PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHMENT FOR DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS Purpose: This assignment provides students with the opportunity to identify a high-risk process in the practice setting and then conduct a failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA). The FMEA is a systematic, proactive approach to assess risk of failure and harm in a high-risk process, and identify areas for process improvement. PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT FOR THE CHART Instructions: Content in weeks Lesson

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic and proactive approach used to evaluate the risk of failure and harm within a high-risk process. In the healthcare setting, conducting an FMEA can help identify areas for process improvement and enhance patient safety. This assignment provides students with an opportunity to select a high-risk process within their practice setting and perform an FMEA.

To begin, select a high-risk process within your practice setting. This could be a process that has the potential to cause harm or failure, such as medication administration, surgical procedures, or diagnostic testing. Once you have identified the process, gather a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals who are familiar with the process and its associated risks. This team could include nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and other relevant staff members.

The FMEA process consists of several steps. First, the team should develop a flowchart of the process, capturing all the steps and sub-steps involved. This flowchart serves as a visual representation of the process and helps identify potential failure points. It is crucial to involve all team members in this step to ensure comprehensive understanding and representation of the process.

Next, the team should identify potential failure modes. Failure modes refer to the different ways in which the process could fail to achieve the desired outcome. For example, in medication administration, failure modes could include medication errors, incorrect dosages, or allergic reactions. Brainstorming is a useful technique to generate a comprehensive list of potential failure modes. The team should consider all possible failure modes, regardless of their likelihood or severity.

Once the failure modes are identified, the team assigns a severity rating to each one. Severity ratings assess the potential harm or impact of the failure mode on the patient or organization. A severity rating scale, typically ranging from 1 to 10, may be used to evaluate the severity of each failure mode. High severity ratings indicate failure modes with a significant potential to cause harm or adverse outcomes.

The next step is to identify the potential causes for each failure mode. Causes can be defined as the underlying reasons behind the occurrence of a failure mode. For example, the causes of medication errors may include distractions, lack of double-checking, or illegible handwriting. The team should thoroughly analyze each failure mode and generate a list of potential causes for each one.

Now, it is time to assign a likelihood rating to each cause. Likelihood ratings assess the probability of a cause leading to a failure mode. Similar to severity ratings, a rating scale ranging from 1 to 10 can be used to evaluate the likelihood of each cause. High likelihood ratings indicate causes that are more likely to contribute to the occurrence of a failure mode.

Once severity and likelihood ratings have been assigned, the team multiplies them together to calculate a risk priority number (RPN) for each failure mode-cause pair. The RPN is a numerical value that indicates the overall priority or urgency to address a particular failure mode and its associated cause. The higher the RPN, the more critical the failure mode-cause pair is.

Based on the calculated RPNs, the team can prioritize which failure mode-cause pairs to address first. These pairs are considered high-risk and require immediate attention and process improvement. The team should develop appropriate action plans to mitigate the identified risks. Action plans may include implementing new protocols, providing additional staff training, or improving communication processes.

In summary, conducting an FMEA allows healthcare teams to systematically evaluate high-risk processes, identify potential failure modes, and develop action plans to improve patient safety. By involving a multidisciplinary team and utilizing severity and likelihood ratings, the FMEA process ensures a comprehensive and proactive approach to risk assessment and mitigation.