A nurse is preparing to participate in a root cause analysis (RCA) for a sentinel event involving a client. Which of the following questions is part of an RCA?

Rationale: A. While client satisfaction is important for quality improvement, RCA focuses on analyzing the causes of a sentinel event, not on subjective satisfaction. Satisfaction surveys may be part of broader quality initiatives but are not part of the RCA process. B. RCA seeks to understand the underlying system failures or process errors, not financial implications. Cost analysis may follow as part of quality improvement planning but is not a primary RCA question. C. RCA is a no-blame, systems-based approach that aims to identify why the event occurred rather than assigning individual fault. Focusing on discipline can hinder open reporting and obscure the true systemic issues. D. Understanding what happened is the first and most critical question in an RCA. The team reviews the sequence of events, identifies contributing factors, and examines processes, equipment, communication, and policies that led to the sentinel event. This allows the organization to implement system-level improvements to prevent recurrence.