Completing PDSA Worksheets

Whilst conducting a PDSA cycle it is recommended that you also complete a PDSA Worksheet. There are two main reasons for this:

Firstly, some initiatives will be successful, whilst others may not. By recording and filing your PDSA worksheets (either in a hard folder, or electronically) you are building a wonderful resource which staff at the home can refer to anytime in the future, and can see what worked well and/or what problems arose.

Secondly, your completed worksheets are excellent evidence of the home trying to continually improve. Your completed worksheets can be shown when the home has inspections and monitoring visits.

Click the image to download the PDSA worksheet

In the Plan box record what test of change you want to try? Where are you going to try it and on who? What do you expect to happen? How will you measure it? 

In the Do box record how the test is actually going to be conducted. Who is going to do what, and when? What is everyone's responsibility?

In the Study box record the results of your test, what your data tells you? Did it meet your expectations? Did anything unexpected occur? How did everyone at the home engage with the change?

In the Act box record what you plan to do moving forward. Are you going to adopt your change and embed it into your processes and routine? Does it need to be adapted? Or are you going to reject it, and maybe carry out a new test on a different idea?

There's no need to write an in-depth record of your PDSA cycle, but a few bullet points provide you with an invaluable resource for your home.

Complete a new PDSA Worksheet for every PDSA cycle you conduct, even if the change turns out to not be successful. Your learning from the 'test' will still be invaluable.