Discussion postPatient safety

DVT and pulmonary embolism Essay

A named hospital-acquired condition with a named surgical context, which means the answer is a prophylaxis protocol rather than a general statement about risk management culture.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 22, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

On this page

Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Why CMS put this pair on the list

Anchor the answer in the payment mechanism, because that is what makes these conditions different from other complications. The hospital-acquired conditions programme reduces payment for conditions that were not present on admission and that could reasonably have been prevented through evidence-based guidelines, and deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism following total knee or hip replacement are on that list by name. Two consequences follow and both are worth stating. Present-on-admission documentation becomes clinically and financially load-bearing, and prevention stops being a matter of individual vigilance and becomes a protocol the organisation is accountable for running. It is worth being precise about the label as well, because never event and hospital-acquired condition are related but not identical: the never event vocabulary comes from a list of serious reportable events, while the payment rule operates on a separate CMS list. Check which list your condition appears on before attaching a financial consequence to it.

Then describe the actions concretely, because a post that says organisations focus on prevention has said nothing. Risk assessment on admission using a validated tool, a mandatory prophylaxis decision built into the order set so that omission requires an explicit reason, mechanical prophylaxis with intermittent pneumatic compression, pharmacological prophylaxis chosen by procedure and bleeding risk, early mobilisation protocols, and audit with feedback to surgical teams are the recognisable elements. Then say the thing that raises the post above a checklist: this is a genuine trade-off, not a solved problem. More aggressive anticoagulation reduces thromboembolism and increases bleeding and wound complications, guidelines have moved on the balance for elective hip and knee replacement, and reasonable surgeons disagree about aspirin versus direct oral anticoagulants. Naming that tension is what shows you understand why the condition still occurs in well-run hospitals. Prevention here is a risk balance being managed continuously, not a defect being eliminated.

Likely learning objectives

Explain the payment mechanism that defines hospital-acquired conditions.
Describe present-on-admission documentation as a clinical and financial control.
Set out the components of a venous thromboembolism prevention protocol.
Articulate the bleeding trade-off that keeps prophylaxis contested.

Assignment instructions

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Elaborated this on DVT and pulmonary embolism following certain orthopedic procedures (total knee replacement, hip replacement) The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes a list of health care-acquired conditions (HACs) that reasonably could have been prevented through the application of risk management strategies. What actions has your health care organization (or have health care organizations in general) implemented to manage or prevent these “never events” from happening within their health care facilities? Support your response with a minimum two peer-reviewed articles. You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. DVT and pulmonary embolism Essay Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours. DVT and pulmonary embolism Essay

Turn the brief into deliverables

01The CMS hospital-acquired conditions mechanism, described accurately.
02The role of present-on-admission documentation.
03Named prevention actions, mechanical and pharmacological.
04An audit or feedback mechanism as an organisational action.
05The bleeding trade-off, stated as a real clinical tension.
06Sources supporting the prevention claims.