The document outlines the requirements for developing a 5-10 year strategic plan aimed at improving healthcare quality and safety based on prior assessments. It emphasizes the necessity of evaluating strategic choices, applying appropriate planning models, and incorporating leadership skills relevant to the healthcare environment. Additionally, the plan must address ethical, cultural, and regulatory factors while integrating evidence-based practices and clear communication strategies to engage stakeholders.

1. Develop a 5–10-year strategic plan for achieving specific health
care quality and safety improvements, based on the analysis you
completed in Assessment 1. Use either an AI approach or your
SWOT analysis and a chosen strategic planning model.
Note:
Each assessment in this course builds on the work you
completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must
complete the assessments in this course in the order in which
they are presented.
Evaluation of strategic choices is important. The methods for
selecting strategic alternatives help leaders organize significant
issues to support decision making. However, it is important that
the techniques do not make the decision. Rather, leaders should
use the techniques to reveal the inherent situation and to
organize their thought processes. This assessment provides you
with an opportunity to evaluate and apply some of the
techniques for successful strategy development and
implementation.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will
demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Evaluate qualities and skills that promote
effective leadership within health care organizations.
Evaluate the leadership qualities and skills that will be most
important to successfully implementing a strategic plan and
sustaining strategic direction.

2. Competency 2: Apply strategies to lead high-performing health
care teams to meet organizational quality and safety goals.
Develop strategic goal statements and outcomes that support the
achievement of specific quality and safety improvements for a
care setting.
Justify the relevance of proposed strategic goals and outcomes
in relation to the mission, vision, and values of a care setting.
Competency 3: Apply cultural, ethical, and regulatory
considerations to leadership decision making.
Analyze the extent to which strategic goals and outcomes
address the use of technology and the ethical, cultural, and
regulatory environments.
Competency 4: Integrate leadership and health care theories into
the role of the nurse leader.
Explain how relevant leadership and health care theories will be
used to help achieve proposed strategic goals and objectives.
Competency 5: Communicate with stakeholders and

3. constituencies to build collaborative partnerships and create
inclusive work environments.
Communicate analyses clearly and in a way that demonstrates
professionalism and respect for stakeholders and colleagues.
Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support
assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using
APA style.
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to
think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or
broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the
questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work
associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional
community. Note that these questions are for your own
development and exploration and do not need to be completed
or submitted as part of your assessment.
Strategic planning models aid in setting goals, establishing time
frames, and forging a path toward achieving those goals.
Consider the strategic planning models you are familiar with:
Which model would you choose to create goals and outcomes
that could address the area of concern you identified in your
Assessment 1 SWOT analysis?
Why is this model the best choice among alternatives?

4. How does goal setting through appreciative inquiry provocative
propositions differ from goal setting in the strategic planning
model you selected?
Assessment Instructions
Note:
You will use your care setting environmental analysis as the
basis for developing your strategic plan in this assessment.
Preparation
The feedback you received on your care setting environmental
analysis has been positive. Consequently, you have been asked
to select one of the potential improvement projects you noted in
your analysis and create a full, 5–10-year strategic plan to
achieve the desired quality and safety improvement outcomes.
You will develop your strategic plan, using either an AI
approach (addressing the design stage), or by building on your
SWOT analysis and applying a strategic planning model of your
choice.
How you structure your plan should be based on whether you
are taking an appreciative inquiry approach or using a specific
strategic planning model. Regardless of the approach you
choose, the requester of the plan has asked that you address the
key points outlined below in the strategic plan requirements. In
addition, your plan should be 5–8 pages in length.
Note:
Remember, you can submit all, or a portion, of your draft plan
to Smarthinking for feedback before you submit the final
version for this assessment. However, be mindful of the

5. turnaround time for receiving feedback, if you plan on using
this free service.
Requirements
Note:
The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading
criteria in the scoring guide, so at a minimum, be sure to
address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review
the performance level descriptions for each criterion to see how
your work will be assessed.
Writing, Supporting Evidence, and APA Style
Write clearly, with professionalism and respect for stakeholders
and colleagues.
Integrate relevant sources of evidence to support your
assertions.
Cite at least 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence.
Format your document using APA style. An APA Style Paper
Template and associated tutorial, linked in the Resources, are
provided for your use. Be sure to include:
A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.
A running head on all pages.
Appropriate section headings.

6. Properly formatted citations and references.
Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract
readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of
your analysis.
Strategic Plan
Develop strategic goal statements and outcomes that reflect
specific quality and safety improvements for your care setting.
You should have at least one short-term goal (just-in-time to
one year) and one long-term goal (five years or longer).
Determine realistic timelines for achieving your goals.
Explain how your short-term goals support your long-term
goals.
Note:
For plans based on an AI approach, the goal statements and
outcomes are provocative propositions that may be refinements
of the positive, yet attainable, goals that you proposed during
the dream phase of your inquiry. For plans based on a SWOT
analysis, the goal statements and outcomes are specific,
measurable, and applicable to the area of concern in your
analysis for which you proposed pursuing improvements.

7. Justify the relevance of your proposed strategic goals and
outcomes in relation to the mission, vision, and values of your
care setting.
Analyze the extent to which your strategic goals and outcomes,
and your approach to achieving them, address:
The ethical environment.
The cultural environment.
The use of technology.
Applicable health care policies, laws, and regulations.
Explain, in general, how you will use relevant leadership and
health care theories to help achieve your proposed strategic
goals and outcomes.
Consider whether different theories are more applicable to the
short-term or long-term goals of your strategic plan.
Evaluate the leadership qualities and skills that are most
important to successfully implementing your proposed plan and
sustaining strategic direction.
Identify those leadership qualities and skills that are essential to
achieving your goals and outcomes and sustaining strategic

8. direction.
Identify those leadership qualities and skills that will have the
greatest effect on the success of your plan.
Assessment Instructions
Note:
You will use your care setting environmental analysis as the
basis for developing your strategic plan in this assessment.
Preparation
The feedback you received on your care setting environmental
analysis has been positive. Consequently, you have been asked
to select one of the potential improvement projects you noted in
your analysis and create a full, 5–10-year strategic plan to
achieve the desired quality and safety improvement outcomes.
You will develop your strategic plan, using either an AI
approach (addressing the design stage), or by building on your
SWOT analysis and applying a strategic planning model of your
choice.
How you structure your plan should be based on whether you
are taking an appreciative inquiry approach or using a specific
strategic planning model. Regardless of the approach you
choose, the requester of the plan has asked that you address the
key points outlined below in the strategic plan requirements. In
addition, your plan should be 5–8 pages in length.
Note:

9. Remember, you can submit all, or a portion, of your draft plan
to Smarthinking for feedback before you submit the final
version for this assessment. However, be mindful of the
turnaround time for receiving feedback, if you plan on using
this free service.
Requirements
Note:
The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading
criteria in the scoring guide, so at a minimum, be sure to
address each point. In addition, you are encouraged to review
the performance level descriptions for each criterion to see how
your work will be assessed.
Writing, Supporting Evidence, and APA Style
Write clearly, with professionalism and respect for stakeholders
and colleagues.
Integrate relevant sources of evidence to support your
assertions.
Cite at least 3–5 sources of scholarly or professional evidence.
Format your document using APA style. An APA Style Paper
Template and associated tutorial, linked in the Resources, are
provided for your use. Be sure to include:
A title page and reference page. An abstract is not required.

10. A running head on all pages.
Appropriate section headings.
Properly formatted citations and references.
Proofread your writing to minimize errors that could distract
readers and make it more difficult to focus on the substance of
your analysis.
Strategic Plan
Develop strategic goal statements and outcomes that reflect
specific quality and safety improvements for your care setting.
You should have at least one short-term goal (just-in-time to
one year) and one long-term goal (five years or longer).
Determine realistic timelines for achieving your goals.
Explain how your short-term goals support your long-term
goals.
Note:
For plans based on an AI approach, the goal statements and
outcomes are provocative propositions that may be refinements
of the positive, yet attainable, goals that you proposed during
the dream phase of your inquiry. For plans based on a SWOT
analysis, the goal statements and outcomes are specific,

11. measurable, and applicable to the area of concern in your
analysis for which you proposed pursuing improvements.
Justify the relevance of your proposed strategic goals and
outcomes in relation to the mission, vision, and values of your
care setting.
Analyze the extent to which your strategic goals and outcomes,
and your approach to achieving them, address:
The ethical environment.
The cultural environment.
The use of technology.
Applicable health care policies, laws, and regulations.
Explain, in general, how you will use relevant leadership and
health care theories to help achieve your proposed strategic
goals and outcomes.
Consider whether different theories are more applicable to the
short-term or long-term goals of your strategic plan.
Evaluate the leadership qualities and skills that are most
important to successfully implementing your proposed plan and
sustaining strategic direction.

12. Identify those leadership qualities and skills that are essential to
achieving your goals and outcomes and sustaining strategic
direction.
Identify those leadership qualities and skills that will have the
greatest effect on the success of your plan.
GRADING RUBRIC:
1-
Develop strategic goal statements and outcomes that support the
achievement of specific quality and safety improvements for a
care setting.
Passing Grade: Develops strategic goal statements and
outcomes that support the achievement of specific quality and
safety improvements for a care setting, and impartially
considers potential barriers.
2-
Justify the relevance of proposed strategic goals and outcomes
in relation to the mission, vision, and values of a care setting.
Passing Grade: Justifies the relevance of proposed strategic
goals and outcomes in relation to the mission, vision, and
values of a care setting, and identifies areas of uncertainty or
knowledge gaps.
3-

13. Analyze the extent to which strategic goals and outcomes
address the use of technology and the ethical, cultural, and
regulatory environments.
Passing Grade: Analyzes the extent to which strategic goals
and outcomes address the use of technology and the ethical,
cultural, and regulatory environments. Impartially considers the
limitations of the goals and outcomes.
4-
Explain how relevant leadership and health care theories will be
used to help achieve proposed strategic goals and objectives.
Passing Grade: Explains how relevant leadership and health
care theories will be used to help achieve proposed strategic
goals and objectives, and identifies gaps, limitations, or
mismatches in theories.
5-
Evaluate the leadership qualities and skills that will be most
important to successfully implementing a strategic plan and
sustaining strategic direction.
Passing Grade: Evaluates the leadership qualities and skills
that will be most important to successfully implementing a
strategic plan and sustaining strategic direction, and identifies
assumptions underlying the evaluation.
6-
Communicate analyses clearly and in a way that demonstrates
professionalism and respect for stakeholders and colleagues.

14. Passing Grade: Communicates analyses clearly, logically, and
persuasively, demonstrating professionalism and respect for
stakeholders and colleagues. Grammar and mechanics are
virtually error-free.
7-
Integrate relevant and credible sources of evidence to support
assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using
APA style.
Passing Grade: Integrates relevant and credible sources of
evidence to support assertions, correctly formatting citations
and references using APA style. Citations are error-free.