Ensuring patient safety and healthcare quality is critical and should be a key focus of everyone in healthcare practice. This course provides healthcare practitioners and others with an introduction to the knowledge and skills needed to lead patient safety and quality improvement initiatives at the micro and macro levels. Participants will explore the foundations of health care quality and the science underlying patient safety and quality improvement, design and select effective health care measures, analyze patient safety problems and processes using tools such as human factors analysis, apply systematic approaches including the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model to address quality improvement challenges, and learn strategies to lead a culture of change. The course takes a world view of patient safety and quality, linking participants to research and resources from the World Health Organization (WHO), the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Joint Commission and other international organizations. Course highlights include personal stories, lessons learned from other industries and interviews with the President of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and other leaders in quality movement.

About The George Washington University School of Nursing Ranked among the top nursing schools by U.S. News & World Report, the George Washington University School of Nursing educates and inspires nurses to provide high-quality, compassionate person-centered health care. The school develops leaders actively engaged in health promotion, patient advocacy and healthcare innovation, and prepares exceptional nurse educators who pursue quality and advance the profession. The School of Nursing is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people and communities locally, nationally and globally. The school values lifelong learning and its students advance nursing practice, leadership and education as they make a difference in the world.