in length, not including the title page and references page.

Supporting Evidence

Cite 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence to support your assessment.

Conducting the Assessment

Note: The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your needs assessment addresses each point, at a minimum. Read the Needs Assessment Scoring Guide to better understand how each criterion will be assessed.
•Identify current gaps in the patient’s care. ◦Use an appropriate needs assessment tool to identify gaps.
◦Consider the types of patient information that will be most useful in assessing the current level of care.

•Develop a strategy for gathering additional, necessary assessment data not readily available from an initial patient interview. ◦Consider the full range of interrelated needs that affect the patient’s health.

•Identify factors most likely to affect patient outcomes. ◦Consider the potential effects of these factors on outcomes.
◦What evidence do you have to support your conclusions?

•Identify specific patient and care coordination outcome measures related to specific accrediting standards. ◦What are the applicable accrediting standards?
◦What is the rationale for measuring outcomes based on accrediting agencies?
◦How would you describe the relationship between specific outcomes and standards?

•Identify evidence-based practices from the literature necessary to implement a plan of care successfully. ◦Are your sources relevant and credible?
◦Consider best practices, having a population-health focus on patient outcomes.

•Advocate for the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster. ◦What are the key points in your argument?
◦What evidence do you have to support you assertions?

•Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics. ◦Express your main points and conclusions coherently.
◦Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of your needs assessment.

•Support main points, claims, and conclusions with credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.

Comprehensive Needs Assessment Scoring Guide: Assignment: Comprehensive Needs Assessment – MSN 6610

Comprehensive Needs Assessment Scoring Guide
Criteria	Non-performance	Basic	Proficient	Distinguished
Identify current gaps in a patient’s care.	Does not identify perceived gaps in a patient’s care.	Identifies perceived gaps in a patient’s care unsupported by the available data.	Identifies current gaps in a patient’s care.	Identifies current gaps in a patient’s care, based on a comprehensive, patient-centered needs assessment that includes patient-reported data.
Develop a strategy for gathering additional necessary assessment data not readily available from an initial patient interview.	Does not suggest a general approach for gathering needs assessment data from an initial patient interview.	Suggests a general approach for gathering needs assessment data from an initial patient interview.	Develops a strategy for gathering additional, necessary assessment data not readily available from an initial patient interview.	Develops a strategy for gathering additional necessary assessment data not readily available from an initial patient interview. The strategy reflects a holistic, coordinated care perspective.
Identify factors most likely to affect patient outcomes.	Does not identify factors having some effect on patient outcomes.	Identifies factors having some effect on patient outcomes, including those that are substantially unrelated to patient outcomes.	Identifies factors most likely to affect patient outcomes.	Identifies factors most likely to affect patient outcomes. Describes clear cause-and-effect relationships supported by credible evidence.
Identify specific patient and care coordination outcome measures related to specific accrediting standards.	Does not identify patient and care coordination outcome measures.	Identifies patient and care coordination outcome measures.	Identifies specific patient and care coordination outcome measures related to specific accrediting standards.	Identifies specific patient and care coordination outcome measures related to specific accrediting standards. Provides justification for following accrediting agency guidelines and articulates clear relationships among outcomes and standards.
Identify evidence-based practices from the literature necessary to successfully implement a plan of care.	Does not identify evidence-based practices that support a plan of care.	Identifies evidence-based practices that support a plan of care.	Identifies evidence-based practices from the literature necessary to successfully implement a plan of care.	Identifies evidence-based practices from current and credible sources, necessary to successfully implement a plan of care from a population-health perspective.
Advocate for the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster.	Does not list benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster.	Lists benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster.	Advocates for the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster.	Advocates for the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to patient care that a care coordination plan would foster. Presents an astute, well-reasoned argument supported by credible evidence.
Write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.	Does not write clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.	Writing is not consistently clear or concise, or errors in grammar and mechanics inhibit effective communication.	Writes clearly and concisely, using correct grammar and mechanics.	Writes clearly and concisely. Grammar and mechanics are error-free.
Support main points, claims, and conclusions with credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.	Does not support main points, claims, and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.	Main points, claims, and conclusions are not well supported. Sources lack relevance or credibility, or are incorrectly formatted.	Supports main points, claims, and conclusions with credible evidence, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style.	Supports main points, claims, and conclusions with relevant, credible, and convincing evidence. Source citations and references are error-free.