NURS 6221 Week 7 Performance Improvement Memo Example

Course	NURS 6221 Managing Human Resources
Week	Week 7
Paper type	Performance improvement memo
Length	About 560 words, 4 pages
Format	Memo, APA 7 citations
School	Walden University
Program	Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for NURS 6221 Week 7

Memorandum

To: [Registered Nurse Name], RN, Progressive Care Unit

From: [Nurse Manager Name], MSN, RN, Nurse Manager, Progressive Care Unit

Date: Month Day, Year

Re: Handoff report: expectations, support and review dates

Purpose

This memo records concerns about the completeness of your end-of-shift handoff report, restates the unit's handoff standard, and sets out the support available and the dates on which we will review progress together.

Concerns

Over the past three months, we have discussed handoff on [date] and [date]. Since the second conversation, four occasions have been reported and confirmed:

1. [Date], night shift: a potassium result pending from 0500 was not included in report. The oncoming nurse learned of it at 0930 when the result was critical. The standard requires pending results to be reported with their expected time.

2. [Date], day shift: report on two patients was given at the station rather than at the bedside, and the safety check of lines and drips was not completed. The standard requires bedside verification of infusions.

3. [Date], night shift: you left the unit before the oncoming nurse had received report on two of your four patients. The charge nurse completed report for those patients. The standard requires report to be completed and acknowledged for every patient before leaving.

4. [Date], day shift: a new order to hold a patient's evening anticoagulant dose was not mentioned in report. The standard requires new and changed orders from the shift to be reported.

Expectations

For every patient, at every handoff, the unit standard requires that you: give report at the bedside using the unit's structured handoff tool; verify infusions, rates and lines with the oncoming nurse at the bedside; report all pending results and when they are expected; report new or changed orders from your shift; and remain on the unit until the oncoming nurse has acknowledged report on each patient. These are behaviors that can be observed and confirmed by the oncoming nurse and the charge nurse.

The standard exists because handoffs are a known point of risk. A systematic review of nursing handoff research identified inconsistent processes and missed information as recurring barriers to safe handoffs, and structured approaches as a common strategy for improvement (Riesenberg et al., 2010). In a multicenter study of a standardized handoff program among resident physicians, medical errors fell by 23% after implementation (Starmer et al., 2014).

Support

The unit educator will meet with you before your next scheduled shift to review the handoff tool and practice bedside report. For your next eight shifts, the charge nurse will check in with you and the oncoming nurse for five minutes after report to confirm that all elements were covered. The AHRQ patient safety handbook chapter on nursing handoffs is attached for reference (Friesen et al., 2008). If there are factors making complete handoff difficult, such as workload at the end of shift, please tell me so that we can address them.

Review and Next Steps

We will meet on [date, two weeks from now] and [date, six weeks from now] to review progress. If the expectations above are consistently met by the second review, this plan will close. If gaps remain at that point, I will issue a formal written warning under the hospital's progressive discipline policy. My hope, and my expectation, is that it will not come to that; your clinical care is strong, and handoff is a specific, fixable part of your practice.

Employee comments: ______________________________________

Employee signature (acknowledges receipt, not agreement): __________ Date: ______

Manager signature: __________ Date: ______

What this page is doingThe memo names occasions and behaviors, not character. The signature line acknowledges receipt, which keeps the record fair to the nurse.

References

Friesen, M. A., White, S. V., & Byers, J. F. (2008). Handoffs: Implications for nurses. In R. G. Hughes (Ed.), Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses (Chapter 34). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Riesenberg, L. A., Leisch, J., & Cunningham, J. M. (2010). Nursing handoffs: A systematic review of the literature. American Journal of Nursing, 110(4), 24-34. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000370154.79857.09

Starmer, A. J., Spector, N. D., Srivastava, R., West, D. C., Rosenbluth, G., Allen, A. D., Noble, E. L., Tse, L. L., Dalal, A. K., Keohane, C. A., Lipsitz, S. R., Rothschild, J. M., Wien, M. F., Yoon, C. S., Zigmont, K. R., Wilson, K. M., O'Toole, J. K., Solan, L. G., Aylor, M., ... Landrigan, C. P. (2014). Changes in medical errors after implementation of a handoff program. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(19), 1803-1812. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1405556

Reading the NURS 6221 Week 7 instructions

Week 7 of NURS 6221 usually asks for a performance improvement memo or plan. You state the purpose, describe specific concerns with dates, restate the expected standard, offer support and set review dates and next steps. Faculty expect a memo a third party could understand, so warm but vague language loses points. Cite the relevant standard in APA 7. Consequences can be described factually. A performance improvement memo usually comes before a formal warning, not instead of it. Each concern should name what happened and when. A standard layout runs: purpose, concerns with dates, the expected standard, support offered, review dates and next steps, followed by a line for the nurse's signature acknowledging receipt. Write the concerns as facts from the record, such as what was missing from the report and what happened as a result.

How the NURS 6221 Week 7 example is put together

The memo runs about a page and a half under a standard header: to, from, date, subject. A single opening sentence gives the purpose without characterizing the nurse. The concerns section lists four occasions by date and shift, each with what happened and what the handoff standard required, for instance a pending lab left out of report, or a departure before the oncoming nurse had received two patients. Earlier conversations are referenced by their dates. The expectations section restates the unit's handoff standard as observable behavior. Support follows: a review of the handoff tool with the unit educator and a brief check-in after each of the next several shifts. The final section gives review dates, the next step if expectations remain unmet, and a line for the nurse's comments.

Where the marks sit in the NURS 6221 Week 7 rubric

A performance memo will be read by someone who saw none of what it describes, and one pitched as encouragement, warm and unspecific, gives that reader nothing to rely on. Specificity takes the largest share: dated occasions, described behavior and a standard somebody could test against what happened. Expectations framed as attitude, being more careful for instance, lose ground because nobody could later say whether they were met. Balance matters as well: a memo listing concerns without support reads as punitive, while one offering support without stating consequences leaves the next step unclear. Tone carries a share of its own, and sarcasm or motive attribution is penalized more heavily than a misplaced header. References to earlier conversations without their dates are where most remaining losses sit.

NURS 6221 Week 7 help: mistakes that cost marks

Performance memos lose the most when concerns are general, such as reports are incomplete. Give dates and what was missing. Another common gap is no standard restated. State it. Writers also skip support. Offer tools and help. Avoid emotional or punitive language. Set review dates. Describe next steps factually. Keep it to one or two pages. Close with the first review meeting. Record the nurse's own response at the first meeting, since a fair process shows both views. A signature line confirms receipt of the memo, not agreement with it, and the memo should say so.

Get a NURS 6221 Week 7 example written to your instructions

State what the memo has to cover, add the prompt, the rubric and any required memo format, and a draft addressed to a composite nurse is produced. Your first custom sample is free, back inside 24 to 48 hours. Personnel files kept on real colleagues are never a starting point for this desk.

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NURS 6221 Week 7 questions, answered

How specific do the dated occasions need to be?

Precise enough that someone who was on the unit could confirm or dispute each one. The sample gives the date, the shift, what happened and what the standard required. Phrases like several times recently or ongoing issues leave a later reader nothing to verify, and they are the weakness graders comment on most often in this assignment.

Should the memo describe consequences?

Yes, plainly and without threat. The sample states the next step in the unit's process if expectations are not met by the review dates. Leaving consequences out can look kind, but it produces a record that never tells the nurse what is at stake, which undermines the fairness the memo is supposed to demonstrate.

Is this the same as a formal warning?

Not necessarily. Organizations name their steps differently, and your prompt will say what kind of document is being written. The sample is a performance improvement memo that follows earlier verbal conversations. It refers to the unit's process in general terms and assumes no particular disciplinary sequence, since those vary by employer and by contract.

Where can I find a free NURS 6221 Week 7 sample paper?

The incomplete handoff memo is reproduced here with dated concerns, the standard, support offered and the review schedule.

What was missing from the handoff reports in NURS 6221 Week 7?

Items such as a pending potassium result and a new fall risk, each recorded with the date it happened.