NURS6004 Patient Safety Assignment Sample

• Subject Code : NURS6004
• University : University of Notre Dame My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : Nursing

Transition to Practice

Nursing science has the goal to support the needs and requirements of the patient. It also involves making decisions for diseased individuals so as to improve his health conditions and status. The role of nurses is very complex as their support will help patients to be empowered. Other than looking after the patient's physical needs, the nurses also have to monitor the mental wellbeing of the patient to provide him with holistic care (Jormfeldt, 2014). Therefore, it can be said that nurses have major responsibilities on them and if they fail to perform them, then complications can occur and can impact the patient’s health. So, to ensure that nurse manages the situations correctly, some strategies have to be used so that the safety of the patient remains intact.

The first strategy that can be used by the registered nurse to manage the situation to ensure patient safety is to talk to her team leader or team manager. In studies, it has been seen that nurse managers help in cultivating leadership skills in other nurses (Kodama & Fukahori, 2017). Leadership is important for nurses because they have to work inwards where they have to handle the mental and physical burden. Having leadership would help them to manage their task in the hospital setting and would also provide more satisfaction in their jobs. Nurse managers in addition to this create an environment of providing high-quality care to the patient and also make sure the safety of them and the nurse as well. They also demonstrate highly developed skills for team building. With that, they enhance the use of evidence-based working among the other nurse. Nurse managers also observe the readiness of the employees and checks the impact they have on the work. In addition to that, they coach other nurses on how to perform the task efficiently and how to manage adverse situations. They also take care of nursing care quality that has been provided to the patients. They monitor team effectiveness and help other nurses to improve their practices (Vesterinen et al., 2013). Nurse managers also make use of techniques and strategies to improve and enhance the patient outcome and the vision of the organization. They do this by mentoring other nurses. They impart education and knowledge especially in the new nurses in order to lead them towards the same vision. Nurse managers also create well-functioning work unit where they promote a positive atmosphere so that it would ultimately help the new nurses and also to increase the new nurse's job satisfaction. They also provide support to new nurses and help them in committing to their patients. Therefore, by talking with the nurse manager or team leader, the new nurses would gain support and will feel empowered to do their job efficiently and effectively. This would also help them to rebuild their self-confidence and would help them to provide quality care to the patient (Vesterinen et al., 2013).

The second strategy that can be used by a registered nurse (RN) to manage the situation to ensure the patient safety is to carefully read and understand the Nursing and Midwifery Board AHPRA (NMBA) guidelines and National Safety and Quality Health Services (NSQHS) standards. NMBA guidelines talk about the roles and responsibilities of the registered nurse. According to them, RNs should make use of multiple strategies to think and should work with the best evidence that is available for providing quality and safe nursing practice. They should provide person-centred care and should work with the help of evidence-based frameworks. With that, it is recommended that RNs engages in therapeutic relationships which are effective for the patient and are also professional in nature (Nursing and Midwifery Board AHPRA, 2020). This involves having mutual respect and trust in professional relationships. It is also mentioned that RNs are accountable and responsible for proving safe practice. They also are responsible for the development of others and their professional practice. With that, they have the responsibility to educate people and give information to them so that they can make informed decisions which are health-related. RN also has to conduct and perform systematic assessments. They need to analyze the data and information for the best practice. In addition to that, RNs are accountable for communicating and planning the nursing practice. They need to make plans by incorporating the patient and his family. They need to document and communicate everything efficiently. RNs also have the obligation to provide safe and appropriate nursing practise to the diseased person. They also need to evaluate the outcomes of their nursing practice. A registered nurse also has to provide care with cultural safety and have to respect every individual's rights, values, dignity and culture (Nursing and Midwifery Board AHPRA, 2020). National Safety and Quality Health Services (NSQHS) standards also talk about the nurse responsibility in controlling and preventing infections which are healthcare-associated and also about medication safety. Moreover, they also focus on comprehensive care (National Safety and Quality Health Services, 2019). Therefore, by carefully reading and understanding the guideline and policies, nurses could make sure the patient’s safety in delivering care.

The third strategy that can be used by a registered nurse (RN) to manage the situation to ensure patient safety is to make use of the evidence-based practice. According to studies, patient results and outcomes improve when nurses make use of practice which is evidence-based (Black et al., 2015). It involves the use of current practices which is designed to enhance the expertise of the healthcare professional. This kind of practice increases the safety of the diseased individual and also decreases the cost of healthcare. Nurses are healthcare professionals who have a direct impact on patients. Often individual barriers create problems for the patient such as lack of information or knowledge about the processes in the research and how to critique the studies. With the help of this approach, they can practice the quality of care for the patient by gaining knowledge about the current research. They can also make use of the best available material so that patient satisfaction and outcomes increases (Black et al., 2015). Evidence-based practice also helps in decreasing the risks which are associated with healthcare and aids in effectiveness of the treatments (Karlberg Traav et al., 2018). Therefore, by making use of the evidence-based practice, nurses could develop their practice so as to ensure the patient’s safety.

In the conclusion, it can be said that various strategies could be used by the registered nurse so as to handle the situations and events to make sure the patient's safety is intact. The registered nurse could talk to their nurse manager or team leaders. Nurse managers help in improving the confidence of new nurses by imparting them with clinical information and knowledge about safe practices. They could also promote evidence-based practices within other nurses. They can help in creating a positive work environment which ensures the delivery care with utmost quality. The nurse could also learn about NMBA guidelines and NSQHS standards which will help them to improve their working. These guidelines and standards highlight the roles and responsibility of the registered nurse which ultimately helps nurses to give quality care. The other strategy that could be used is to make sure the practice which is performed is evidence-based. This would reduce the healthcare-associated risks and therefore increase patient safety. Evidence-based practice also involves making use of the best available material for the practice. Therefore, all these strategies could be used by the nurse so that patient satisfaction can be increased and the patient's safety remained unharmed.

References for Patient Safety

Black, A. T., Balneaves, L. G., Garossino, C., Puyat, J. H., & Qian, H. (2015). Promoting evidence-based practice through a research training program for point-of-care clinicians. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 45(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000151

Jormfeldt H. (2014). Perspectives on health and well-being in nursing. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 9, 23026. https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v9.23026

Karlberg Traav, M., Forsman, H., Eriksson, M., & Cronqvist, A. (2018). First line nurse managers' experiences of opportunities and obstacles to support evidence-based nursing. Nursing Open, 5(4), 634–641. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.172

Kodama, Y., & Fukahori, H. (2017). Nurse managers' attributes to promote change in their wards: A qualitative study. Nursing Open, 4(4), 209–217. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.87

National Safety and Quality Health Services. (2019). The NSQHS standards. Available at https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/standards/nsqhs-standards

Nursing and Midwifery Board AHPRA. (2020). Registered nurse standards for practice. Available at https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/codes-guidelines-statements/professional-standards/registered-nurse-standards-for-practice.aspx

Vesterinen, S., Suhonen, M., Isola, A., Paasivaara, L., & Laukkala, H. (2013). Nurse managers' perceptions related to their leadership styles, knowledge, and skills in these areas—A viewpoint: Case of health centre wards in Finland. ISRN Nursing, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/951456

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