Performance Improvement and Quality Flashcards
7 cards from real ANM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Performance Improvement and Quality flashcards as text
A quality team wants to test whether increased patient education reduces 30-day readmissions. Which statistical tool would BEST show the relationship between these two variables?
Answer: Scatter diagram
A scatter diagram plots two variables against each other to visually identify whether a correlation or relationship exists between them.
An ANM is reviewing an FMEA for a new IV medication infusion process. FMEA is PRIMARILY used to:
Answer: Proactively identify potential failure modes before they occur
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a proactive risk assessment tool used to identify potential failures and their consequences before harm occurs.
Under the CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), hospitals face payment penalties for excess readmissions related to which condition?
Answer: Heart failure
Heart failure is one of the original CMS HRRP conditions for which hospitals receive payment penalties for excess 30-day readmission rates.
A nursing unit adopts daily safety huddles. This practice BEST reflects which element of a High Reliability Organization (HRO)?
Answer: Sensitivity to operations
Sensitivity to operations means frontline staff and leaders maintain situational awareness of current conditions, which daily huddles directly support.
When an ANM uses 'rapid cycle improvement,' the expected duration of each PDSA cycle is:
Answer: Days to weeks with small-scale tests
Rapid cycle improvement uses short PDSA cycles lasting days to weeks to quickly test, learn, and iterate on changes.
Which regulatory requirement mandates that hospitals have a written Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program?
Answer: CMS Conditions of Participation (CoP) §482.21
CMS CoP §482.21 requires hospitals participating in Medicare/Medicaid to maintain a data-driven QAPI program that addresses priorities for improvement.
An ANM is evaluating two quality metrics: process measures and outcome measures. Which is an example of a PROCESS measure?
Answer: Percentage of pneumonia patients who received antibiotics within 6 hours
Administering antibiotics within 6 hours is a process measure because it tracks whether a specific care step was performed correctly, not the final result.