A nursing unit experiences a high rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). A nurse initiates a quality improvement project to reduce these infections. How does a quality improvement project differ from a formal research study?

QI projects require full IRB review, while research studies do not.
QI projects aim for immediate improvement in a specific setting, while research aims to generate generalizable knowledge.
QI projects always use experimental designs, while research uses only descriptive designs.
QI projects are never published, while research studies always are.

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