Patient Safety Essay

The article summarizes that the role of an advocating nurse is to be able to communicate with the patients about their patient rights, support any decisions made, be the voice for patients with ineffective communication skills, and to protect the interests of the patients. The aim of the study was to explore the perspectives of nurses in patient advocacy and how it is related in the socio-cultural aspect. The literature also mentions that the concept of care and quality of patient care is recommended by nursing organizations. Patient advocacy is a duty that the advocating nurse expresses when it pertains to the rights of patients, and includes preserving the human dignity of the patient. Patient advocacy is when information, skills, and resources are used to voice decisions to improve the quality of care for those individuals who are unable to effectively speak for themselves.

To conclude, reflection is a skill necessary to the efficient function of a nurse in order to identify risk factors, which can be reduced by better preparation. To summarize, there is a constant need for health frameworks to govern nursing procedures. Nursing assessments require frameworks to reduce risks of wrong treatment, effective communication is required between colleagues and patients to avoid confusion. A standard of professionalism is required to ensure nurses aren’t over involved with their patients, education is important in promoting individual health, clinical reasoning is vital for the immediate treatment of a patient. Lastly reflection is ideal to analyse the positives and negatives, it is best to follow the Gibbs reflective cycle when evaluating methods.

This nurse leader is an advocate in all aspects of patient care. Nurses have to inform the patients, the plan of care, explain the treatment and its options, notify the adverse effects on time through the appropriate channel or requirement of the facility ("Patient Safety," 2002, p. 1). Early detection of risk groups and prevention of harm is critical in the patient care. Appropriate staffing, safe working environment and trained staff s are necessary for the enhancement of patient safety. This nurse leader believes nurses and national nurses association have a responsibility to inform patients and family of potential risks; report adverse effects; improve communication with patient and family; adequate staffing; promote infection control programs; standardized treatment policies and protocols; accurate administration of medicine and recognize the health care provider who delivering excellence in patient safety ("Patient Safety," 2002, p. 1).

According to provision two of the American Nurses Association nursing code of ethics, the nurses’ primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group, or community (American Nurses Association, 2001). This code impacts the nurses’ professional decision because if conflict arises, they are the ones to assist in resolving it. The loyalty of the nurse is still towards the patient especially when conflict persists. They inform patient and their families of options leading towards decision making. Nurses however, have to ensure patient safety, oversee what is important, and support whatever decision the patient made.

In the clinical setting, patients should be educated on all topics that are related to their specific disease process or medical condition. Healthcare providers’ should also practice safety measures to prevent injury to themselves as well as the patients. When quality and safety initiatives are taken seriously by both patients and medical professionals, successful health outcomes is promising (Stievano, Jurado, Rocco & Sasso, 2009). Preparing to enter the professional field as an advanced practice nurse is tedious and requires a lot of dedication to learning and developing advanced nursing knowledge and skills. With these skills, both patients and healthcare organizations as a whole can operate at full potential.

It is patient’s right to receive proper and safe health care from the health care team. Nurses are highly responsible for the improvement of health care as well as prevention and management of patient safety indicators through providing patient centered care and evidence based practice. There are different patient safety indicators such as nosocomial infections, fall injury, medication error, pressure sore, transfuse reaction and so on. These should be prevented, early diagnosed and given appropriate management by the health care team for providing patient safety. Here I am going to discuss about one of the patient safety indicators that is Catheter associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and it is one of the most common nosocomial infection among others.

In Nursing, there will always be instances where the patient's nurse needs to advocate for their patient. There are numerous reasons why a nurse would advocate for their patient ranging from getting the doctor to change the patient’s orders, helping the patient’s treatment team understand what it is the patient is requiring for the day, to expressing the patient’s last wishes before death. In every situation, the nurse should do what is in the patient’s best interest. Tomajan (2012), “Advocacy skills are the ability to successfully support a cause or interest on one’s own behalf or that of another. Advocacy requires a set of skills that include problem solving, communication, influence, and collaboration”(p. 2).

Baccalaureate nurses are responsible for providing and ensure our patients safety. The knowledge from others mistakes can help informs nurses of extra precautions that we can take to ensure our patient’s safety. Risk Analysis and Implication for practice course helped me understand the steps I as a nurse can take as well as the facilities I work for to help reduce the number of medication errors that occur. Interviewing the pharmacist help me get a better insight to what facilities already have in place to help prevent medication errors. However like most things you have to have educated and compassionate caring staff to enforce and follow the guidelines set in place.

In order to be successful in meeting these aims, a nurse will use knowledge, skills and critical thinking. (Taylor, 2011, p. 9). Health Illness can include acute or chronic illness (Murphy, 1990, p.3) There is a correlation between health illness and program outcomes. In order to promote health and prevent illness, a nurse must care for patients,... ... middle of paper ... ...n every step because one mistake can cause someone to lose their life and there are no second chances or third attempts once someone is gone. Sufficient knowledge, skills and critical thinking capabilities are developed through experience and practice.

“Care can be considered simply an ethical task and thus a burden of one more thing to do, or it can be considered a commitment to attending to and becoming enthusiastically involved in the patient’s needs” (Applying the Ethics of Care to your Nursing Practice, page 116). In this model, nurses need to be knowledgeable about human behavior and responses to health problems, individual needs, how to respond to others, and the strengths and limitations of the patient and family. The nurse also comforts and offers compassion, and empathy to the patient and family. There are many concepts in Jean Watson’s Theory of caring. The three major concepts that will be discussed are: transpersonal caring relationship, caring occasion/caring moment and the ten caritas processes.