HP Quality Assurance & Improvement 2

Question 1

In a PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle, which phase involves analyzing data to determine if the planned change achieved the desired outcome?

Accepted Answer

Check

Answer

The Check phase involves measuring and analyzing results against the goals established during the Plan phase.

Question 2

A hospital's honors program tracks medication error rates monthly. After implementing a new barcode scanning system, errors dropped from 12 to 2 per month. What type of quality improvement is this?

Accepted Answer

Process redesign

Answer

Replacing a manual system with automated barcode scanning is process redesign, a fundamental change to how the work is performed.

Question 3

Which statistical tool is BEST suited for identifying the most frequent causes of a quality problem to prioritize improvement efforts?

Accepted Answer

Pareto chart

Answer

A Pareto chart ranks causes by frequency, visually highlighting which few causes account for the majority of problems (the 80/20 rule).

Question 4

An honors program student notices that patient satisfaction scores vary widely depending on which nurse is on duty. This variability is BEST described as:

Accepted Answer

Special cause variation

Answer

Special cause variation arises from specific, identifiable factors (here, individual nurse practices) rather than the random noise inherent in a process.

Question 5

Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of a run chart in quality improvement?

Accepted Answer

To display data over time and detect trends or shifts

Answer

A run chart plots data points in time sequence, making it easy to spot trends, cycles, or shifts that suggest process changes.

(HP) Honors Program Practice Test

(HP) Honors Program Practice Test

HP Quality Assurance & Improvement 2