A client is being treated for bacterial pharyngitis. Which of the following should a nurse recommend when promoting the client's nutrition during treatment?

A. Conduct a study about the time and money costs of implementing the change. While analyzing costs and time efficiency is important for evaluating resource utilization, it does not directly measure the effectiveness of the changes in reducing medication errors. The primary goal of quality improvement is to assess patient safety outcomes rather than financial impact alone.
B. Establish a benchmark to identify a standard of performance. Setting benchmarks is a useful strategy for quality control, but it is a preliminary step in the evaluation process. Benchmarks provide a target for improvement, but they do not measure whether the specific changes implemented have led to a reduction in medication errors.
C. Compare the number of medication errors before and after the action was implemented. The most effective way to evaluate the success of the changes is to analyze pre- and post-intervention data. Comparing the frequency of medication errors before and after the quality improvement measures allows for an objective assessment of whether the interventions have led to a meaningful reduction in errors.
D. Provide the staff with a questionnaire to quantify staff satisfaction with the changes. Staff feedback is valuable for assessing workflow and morale, but it does not directly measure the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing medication errors. A reduction in actual error rates provides a more concrete evaluation of the intervention’s success.

A. An adverse event. An adverse event is an unintended injury or complication resulting from medical care rather than the patient’s underlying condition. In this case, the surgical site infection (SSI) developed as a complication of surgery, requiring additional treatment. While adverse events may prolong recovery, they do not always indicate negligence or preventability.
B. A never event. Never events are serious, preventable medical errors that should not occur under proper care, such as surgery on the wrong site, retained surgical instruments, or administering the wrong medication. While SSIs are concerning, they are not classified as never events because they can occur even when proper precautions are taken.
C. A near miss. A near miss refers to an event that could have caused harm but was prevented before reaching the patient. Since the infection did occur and required intervention, it does not qualify as a near miss. A near miss example would be identifying and correcting a medication error before administration.
D. A sentinel event. Sentinel events involve unexpected occurrences that result in serious injury, permanent harm, or death, such as patient suicide, wrong-site surgery, or a fatal medication error. Although the infection required prolonged treatment, it did not lead to severe harm or death, making it an adverse event rather than a sentinel event.