The concern for safety has become a bigger and more important issue, and these two departments are forming a relationship. Although it has been the tradition for these two departments to work separately, they both have a common goal, to oversee the safety and excellence in healthcare organizations. Some smaller organizations have always had the same person control quality and risk and remained successful. These days, we are seeing a lot more collaborations, goal sharing, ad idea exchanging among these two groups (Perry, 2007). Risk management is critical to every organization.
In order for the future of health care to change, changes must begin at the top with stakeholders, the hierarchy and nursing management, nurses as leaders within their organizations. According to Disch J. (2008), nurses as leaders within their organizations need to also step forward, CNEs have the background, perspective, and platform to help their organizations seriously tackle safety issues that jeopardize patient care and that face nurses and their colleagues daily, and are the essential building blocks of all health systems--and
- Safety provi¬sions are interpreted to protect patients from illnesses caused in the course of medical treatment as well as to provide hygienic and injury-free experience in the health care setting. Special provisions exist for safety in pharmaceuticals, blood supply, infectious disease treatment and diagnostics, and mental health services, among others. Ethical codes for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers contain provisions applicable to the patients’ right to safety. Medical errors and other actions that fail to meet safety standards can carry civil, criminal and administrative penalties
Identifying the patient safety issues 2. Revising systems and educating staff about the patient safety issues and any emerging issues related to patient safety touching on the cause and prevention of these
High rates of patient mortality have been the result of miscommunication and have also been traced down by sentinel events by the Joint Commission. Safety issues arise in all areas of healthcare facilities that miscommunication is a preventable factor in the process for patient quality care and can be in fact augmented. Communication is vital at all moments in the duration of nursing duties and is held to be imperative between two shifts (Millar & Sands 2013). The WHO Patient Safety Alliance nominated communication enhancement as top 5 initiative in preventing fatal adverse effects and had later in the years of 2008-2009, funded National Clinical Handover Initiative by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare (Johnson, Jefferies & Nicholls
Large patient loads combined with a stressful work environment affects nurses’ abilities to provide quality healthcare. Patient safety should never be compromised. It is our responsibility to learn from research and improve our current nurse staffing ratios. Nurse staffing is key and affects all other outcomes. Without nurses administering the right treatment at the right time to the right patients, all other healthcare interventions are not effective.
According to Mensik and Nickitas (2015) Safe nurse staffing is undeniably linked to patient safety and satisfaction, workforce satisfaction and safety, and cost savings. Great post. Martin,
However, it’s the nurses that face several risks. The dangers range from sickness to violent people to just plain fatigue. The first hazard of working in a hospital, is the sickness that gets passed around. She tells me you have to be careful around the ill people and not to become sick yourself. The next jeopardy, is working with unsafe patients and their disruptive behaviour.
Patient safety experts have demonstrated that “patient safety increases when teamwork and collaboration skills are taught and empowered; when teamwork and collaboration are not present, medical errors will result” (Creasia & Friberg, 201, p. 348). As a nurse, it is imperative to collaborate with other interdisciplinary members in health care and also strive to research and implement evidence-based practices. Evidence-based practice is necessary to “ensure the highest quality of cost-effective care and the best patient outcomes” (Fineout-Overholt, 2011, para. 16). With a collaborative and innovative attitude on safe health care practices, an increase in patient safety and effectiveness of care will
Within the existing quality systems, AZ-AHRA have organized the involvement of patients or their representatives in quality committees, in discussing patient surveys and developing guidelines when their patients receive service in hospital. The organized medical staff in AZ-ZAHRA hospital has a critical role in the process of providing oversight of safe high-quality care. A strong focus on patient safety is at the center of the AZZHARA standards. More than half of all standards are directly related to safety, addressing issues such as medication use, infection control, surgery and anesthesia, transfusions, restraint and seclusion, staffing and staff competence, fire safety, medical equipment, emergency management, and security. Moreover, there are standards related to responding to and preventing adverse events, analyzing and redesigning vulnerable patient systems to prevent accidental harm, and informing patients about the outcomes of their care (good or bad).
Healthcare is important to ensure a healthy body, a healthy workplace, a healthy community and a healthy nation. The benefits from good health include the workplace with its employees and customers are protected with good health-care and the community as a whole is protected from contagious disease and the loss of tax revenue from illnesses. Risks to patients, staff, and organizations are very common in the healthcare industry. Risk management for healthcare clinics includes any activity, or policy designed to reduce liability exposure within the healthcare clinic. This involves all aspects of healthcare clinics including clinical care, financial matters, facility maintenance, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Quality assurance has played a great role in enhancing quality in the prevention and handling of patient falls in health institutions. The safety measures set by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence have ensured that safety standards are followed by both patients and nurses. Various recommendations have been made by scholars and institutions regarding the prevention of patient falls. These have helped in reducing fatalities relating to the problem. The existence of a viable safety culture in every health institution will help in creating awareness and promoting quality in the prevention of patient falls.
It also strives to improve the safety levels for both patients and healthcare
The basis of a strong organizational structure is the quality of care and safety measures nurses provide which include: desired outcomes, professionalism, and knowledge-based practice as well as initiatives that permeate health (Hugh, n.d.). The institute of Medicine does note that hospital caretakers are prone to human error which are the results originating from faulty systems, insufficient processes and not the individuals themselves (Hugh, n.d.). It is vital that organizations update in house resources, polices, and educational materials in order to guide nursing staff to provide efficient care (Hugh, n.d.). Measures to improve quality are the responsibility of an effective leadership team that incorporate action plans, benchmarks and promotes
Nurses’ Role in Quality and Safety Issue in Healthcare The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses project addresses the challenge of preparing future nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the healthcare systems within which they work (QSEN Institute, 2013). However, patient and healthcare safety is one of the major issues that are encounter in the health care system. According to an article, “Quality and Safety issue in health care are problems that are causing poor outcomes in high-risk inpatient environments, including surgery, perinatal care, and the emergency department” (Croskerry, 2008). There are a lot of quality and safety issues in the healthcare system.
