The number of IV site infections has more than doubled on a nursing unit.The staff determine common causes include the site is cleaned using inconsistent methods,dressing frequently becomes wet when patient showers,IV tubing is not changed every 48 hours per protocol,and inadequate hand washing of RN prior to insertion.A bar graph demonstrates the frequency in descending order,with 80% of infections being attributed to inadequate hand washing.The quality tool used is referred to as what?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The quality tool described is a Pareto chart, which is used to identify and prioritize problems or causes of a problem to work on correcting by showing their frequency in descending order. In this scenario, the bar graph showing the frequency of causes for IV site infections in descending order, with a specific focus on the most significant cause (inadequate hand washing), is characteristic of a Pareto chart.

The Number of IV Site Infections Has More Than Doubled