Abstract
In this department, the authors highlight hot topics in nursing outcomes, research, and evidence-based practice relevant to the nurse administrator. The goal is to discuss the practical implications for nurse leaders in diverse healthcare settings. Content includes evidence-based projects and decision making, locating measurement tools for quality improvement and safety projects, using outcome measures to evaluate quality, practice implications of administrative research, and exemplars of projects that demonstrate innovative approaches to organizational problems. In this article, the authors describe the intersection of various quality improvement methodologies with the evidence-based practice process. Five quality improvement approaches, plan-do-check-act, Six Sigma, Lean, root cause analysis, and failure mode effects analysis, are described and are used to frame examples.