Quality Improvement Project HELP!!!!

[CoeKohawk11]

Hello everyone,

I am currently working on a "Quality Improvement Project" as a part of my senior leadership class. We have to find a problem or situation that can be improved, research about it, come up with an idea, and then present said idea to the floor/peers/professors. I am having a very difficult time doing this because I am on a very low census pediatrics unit (2-3 patients/day) that has only one nurse on the floor at a time. Finding something that was a "problem" or needed improving is nearly impossible. The one HUGE thing I can think of is dealing with HIPAA and patient safety. Here's the question:

Is there a standard/regulation/law out there that states the MINIMUM amount of professional nursing staff (RN, BSN, MSN, etc) required to be working on one floor at a time?

The main problem that I have seen is that the nurse's station is COMPLETELY left unattended if the nurse goes into a patient's room, and I know that HIPAA states that you need to have patient records, information, etc stored in an area where a staff member who does not need this info i.e. house keeper, maintenance cannot reach it without some form of resistance. Another problem is that me as a male could get into trouble with a female pediatric patient. For example, I am caring for 15 y/o Suzi without any form of supervision during a private procedure (Inserting a catheter). Suzi is then able to say I may have sexually abused her or done something inappropriate. Then it's my word against hers. Another situation that may happen is code situations. If there is only 1 RN on the floor and the nearest RN is down a long hallway, then double doors, then another pair of double doors, and a long hallway (You get the point) and a patient codes the nearest nurse will take a long time to reach the patient. These are all dangerous situations especially in a hospital, but I am finding it difficult to find research/information on this. HELP ME PLEASE!!!!