Introduction
The value of nursing in promoting the high-quality patient care is enormous and precisely outlined in nursing-sensitive outcomes. Furthermore, the concept of clinical and administrative indicators is valuable to elaborate nursing care performance. The data of quality indicators is a comprehensive source of insights and guidance of the strategies in achieving the highest level of performance and satisfaction. The purpose of this assignment is to provide an analysis of data from the quality indicators dashboard and develop a nursing plan for areas that needed improvement.
Analysis of the Data from the Dashboard
The presented information in the sample panel demonstrates the quarterly nurse-sensitive quality indicators of inpatient rehab unit. According to the dashboard based on the relevant quality indicators, several areas are requiring improvements, which could be as the result of various causes. The unit appears adequately staffed with nurses and demonstrates the continuous increase of baccalaureate-educated nurses. Therefore, despite the demonstration of adequate nursing staffing, there is a constant shortage of nurses with certifications, which could be one of the rationalizing for negative scoring within the area of patient’s care quality. Additionally, patient satisfaction indicators demonstrate the poor care coordination, unsatisfying nursing promptness and responsiveness, and pain management. Collectively, the above-described shortcomings are directly influencing the patient 's care and associating with the enduring pressure ulcers and falls.
The patient’s falls are included in national safety goals and raising serious concerns. Joint Commission mainly correlates patients’ falls with inadequate assess...
... middle of paper ...
...e proper training will direct nurses to experts in the use of fall-prevention equipment, qualified educators for patients, and their families and be cautious of identified trends (Graham, 2012).
Summary
Patient safety is at the forefront of care delivery for every health care facility. In economically challenging time, the institutions are striving to protect and ensure patients ‘safety while delivering high-quality care. Patients’ falls are one of the factors that are tremendously jeopardizing patients’ safety and outcomes. The enormous effort and constant practice of effective interventions by nurses are needed to distribute cost-effective fall-prevention programs successfully. Nurses are empowered to promote the widespread adoption of efficient strategies, decrease the incidence of falls, and overall increase the quality of care and outcomes for patients.
Nurses are key components in health care. Their role in today’s healthcare system goes beyond bedside care, making them the last line of defense to prevent negative patient outcomes (Sherwood & Zomorodi, 2014). As part of the interdisciplinary team, nurses have the responsibility to provide the safest care while maintaining quality. In order to meet this two healthcare system demands, the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project defined six competencies to be used as a framework for future and current nurses (Sherwood & Zomorodi, 2014). These competencies cover all areas of nursing practice: patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality
The National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) for falls in long term care facilities is to identify which patients are at risk for falling and to take action to prevent falls for these residents. (NPSG.09.02.01). There are five elements of performance for NPSG: 1. Assess the risk for falls, 2. Implement interventions to reduce falls based on the resident’s assessed risk, 3. Educate staff on the fall reduction program in time frames determined by the organization, 4. Educate the resident and, as needed, the family on any individualized fall reduction strategies, and 5. Evaluate the effectiveness of all fall reduction activities, including assessment,
This document’s purpose is to assist nurses to identify elderly patients at risk for falls and to implement interventions to prevent or decrease the number of falls and fall related injuries (RNAO, 2005). The target population are elderly adults in acute or long-term care. The recommendations are to help practitioners and patients make effective healthcare decisions, support nurses by giving educational recommendations, and to guide organizations in providing an environment receptive to quality nursing care and ongoing evaluation of guideline implementation and outcomes. These guidelines stress and interdisciplinary approach with ongoing communication and take patient preferences into consideration.
The Quality and Education for Nurses (QSEN) project has set several goals for future nurses to meet in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSAs), one of which is safety (2014). The definition of safety according to QSEN is minimizing risk of harm to patients through system effectiveness and individual performance (QSEN, 2014). Since falls are such a huge occurrence in health care, preventing falls is critical for patient safety. The Joint Commission (2011) has also noted fall prevention as a National Safety Patient Goal (NPSG) 09.02.01 requiring hospitals to reduce the risk of harm resulting from falls.
The role of a Registered Nurse cannot be neglected in the provision of quality and safe care to patients and adopt procedures adequate for the condition of the patients because they work at the front line level; moreover, they have direct dealing with patients and integration of personal and professional skills is necessary. Therefore, there are certain attributes that are necessary to be present in a Registered Nurse for accurately performing various tasks. These include; Workload management, leadership qualities, interpersonal skills, control of practice, professional development, effective communication skills and organi zational loyalty (Daly & Carnwell 2003, pp. 158-167). These attributes hold significance in terms of obtaining positive outcome for not only the Registered Nurse but also the organization and the patient. Workload should be managed in such a way that the care process is not affected. Registered Nurse should have leadership qualities to help, motivate and inspire other nurses. Similarly, a Registered nurse should also enable and promote learning opportunities for other nurses. A Registered Nurse has responsibilities towards the subordinates, patients and most importantly to the organization. Effective communication skills can allow Registered nurses to establish a trusting relationship with patients identifying their problems and needs. The code of ethics and principles of practice must be followed and the practice of the nurse should be in the line of the organization’s working principles. The responsibility should be met as accountability factors must be considered significant in healthcare setting (Cornenwett, et al, 2007, pp.122-131; Bradshaw et al 2012, pp.13-14). ...
In most aspects of life the saying “less is always more” may ring true; however when it comes to providing quality care to patients, less only creates problems which can lead to a decrease in patient’s quality of life as well as nurse’s satisfaction with their jobs. The massive shortage of nurses throughout the United States has gotten attention from some of the most prestigious schools, news media and political leaders. Nurses are being burnt out from their jobs, they are being overworked and overlooked. New nurses are not being properly trained, and old nurses are on their way to retirement. All the while the rate of patient admissions is on the rise. Nurses are reporting lower satisfaction in their job positions and hospital retention rates are at an all-time low, conversely this is affecting all patients’ quality of care. As stated in the article Addressing The Nurse Shortage To Improve The Quality Of Patient Care “According to an Institute of Medicine report, Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals providing direct patient care in hospitals, and the quality of care for hospital patients is strongly linked to the performance of nursing staff”.
Nursing provides the best quality of care by exercising six models formulated by QSEN: patient-centered care, teamwork, and collaboration, evidence base practice, quality improvement, safety and informatics (Competencies, n.d.). Following the competencies set forth by QSEN decreases errors and gives patients the care they desire and
Not only does The Francis Report call for more compassionate care, but it also states that stronger leadership is required of all ward nurse managers. It also insists on a change with regards to the appraisal and support system for nurses. This appraisal system is a means of assessing the performance of nurses so that any shortcomings can be corrected through methods such as training and transfer. On the other hand, a positive assessment is to be rewarded by promotion.
Patient safety is a major issue in health care, especially in the public sector. Studies show that as many as 10 patients get harmed daily as they receive care in stroke rehabilitation wards in hospitals in the United States alone. Patient safety refers to mechanisms for preventing patients from getting harmed as they receive health care services in hospitals. The issue of patient safety is usually associated with factors such as medication errors, wrong-site surgery, health care-acquired infections, falls, diagnostic errors, and readmissions. Patient safety can be improved through strategies such as improving communication within hospitals, increasing patient involvement, reporting adverse events, developing protocols and guidelines, proper management of human resources, educating health-care providers on the need for patient protection, and commitment of the leadership to the task. This paper talks about patient safety and how it can be improved in stroke rehabilitation wards of both public and private hospitals.
Nurses play an important role to facilitate these programs successful. Fall can have happened to any patient’s at any age or due to physiological changes such as medications, medical conditions. It is very important that nurses to follow evidence- based fall prevention management initiative- purposeful rounding to reduce fall in hospital
Nelson, A., Powell-Cope, G., Palacios, P., Luther, L. S., Black, T., Hillman, T., Christiansen, B., . . . . Nathenson, P., (2007). Web. Rehabilitation Nursing. Nurse Staffing and Patient Outcomes in Inpatient and Rehabilitation Settings. Rehabilitation Nursing, Vol. 32, 179-200.
Patient falls is one of the commonest events within the healthcare facilities that affect the safety of the patients. Preventing falls among patients requires various methods. Recognition, evaluation, and preventing of patient falls are great challenges for healthcare workers in providing a safe environment in any healthcare setting. Hospitals have come together to understand the contributing factors of falls, and to decrease their occurrence and resulting injuries or death. Risk of falls among patients is considered as a safety indicator in healthcare institutions due to this. Falls and related injuries have consistently been associated with the quality of nursing care and are included as a nursing-quality indicator monitored by the American Nurses Association, National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators and by the National Quality Forum. (NCBI)
The rate of errors and situations are seen as chances for improvement. A great degree of preventable adversative events and medical faults happen. They cause injury to patients and their loved ones. Events are possibly able to occur in all types of settings. Innovations and strategies have been created to identify hazards to progress patient and staff safety. Nurses are dominant to providing an atmosphere and values of safety. As an outcome, nurses are becoming safety leaders in the healthcare environment(Utrich&Kear,
Quality improvement (QI) involves the regular and constant actions that enable measurable improvement in health care. QI results in enhanced health services, organizational efficiency, quality and safe care to patients, and desired health outcomes for individuals and patient populations (U. S. Department of Health and Human Service, 2011). A successful quality improvement program is patient-centered, a collaboration of teams, and uses data in systems. QI helps to develop a culture of excellence in nursing, identify and prioritize areas of improvement, promote communication and collaboration, collect and analyze data, and encourage continuous evaluation of systems and processes (American Academy
Understanding quality measurement is essential in improving quality. Teams need to be able to understand whether the changes being made are actually leading to improved care and improved outcomes. For data to have an impact on an improvement initiative, providers and staff must understand it, trust it, and use it. Health care organization must understand the measurement of quality provided by the Institute of Medicine (patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, compliance, efficiency, safe, timely, patient centered, and equitable. An organization cannot improve its performance if it does not know how it is performing. Measuring quality improvements is essential as it reflects the quality of care given by the providers and that by comparing performance