Safety

Final QSEN Essay Spring 2014 (Nurs 314)

 

According to the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Competencies, there are a list of pre-licensure knowledge, skills and attitudes that nurses should be knowledgeable and aware of (QSEN Institute, 2014). This final e-portfolio essay is going to reflect the quality improvement and safety competencies. I chose to write about the skill from the safety competency to “communicate observations or concerns related to hazards and errors to patients, families and the health care team” (QSEN Institude, 2014).

Quality improvement directly relates with safety because the process of quality improvement (QI) is done to improve the safety of the overall healthcare field, especially the patients. Throughout my clinical experience I have seen a lot of quality improvement projects but the one that stood out most to me was the pain medication project. There were flyers everywhere in the hospital saying to follow the order parameters of the pain medication. Pain is a subjective experience. If the roles were switched and we were the patients, we would definitely want the nurse to believe us in that we are telling the truth. Every patient is going to have a different pain tolerance and threshold. It is also important to be very considerate of the cultural values and beliefs of the patient. The QI process has four models : (FADE) focus, analyze, develop, and execute, (PSDA) Plan, Do, Study, Act, and the two of the six sigma models of (DMAIC and DMAVD) define, measure, analyze, design/improve, and control/verify (Khalighi, 2007). QI can be done in many ways but the benefit of the patient is the wanted result.

I chose the skill above as my reflection because communication is crucial in the health care field whether it be through charting on the computer, papers, documents, telephone orders or in person. When I have seen something wrong, I have either gone straight to the instructor or the nurse who is taking care of the patient in order to let them know the condition of the patient. Just the other day I have my first rapid response team. This was a great experience for me during my preceptorship. The patient ended up in stable condition and discharged in two days without any injury or harm done to the patient. The safety of the patient is the number one priority for healthcare providers. Relaying concerns of the patient whether it be about a condition, surgery, discharge instruction, outcomes are important to come across as clear to the receiving individual. This skill also involves me to become the patient advocate for example if the patient is not getting enough pain medication, is short of breath and need respiratory treatment, needs help with activities of daily living and needs a consult with the occupational therapist or needs to talk to the social worker about abuse. Reflecting on all of these experiences, it is important for the nurse to follow up on the patient. Making sure the patient understands what is going on increases patient safety. For example, explaining to the patient she need to be compliant with her diet and exercise in order for her diabetes to not get out of control. There are many situations in the hospital when the patient is at risk for injury, but as a nurse, it is our job to make sure patient safety is completed. The skill stated above can be accomplished by explaining care to the family only when the patient has stated that the family is okay to know about the condition of the patient. Being careful not to make medication errors is a huge concern for patients and the health care team. It is important to get well rested, eat well and exercise in order to for us to be in good health to take care of our patients. If we are not in good health, the patient might suffer from the nurse’s mistakes.

Taking this Nurs 314 course had brought me better insight to the quality improvement process and the errors that occur in the health care field on a daily basis. Many of these errors as in medication errors can be prevented. The skill above uses communication like doing incident or occurrence reports that go to the quality control team so that the errors can be prevented in the future through development of a program or process. Safety of the patient has always been my biggest concern. I always make sure my patients are safety, even with the simplest tasks of the bed in the lowest positive, identification band on, call light within reach, and wheels locked on the bed in order to prevent the most hazardous outcomes.

 

References:

Khalighi, M. (2007). Basics of Quality Improvement. Retrieved from https://ilearn.csumb.edu/

mod/ resource/view.php?id=134330

QSEN Institute. (2014). Pre-licensure KSAS. QSEN Institute. Retrieved from http://qsen.org/

competencies/pre-licensure-ksas/

In Docks era, there were not many people that had the right of being privileged or rich. Many lived in poor conditions as seen around in some communities today. Dock wanted the unsatisfactory conditions to go away for the safety of the citizens. The strength that Dock had is that she wanted not just for herself to be safe, but everyone around her to be safe as well. She did not want the poor and dirty conditions that were causing diseases to be there anymore and she tried to improve those conditions. She wanted everyone to get health care that was safe and effective. Therefore she took part in the licensing of nurses to make sure the nurses that were certified were doing legal practice and providing the safest care possible.  It did not matter who you were. Docks weakness in safety might have been not having a place for people to get healthy. The hospital was where really sick people went to get better, but later on Dock realized that the nurses were the ones getting diseases that were being caught from the hospital environment. This boosted Docks motivation to prepare nurses with better education and providing safety to the public. Dock was not biased and wanted everyone to be safe no matter if you were rich or poor and male or female.

PICTURE CREDIT: http://www.nswnurses.asn.au/health/

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