Visual Impairment And Dementia Essay

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

As a nurse, it’s crucial for our jobs to be a priority due to the needs of others. We must always be safe because not only are we liable, we are also trusted in the public’s eye as being

Assignment 50: Unit 50: Enable rights and choices of individuals with dementia whilst minimising risks

The safeguarding vulnerable groups act 2007 is an important piece of legislation in the residential home as the residents are older and may be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s which would make them particularly vulnerable.

There are many reasons that Mrs. Yowell may have impaired mental functioning (see Table 1). The first and easiest reason to rule out would be a urinary tract infection (UTI). A urine sample can show if there are white blood cells (indicating infection) present in the urine. The increased levels of bacteria in an elderly person’s body can cause toxicity which leads to the altered mental status (Midthun, 2004). Most noted changes are confusion, agitation and lethargy.

Davies (2008:309) states ‘Self-determination is the ethical principle in which persons should be permitted, enabled and encouraged to make their own informed decisions about the course of their lives’. He would argue that people with cognitive impairments could be perceived as vulnerable or at risk, which in turn can lead to professionals being over protective, shielding them from some minor or unlikely risks. It is vital to recognise this and understand how it has the potential to restrict individuals; however, family members do not always agree and in this instance their views and opinions differed. Although family members felt this lady should be considering the option of moving into residential care, the lady herself dismissed this idea, as she was happy living at home in her bungalow. Blackburn (2001:80) states ‘we don’t want to suffer from domination by others, or powerlessness, lack of opportunity, lack of capability, [or] ignorance’. With this in mind, it was important for me to recognise that in order to proceed and protect this older lady’s rights as a potentially vulnerable person, she should be supported in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA, 2005) which sets out principles about decision making and exercising control in order to encourage people’s empowerment. .

Management needs to empower nurses to speak when they feel there is a safety issue

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

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how safety in the nursing profession affects the nursing education, nursing practice, and nursing research. Safety in the nursing profession means to minimize the risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performances (QSEN, 2014). Patient safety is a very important aspect in the profession of nursing. It is the nurse’s job to keep up to date with their patients and to make sure that protocol is being followed at all times. To maintain this strategy, the nurse must show proper knowledge of a nurse, skills of a nurse, and also a professional attitude.

Mandating safe staffing levels for registered nurses in acute care settings has been an important topic of discussion for many years. As the demand for registered nurses continues to rise, so does the clinical demands on the nurses currently working. If there are no specific policies in place that mandate safe and appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios for all acute care facilities, registered nurses (RNs) may be required to take on even more patients than the already high numbers currently given to many of them. Inadequate RN staffing has the potential to cause increases in adverse patient events (American Nurses Association (ANA), The registered nurse safe staffing act, 2015) as well as an increase in nurse injury (Musick, Trotto, & Morrison,

Workplace safety is a major issue faced by nurses in healthcare settings. It is said that, hospitals are hazardous workplaces; unsafe workplaces are dangerous for the patients too. Today, many nurses are suffering hospital violence, heavy workloads causing serious injuries, contracting diseases caused by exposures to certain diseases, antineoplastics, and certain health care toxins, that workers bring home to their families. This in turn leads to acute staff shortages. Ample supply of nurses is very important in providing safe and timely care to the patient population. Maintaining a healthy workplace will enable the healthcare systems to control costs associated with healthcare management as well as enhancing the productivity of nurses in health care. It is estimated that creating a healthy environment in the workplace not only benefit nurses, but also benefits patients and other members of the health care team. This report explains some of the safety issues existing in health care, which directly or indirectly affects nurses as well as the health of the Canadian population.

Nurses’ are to ensure patient safety in all aspects of care provided. Sometimes, this is found outside of what is considered “actual” care, such as a physical assessments and administration of medications. Every day nurses’ are given assignments to follow, which includes which patients to take care of. What happens when this assignment is unsafe for all involved? Administrative Codes have been established by each state Board of Nursing to guide nurses’ in different situations. Safe Harbor Peer Review assists nurses to know how to handle an unsafe assignment.

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.

The Nurses of the Future Nursing Core Competency model is composed of ten competencies. Some of these competencies include patient centered care, collaboration, and teamwork. One particular is safety, which I believe to be one of the most important of the competencies. Safety is minimizing the risk of harm to patients and healthcare providers. This is important to nursing because insuring the safety of a patient is a number one priority, without safety is the care of a patient successful? Nurses are the first line of defense when it comes to safety towards patients and providers. In order to ensure safety there must be a plan of action and then set the plan in motion in order to avoid unsafe outcomes.

The Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) initiative is a newer project within the nursing realm. It began in 2005 with funding from the Wood Johnson Foundation. The overarching goal of QSEN “has been to address 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 in which they work,” (CRWU, 2014). Many nurses are still unaware of the initiative, and hospitals are slowing starting to recognize the initiative and employ its goals and competencies into their policies and procedures. This paper will focus on two selected competencies as they are found in practice at Los Alamitos Medical Center, including safety