Culture of Safety By Reagan Davison Submitted in partial fulfillment for the course NSG 337: Introduction to Professional Nursing Concepts I The University of Southern Mississippi College of Nursing Gulf Coast Campus Long Beach, MS Spring 2016 Culture of Safety Safety is a topic that people try to reinforce in every situation. There are always precautions to take account for everywhere you go. When safety is discussed in the professional field of nursing, it isn’t just being extra careful. It is a matter of culture; safety is something that should be instilled in nurses. It should be second nature to “be careful” and to not make mistakes as best as one possible can. Patient safety starts with the person admitting the patient and continues with every person that comes into contact with that patient in between that until the patient leaves and even thereafter. Once this concept instills in all professionals contributing in our healthcare system, this system that sometimes can seem to be broken can emerge to heights beyond we’ve seen. The goal is to prevent accidents and the careless mistakes that don’t have to happen every day. The whole idea of safety culture did not start inside of healthcare. Organizations and businesses continuously lowered the amount of mistakes that take place in the workplace without making it extremely difficult or complex to do so. They made it priority to provide safety by all means. This establishes a culture a safety that all
Patient safety is number one in hospitals. Every staff member that comes into contact with a patient should always have the question, “Will the patient be safe?” in the back of
Mulloy, D. F., & Hughes, R. G. (2008). Patient safety & quality: an evidence-based handbook for nurses. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2678/
Over time the health care industry has become more complex. Health care is rapidly evolving and continuing to complicate our delivery of care, which in turn has the same effect on quality of care. This steady evolution and change results in nursing shortages and an increase in the prevalence of errors being made. In hopes of preventing these errors and creating safe and high quality patient care, with the focus on new and improved ways of thinking, The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative was developed. The QSEN focuses on the following competencies: patient-centered care, quality improvement, safety, and teamwork and collaboration. Their initiatives work to prepare and develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary to make improvements in the quality and safety of health care systems (Qsen.org, 2014).
You are so correct, it is importance for us health professionals to share a common understanding of patient safety standards and practices and improve patient safety depends largely on the ways in which we; share and learn with other health professionals as well as students. We must improve the way we treat each other by using respect and compassion, and learn from one another and from patient safety events or any challenges that impact the ability for us as health professionals, to improve is to ensure better patient outcomes and patient experience in (Milstead 2015 [Power Point slide 6-10).
With all of these regulations and standards in place, one would think that all nurses work at the same standard that has been outlined and therefore safety is of no concern. Yet, a peer review conducted a study on the safety of student and graduate nurses. They concluded that unprofessional image consisted of repetitive errors, disrespect, anger, defensiveness, overconfidence, low confidence, and apathy.
Patient safety one of the driving forces of healthcare. Patient safety is defined as, “ the absence of preventable harm to a patient during the process of healthcare or as the prevention of errors and adverse events caused by the provision of healthcare rather than the patient’s underlying disease process. (Kangasniemi, Vaismoradi, Jasper, &Turunen, 2013)”. It was just as important in the past as it is day. Our healthcare field continues to strive to make improvement toward safer care for patients across the country.
Errors pervade in our lives whether it is our home, in our workplace, or in our society. The effects of healthcare errors have impacted all our lives either directly or indirectly. Patient safety and quality care are at the core of healthcare system which strongly depends upon nurses. “To achieve goals in patient safety and quality, thereby improve healthcare, nurses must assume the leadership role. Nurses need to ensure that they and other healthcare providers center healthcare on patients and their families. Even though the quality and safety of healthcare is heavily influenced by the complex nature
Patient Safety in Professional Nursing For year’s concerns relative to the safety of patients and staffs in health care has been a major topic. Safety is always important while taking care of our patients. Being a nurse we take the role of people putting their life in our hands, and it’s our duty to practice safe medicine and maintain
Hospital leaders play a major role in patient safety because they are responsible for promoting learning, motivating staff to uphold a fair and just safety culture, modeling professional behavior, removing intimidating behavior that might prevent safe behaviors, and providing the resources and training necessary to take on improvement initiatives. For hospitals striving to become learning organizations, a strong safety culture is essential. It is a
Patient safety, and safety within the hospital is one of the most important factors in providing quality of care. Quality of care is an extremely vital aspect in healthcare, and patient safety directly correlates with quality of care. It is so important, because safety, or lack of, can have adverse effects if not maintained. Lack of safety not only affects the patient, but the nurse as well. This paper will discuss the importance of safety in nursing, the ways in which it affects both the patient and the nurse, and the culture of patient safety in the workplace.
What does it take to be a safe nurse? The nursing profession offers many opportunities for error. Great challenges arise when trying to keep patients safe. Quality healthcare is defined by patient safety and the fulfillment of personal needs. Society, nurses, physicians, and patients themselves are responsible for ensuring that operational systems and methods are taken to illuminate the likelihood of errors occurring. As a nurse, it is important to make sure that the appropriate actions are being taken to limit the amount of mistakes that put patients and their families at risk. Although a nurse has to perform with a certain level of competency, there is always need for improvement when it comes to self-care, patient-care, and the environmental care.
Healthcare organizations endeavor to enhance patient safety, although culture changes cannot be enforced without identifying and working within the local culture which could either aid in setting an acceptable perspective or persistently encourage harmful attitudes (Curtin, 2011, p. 44). Hence, establishing a safety culture is the result of one’s and the organization’s principles, point-of-views, abilities, understanding, and behavioral patterns that dictate the obligation to the health and safety regulation of an organization. Furthermore, the safety culture of an organization consists of the following features: a leadership that recognizes a high-risk setting; partnership, application of proven approach, open communication, continuous education,
I recall instructors sharing stories about their personal experience related to patient safety. One of the instructors shared a personal experience of being subpoenaed to court to testify in a case. She stated the event took place four years prior and barely remembered the circumstances but her charting protected her from any wrong doing. We also watched films and discussed topics of safety that focused on patient safety from the patients perceptive. For instance, medication errors that caused harm or death, patient elopement, and wrong site surgeries to name a few. As a nursing student, I recall being terrified at the thought of being responsible for any safety issues that would harm or injure your patient.
In today’s health care system, “quality” and “safety” are one in the same when it comes to patient care. As Florence Nightingale described our profession long ago, it takes work and vigilance to ensure we are doing the best we can to care for our patients. (Mitchell, 2008)
Patient safety which is the amount to which patients are free from unintentional injury has established a great deal of media attention during the past few years. Regulatory and professional agencies have specified that patient safety education should be given to healthcare workers to improve health results. The primary purpose of this essay was to gain a better understanding of the present status of patient safety consciousness among those that work in the health care setting... Risk Management Issue