Patient Safety Initiatives, Capstone Project Example

Introduction

Patient safety is a critical factor in supporting the development of nursing practice objectives and strategies. It is the responsibility of nurses to be mindful of patient care needs and aim to support a dynamic where quality-based performance supports a safe and comfortable environment for all patients. This reflects a need to understand the initiatives that have transpired within an organization and to identify the best possible resources to accommodate patient needs without risk of further harm. Most importantly, nurses must work in a collaborative manner to ensure that patient safety is of the utmost importance and provides a basis for examining how to improve performance in a variety of activities that are performed at the bedside. Nurses must develop expert knowledge and skill in promoting patient safety and in performing their duties effectively to achieve expectations that will have a lasting impact on patient wellbeing, regardless of health status. They must also consider strategies and exercise flexibility as necessary to support an environment where the best interests of patients are held at a high standard above all other objectives.

Body

An example of a patient safety initiative that is currently in place at my organization is patient hourly rounds, whereby patients are evaluated on an hourly basis to promote greater safety and to minimize risks that could compromise patient health in different ways. This initiative was primarily established to address an increased number of patient falls that impact quality of life for the patient population as a whole. It came to the attention of the nursing staff that patient falls were a critical factor in observing a decline in health status for patients who had fallen while hospitalized. This was a critical issue that required immediate attention in order to prevent further falls from taking place and in supporting a dynamic of patient care and treatment that would aid in falls prevention on a widespread basis.

At one point in the recent past, 80 percent of patients were experiencing falls, some minor and some more severe; nonetheless, they were a significant factor in shaping how the organization’s ability to manage risk was determined. During this period, risk management was not sufficiently involved in reducing the number of patient falls; therefore, additional considerations were necessary in order to be successful in preventing falls from taking place. Therefore, the hourly patient rounds initiative was established to improve patient monitoring and encourage safer conditions and to ensure that patients would be protected from unnecessary risk and further harm. The results of this initiative have been largely positive and encouraging, as the number of falls has been reduced from 80 percent to 10 percent in recent months. This has been a significant factor in improving patient care quality and safety for the affected population. However, it has not had any direct financial impact on the unit or the organization to date; nonetheless there has been a much greater level of staff, family, and administrative satisfaction with respect to the marked reduction in patient falls throughout the unit.

One critical factor in improving patient safety is to examine the culture of the nursing unit and the organization as a whole in order to determine if the culture promotes safety or increases the risk to patients (Morello et.al, 2013). It is likely that an organization will be best suited to have patient safety as a primary area of focus in order to be successful in treating patients with the best possible circumstances in place (Morello et.al, 2013). For my organization, medication reviews and monitoring are critical to ensure that their safety is optimized, accompanied by expanding the delivery of care to meet their needs in a more timely fashion, such as toileting. The nursing leadership team must empower staff members to support increased attention and focus on patient safety to minimize risk and improve outcomes (Richardson & Storr, 2010). Support for medication administration and monitoring to minimize disruptions is important to this cause in order to enable nurses to have sufficient time to evaluate each patient and to determine if additional considerations must be made with respect to medications (Freeman, McKee, Lee-Lehner, & Pesenecker, 2013). With an increased emphasis on patient rounds, nurses are likely to experience greater empowerment and satisfaction in their efforts to work collaboratively with patients and to improve the desired outcomes for patients over the long term (Ybarra, 2015). This is an important step towards the discovery of new ideas and strategies to improve patient safety and to openly communicate regarding the needs of the patient population as best as possible without causing further risk or harm to patients (Ybarra, 2015). The adoption of hourly rounds has been measurably effective within my organization; therefore, it is an important and meaningful step for the nursing staff to take in providing high quality care to all patients and in protecting their safety at all times.

Conclusion

Patient safety requires many different strategies in order to be successful in improving quality of care and reducing the risk of harm. This process is instrumental in engaging nurses in their responsibility to patients and in supporting an environment where patient safety is critical to the success of nursing practice. It is important to recognize the value of hourly patient rounds in order to minimize the risk of patient falls and to concurrently monitor medication administration and other needs to ensure that patients are less likely to fall because nurse-led monitoring is expanded. This strategy supports the ability to administer high quality care and treatment and to be mindful of the challenges of patient care and in minimizing the risks related to patient safety in the hospital setting.

References

Freeman, R., McKee, S., Lee-Lehner, B., & Pesenecker, J. (2013). Reducing interruptions to improve medication safety. Journal of nursing care quality,28(2), 176-185.

Morello, R. T., Lowthian, J. A., Barker, A. L., McGinnes, R., Dunt, D., & Brand, C. (2013). Strategies for improving patient safety culture in hospitals: a systematic review. BMJ quality & safety, 22(1), 11-18.

Richardson, A., & Storr, J. (2010). Patient safety: a literative review on the impact of nursing empowerment, leadership and collaboration. International nursing review, 57(1), 12-21.

Ybarra, N. (2015). Daily Rounding for Patient Safety and Nursing Satisfaction.Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing, 44(s1), S32-S33.