1. A nurse is conducting a root cause analysis (RCA) of a medication error that occurred in her unit. She interviews the staff involved, reviews the incident report, and examines the medication administration process. What is the next step in the RCA? a) Identify the contributing factors and root causes of the error b) Develop an action plan to prevent similar errors in the future c) Implement the action plan and monitor its effectiveness d) Communicate the findings and recommendations to the stakeholders *Answer: a) Identify the contributing factors and root causes of the error Rationale: The RCA is a systematic method of identifying the underlying causes of an adverse event and developing strategies to prevent recurrence. The steps of the RCA are: 1) Define the problem and gather data, 2) Identify the contributing factors and root causes, 3) Develop an action plan, 4) Implement the action plan and monitor its effectiveness, and 5) Communicate the findings and recommendations.* 2. A nurse is leading a quality improvement (QI) project to reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) in her unit. She uses the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle as a framework for implementing changes. She has already planned a change (using a checklist for catheter insertion and maintenance), done the change