The Nurses Role in Relation to Risk Assessment Essay

Evidence suggests that pressure ulcers greatly increase mortality rates in both hospitals and nursing homes (Thomas, 2001). Patients who develop a pressure ulcer within six weeks of admission to an acute-care facility are three times more likely to die than patients who do not develop pressure ulcers (Thomas, 2001). Moreover, patients who develop a pressure ulcer within three months of admission to a long-term care facility are associated with a 92% mortality rate compared with a 4% mortality rate for patients who do not develop them (Thomas, 2001). This evidence alone shows how significant this problem is to the overall health status of patients. In my personal nursing experience, I have heard many complaints voiced from patients and their family members concerning the development of new pressure ulcers. Patients and family members have expressed dissatisfaction because of the increased stress and prolonged hospital stay often associated with the treatment of pressure ulcers.

Changing circumstances within the workplace can cause hazards because other workers can be put at risk because they haven’t been made aware of the changes and management needs to be informed. Risk assessment is a method put in place that is suitable and sufficient to control the risk to health and safety to both employees and other persons who may be affected.

Risk assessment- An assessment of any risks to the worker's health and safety is undertaken by a trained risk assessor. This allows for the risks to be removes, reduced or avoided, and for preventive and protective measures to be identifies and

The purpose of risk assessment is not to remove risks, but to take reasonable steps to reduce them. The process involves looking at the risk, and considering what can be done to make it less likely that the risk will develop into a reality. This can be done through implementing policies and codes of practice, acting in individual’s best interests, fostering culture of openness and support being consistent, maintaining professional boundaries and following systems for raising concerns.

The idea behind a risk assessment is to attempt to identify all the potential risks associated with a particular activity. The risk assessment will normally be carried out by the nominated Health and Safety Officer.

Deficiencies in a persons diet can impede progression through the normal stages of wound healing. Malnutrition has also been related to an increase in infection rates. Jean understood this and assured me she would take this in to account to enable the healing process. Jean went on to explain that the injury was caused when somebody ran into her leg with a supermarket trolley. She had initially applied a dry dressing but attended her GP’s when the wound became wet and painful.

4.3: To carry out a risk assessment first of all you need to identify the hazards, then decide who might be harmed and how. Then evaluate the risks and decide on precaution and then record your findings and implement on them. After this is done review your assessment and update if necessary.

The primary goals for conducting nursing research are to generate new knowledge to promote positive outcomes for patients, enhance quality and cost-effectiveness of care, improve the healthcare delivery system, and validate the credibility of the nursing profession through evidence-based practice (Schmidt & Brown, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to explore the practice-related problem of pressure ulcers and the importance of the problem in the nursing profession.

A risk assessment is an important step in protecting residents and staff as well as complying with the law. The assessment helps focus on the risks that have the potential to cause harm and in this context, from the harm of acquiring an infection. In most instances, straightforward measures can readily control risks e.g. ensuring that clean and dirty linen are segregated to prevent cross contamination. The law does not expect that all risks will be eliminated, but requires that all steps that are reasonably practicable are taken to protect residents. The risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what could cause harm to residents in the workplace, including the risk of infection so that an assessment can be made on

3.7. Using a risk assessment to promote health and safety is very important to ensure that the individual is kept safe in the work place. Risk assessments evaluate the risks and identify hazards to put precautions in place to reduce the risks. Reporting and recording the outcome of the risk assessments make things more clear and is careful to keep everybody protected and safe.

All identified risks should be reported to the nurse or the line manager on duty so it can be corrected/amended and a new risk assessment can be put in place. This also should be documented appropriately.

4. The Patient Safety Committee will discuss the risk and if appropriate, appoint a risk assessment team to analyze the risk and report their findings at the next Patient Safety Committee meeting.

What influences the impact of pressure ulcers on health-related quality of life? A qualitative patient-focused exploration of contributory factors (Gorecki, Nixon, Madill, Firth and Brown, 2012)

The qualitative research article selected for critique is the study by Athlin et al. (2009), with the title of, “Factors of importance to the development of pressure ulcers in the care trajectory: perceptions of hospital and community care nurses”. This study looked at contributing factors promoting the growth or relapse of pressure ulcers, and how the nurses working in hospitals or group care, comprehend them in the care trajectory.

Wounds healing, whether from surgical intervention or accidental injury, encompasses the activity of a convoluted network of tissue types, blood cells, growth factors, and cytokines. This results in amplified cellular activity, which grounds an intensified metabolic ultimatum for nutrients. Nutritional deficits can impede a healing wound, and quite a few nutritional factors that are required for wound repair may mend healing-time and wound aftermath.