The Importance Of Patient Safety And Preventative Care

The actions of the preceptor demonstrated her competency for patient safety. According to the QSEN Project, nurses demonstrating the competency of safety, aim to minimize the risk of harm to the patient by effectively using their knowledge, technology and standards of practice that have been developed from the study, observation and improvement upon commonly unsafe practices. Through this, there is a development of standardized practices that support the provision of quality and safety in patient care (Cherry & Jacob, 2014, p.

Nursing and healthcare continue to change on a daily basis. The one thing that has remained constant during these changes is maintaining the safety of our patients. By maintaining their safety, nurses must ensure that they are keeping up-to-date with the changes in technology now being introduced in healthcare, new and emerging diseases, new equipment, and changes in treatment modalities. One such responsibility is ensuring that nurses do not operate equipment they were not oriented to or trained to use in an effort to prevent injury patients. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are being held accountable for practicing within their scope of practice based on their licensure regulations, and the company policies and procedures. Therefore, nurses are responsible for their professional growth and practice by ensuring that they comply with the necessary standards required by their profession.

Nursing and healthcare continue to change on a daily basis. The one thing that has remained constant during these changes is maintaining the safety of our patients. By maintaining their safety, nurses must ensure that they are keeping up-to-date with the changes in technology now being introduced in healthcare, new and emerging diseases, new equipment, and changes in treatment modalities. One such responsibility is ensuring that nurses do not operate equipment they were not oriented to or trained to use in an effort to prevent injury patients. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are being held accountable for practicing within their scope of practice based on their licensure regulations, and the company policies and procedures. Therefore, nurses are responsible for their professional growth and practice by ensuring that they comply with the necessary standards required by their profession.

healthcare organization accrediting bodies, and to maintain credibility with patients and peers alike, must adhere to the National Patient Safety Goals. As stated by Ulrich and Kear (2014), "Not only are nurses responsible for providing safe patient care, we are also responsible for creating an environment in which others can provide safe patient care, and for being the last line of defense when needed between the patient and potential harm. Having a deep understanding of patient safety and patient safety culture allows nurses to be the leaders we need to be in ensuring that our patients are always

To improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of patient care, applying research and evidence-based practice is necessary. In the Institute of Medicine’s report, Keeping Patient Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses, there is an emphasis on adequate nurse staffing (Hickey & Brosnan, 2012). Therefore, the quality improvement initiative is to focus on closing the gap between the core staffing and actual staffing in a six-week schedule.

Patient safety and quality of care are vital outcomes in the healthcare system. As professionals dealing with human lives, we consider these topics as core to our practice. In 2005, the Quality and Safety Education (QSEN) project was created in response to the challenges recognized in preparing nurses with the knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSAs) essential in providing safe and high-quality care to every patient (QSEN, 2012). This QSEN collaboration was the product of the strategies developed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Crossing the Quality Chasm in 2001 and Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality in 2003 (Armstrong, G. & Barton, J., 2014). There were six competencies identified in the QSEN curriculum that includes patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, informatics, and safety. In this paper, the QSEN competency, evidence-based practice will be discussed in relation to achieving quality and safety to the nursing process.

“The American Nurses Association believes the registered nurse is individually responsible and accountable for maintaining professional competence”, (Professional Role Competence, 2014). I believe that safety and competence go hand in hand. Patient’s put their lives in the hands of medical professionals, whether it’s nurses, doctor’s, etc., and it is expected of us to practice at the highest level of competency.

Patient safety and quality: An evidence- based handbook for nurses. Retrieved from

Today’s healthcare environment is evolving and changing rapidly and it is imperative for nurses and other healthcare providers to be aware of the most recent changes and mandates in healthcare delivery practices. The origins of the reform date back to late 1990s and early 2000s, when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its original report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, on the prevalence of medical errors, and directed the nation’s attention to the need for modification of medical practices (Kronick et al., 2016). The IOM’s report stressed the importance of providing a safe healthcare environment, where patients receive quality patient-centered care and nurses are equipped with sufficient knowledge

In health care settings across the country patient care is compromised by various preventable mistakes. Health care workers (HCW) are continuously pushing the boundaries of time constraints. As these demands are increased the possibility for poor patient outcomes also increase. Prevention is the first line of defense and promotes healthy practices for HCW and patients. The Joint Commission (TJC) collects data pertaining to the incidences, information surrounding each case and establishes a national quality and safety standard. TJC accredits thousands of health care establishments with the goal to provide safety and increase the quality of care provided in each setting. In 2016 TJC released a new set of National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG). The goals are meant to bring awareness to the accredited facilities and HCW of concerning hazards that need to be focused on. For instance, using two identifiers when identifying a patient to prevent medical errors, and preforming hand hygiene to reduce the risk of infections.

Safe practice played a great role in addressing patient safety. The safe practice that endorsed by the National Quality forum and supported by the Agency for Healthcare research and quality had address few critical aspect to improve patient safety 6; by creating culture of safety, matching health care need with service delivery capability, facilitating information transfer and clear communication, safety in specific setting or process of care and increasing safe medication use.6, 7

The nursing tasks include an ongoing interaction with patients, families, and other health care team members. Because of the high involvement with patients, nurses have the utmost responsibility to guard the patient’s safety. However, the American Nurses Association [ANA] (2015) made a valid point in stating that keeping patients safe and well starts by having a healthy nurse working in a safe environment. Additionally, Kieft, De Brouwer, Francke, and Delnoij (2014) also mentioned the study of the direct correlation between the nurses’ working environment and the patients’ quality of care. As such, nurses have to be cognizant of these environmental safety risks – staffing and occupational hazard - and plan interventions for both nurses and patients’ safety.

Issues related to a lack of patient safety have been going on for a lot of years now. Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, there has been a national emphasis on cultivating patient safety. Patient safety is a global issue, that touches countries at all levels of expansion and is one of the nation's most determined health care tests. According to the Institute of Medicine (1999), they have measured that as many as 48,000 to 88,000 people are dying in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of lapses in patient safety. Estimates of the size of the problem on this are scarce particularly in developing countries; it is likely that millions of patients worldwide could suffer disabling injuries or death every year due to unsafe medical care. Risk and safety have always been uninterruptedly been significant concerns in the hospital industry. Patient safety is a very much important part of our health care system and it really

Nursing and healthcare continue to change on a daily basis. The one thing that has remained constant during these changes is maintaining the safety of our patients. By maintaining their safety, nurses must ensure that they are keeping up-to-date with the changes in technology now being introduced in healthcare, new and emerging diseases, new equipment, and changes in treatment modalities. One such responsibility is ensuring that nurses do not operate equipment they were not oriented to or trained to use in an effort to prevent injury patients. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are being held accountable for practicing within their scope of practice based on their licensure regulations, and the company policies and procedures. Therefore, nurses are responsible for their professional growth and practice by ensuring that they comply with the necessary standards required by their profession.

There’s multitude of articles addressing the dilemma of safe nursing and its breach of quality and safety in patient care. Previous to 2014 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported on two ground-breaking studies, Arriess referred to: “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System and Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century” (2014, p. 3),