Module 7 Assignment – A Culture of Patient Safety

Read this article:

Sammer, C. & James, B. (2011, September 30). Patient safety culture: The nursing unit leader’s role. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing,16(3), Manuscript 3.

In the Hospital Hope scenario, what do you think was the most important factor that led to the change in practice in the SICU?

If you worked in a facility that needed a practice change, what framework would you use and why?

Assignment Expectations:

Length:1000 to 1250 words in length

Structure: Include a title page and reference page in APA format. These do not count towards the minimum word count for this assignment. Your essay must include an introduction and a conclusion.

References: Use appropriate APA style in-text citations and references for all resources utilized to answer the questions. A minimum of two scholarly sources plus the textbook are required.

Rubric: This assignment uses a rubric for scoring. Please review it as part of your assignment preparation and again prior to submission to ensure you have addressed its criteria at the highest level.

Format: Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) or a PDF document (.pdf)

File name: Name your saved file according to your first initial, last name, and the assignment number (for example RHall Assignment 1.docx)

Submission: Submit to the D2L dropbox for grading prior to Monday at 11:59pm PST

 

MORE INFO 

A Culture of Patient Safety

Introduction

The culture of patient safety is a key component in quality health care. It’s the way that patients and their families are informed about what to expect, how to maintain good health, and when to seek professional help if something goes wrong. This article will discuss the importance of creating a culture of safety at your hospital or clinic so you can improve patient outcomes and ultimately save lives!

The Culture of Safety

Safety culture is a shared set of values, beliefs and assumptions about the ways in which work is done. It’s not an add-on, but rather fundamental to the way we work. It’s critical to quality of care we provide.

A culture of patient safety requires strong leadership at all levels—from top down to bottom up—and it requires that everyone be committed to improving safety outcomes across their organization.

The first step towards creating a safe workplace begins with understanding what makes an environment safe:

Communication and Teamwork

Communication and teamwork are both essential to patient safety, but they’re not always easy to achieve. In fact, some healthcare organizations have a culture of siloed teams that don’t communicate with each other very well.

We can help you improve your communication by creating an open environment where everyone is on the same page about what’s happening in your organization. We’ll work together with you to identify opportunities for better collaboration across departments or teams—and then we’ll help implement them!

Workflow

• Workflow is the process of how work gets done.

• Workflow is the process of how a patient’s medical record travels through the system.

• Workflow is the process by which a patient moves from one place to another in an institution like a hospital or clinic, or even just between two buildings on campus, or within one building itself (e.g., moving from one floor to another).

Quality and Safety

Quality and safety are two sides of the same coin.

Quality means ensuring that you’re providing a high-quality service, while safety means making sure that your patients are safe during their stay at your facility. They’re both about patient outcomes, which include things like preventing falls, reducing the risk of infection or other bacterial problems, keeping track of medication usage (both in terms of quantity and side effects), making sure people have access to help when they need it—and more!

Safety also includes patient satisfaction: if your hospital has higher rates of preventable complications than others do, then this could lead to unhappy patients who may not return for future procedures or follow up visits.

Environment of Care

The environment of care is the physical environment in which care is provided. It includes everything from equipment, technology and space to policies and procedures.

The environment of care should be designed to promote safety and quality by supporting patient-centered care; this includes all aspects of health care delivery (e.g., nursing), including documentation of patient history and current status within an electronic medical record system that supports continuity across multiple settings (e.g., hospital or ambulatory clinic).

Leadership Commitment

Leadership commitment is the most important factor in a culture of patient safety. It’s also the most difficult to measure.

Leadership time and emotional commitment are two other factors that can be used to demonstrate leadership commitment, but they don’t provide the same level of specificity as measurements like number of incidents or lawsuits filed against your organization. The key here is asking leaders questions like “What do you think will improve patient safety here?” or “Why should we focus on this issue right now?”

Patient safety is a key component in quality health care.

Patient safety is a key component in quality health care. It’s important to note that the term patient safety was first used in the early 1990s, but it has become more widely known and accepted over time.

There are many ways you can improve patient safety by improving your overall care and treatment process, including:

• Providing accurate information about diagnosis and treatment options so patients can make informed decisions about their healthcare options

• Ensuring that all staff members have been trained on processes that improve patient safety

Conclusion

Patient safety is a key component in quality health care.