Introduction
In this essay I’m going to discuss about a patient named Mr. Valdez who has been diagnosed of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is often not diagnosed until it is advanced because the cancer usually causes no early symptoms, leading to metastatic disease at time of diagnosis (Brown & Edwards, 2008). I am going to focus on the adverse patient events that may occur in the oncology department during the course of treatment and nursing care for Mr. Valdez, and the evidence based nursing practice to improve patient outcome. I am going to explain that health care professionals need to be aware of the factors that could affect the outcome of patient care. Unintended injuries or complications that are caused by health care staff, rather than by patient's underlying disease can lead to disability, longer hospital stays and even death (Richardson, 2010). A positive work environment can lessen the number of case infections, reduces a patient length of stay and continuous improvement of health care within the system. The nurse is responsible to offer and ensure the quality and safety improvement of the patients. A health care worker has an obligation and duty to satisfy every patient under their care (Richardson, 2010).
Case Scenario
In July of 2009, Mr Valdez, 68 yrs old, presented with abdominal pain, anorexia and started to lose weight rapidly and progressively. In September 2009, doctors finally had a diagnosis and it was pancreatic cancer with lung and liver metastasis. They were giving him 2months -1 year with chemotherapy and radiation. Morphine was prescribed to manage the pain. Doctors told him that chemotherapy and radiotherapy is the most effective way to manage his cancer, possibly shrink the mass and stop...
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...ee common adverse outcomes relevant to oncology patients and looked at ways in which nurses can improve the safety of their nursing care to minimise the risks of these adverse patient outcomes occurring. As the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2009) stated, safe health care by health professionals and the need to take action for patient safety is of the utmost importance. Therefore, with greater care taken to ensure that nurses are educated in complicated medication administration; that they practice safe and hygienic treatment procedures on patients at risk of infection; and that they are maintaining in providing skin care when required, the risk of adverse patient outcomes in the oncology department will be reduced. Mr Valdez deserves the best quality of health care that nurses can provide even when his illness cannot be cured.
Nurses are central to patient care and patient safety in hospitals. Their ability to speak up and be heard greatly impacts their own work satisfaction and patient outcomes. Open communication should have been encouraged within the healthcare team caring for Tyrell. Open communication cultures lead to better patient care, improved outcomes, and better staff satisfaction (Okuyama, 2014). Promoting autonomy for all members of the healthcare team, including the patient and his parents, may have caused the outcome to have been completely different. A focus on what is best for the patient rather than on risks clinicians may face when speaking up about potential patient harm is needed to achieve safe care in everyday clinical practice (Okuyama,
Pancreatic cancer has become a taboo topic that many people are afraid to speak out about. It looms over families like a dark cloud, and manages to destroy people in a scarily short amount of time. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most dangerous cancer in the United States, and the more we learn about it, the less deadly it becomes. This cancer begins in the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach, that aides in digestion and disperses hormones critical to keep our body functioning. While many people have a mild understanding of pancreatic cancer, most do not realize that “pancreatic cancer” is an umbrella term for many different types of cancerous tumors.
Furthermore, there should be enough trust between the nurses and physicians where they can easily put aside their egos and ask for a second opinion when they have any doubts concerning a patient's safety. This was clearly exemplified when the nursing staff attending to Lewis Blackman failed to contact the physician when various side effects arose; instead they tailored the signs to fit the expected side effects. Even after Blackman’s health was deteriorating, the nurses remained in their “tribes” and never once broke out of it to ask for help. The entire hospital was built on strong culture of remaining in their tribes instead of having goals oriented towards patients care and safety.
The nursing profession is a profession where people put their trust in you to provide care that is not only effective, ethical, and moral, but safe. Not all health situations are simple or by the book. Not all hospitals have the same nurse-patient ratios, equipment, supplies, or support available, but all nurses have “the professional obligation to raise concerns regarding any patient assignment that puts patients or themselves at risk for harm” (ANA, 2009). When arriving at work for a shift, nurses must ensure that the assignment is safe for not only the patients, but also for themselves. There are times when this is not the situation. In these cases, the nurse has the right to invoke Safe Harbor, because according the ANA, nurses also “have the professional right to accept, reject or object in writing to any patient assignment that puts patient or themselves at serious risk for harm” (ANA, 2009).
Nurses have a considerable amount of responsibility in any facility. They are responsible for administering medicines and treatments to there patient’s. While caring for there patients, nurses will make observations on patient’s health and then record there findings. As well as consulting with doctors and other healthcare professionals to plan proper individual patient care. They teach their patients how to manage their illnesses and explain to both the patient and the patients family how to continue treatment when returning home (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014-15). They also record p...
The medical secretary, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and physicians communicated consistently and appropriately so that all staff could effectively complete the actions required of their respective roles. I noted the strong relationship between the nurses and the physicians. The nurses held a heavy influence on the physician’s decisions regarding a situation, because the nurses were the ones conveying pertinent information related to the patient’s status. Based on the information provided, the physician would make recommendations and provide guidance to the nurses. The physician’s directions were then carried out by the nurse, influencing the nurse’s plan of care for his/her
Patients Safety is the most crucial about healthcare sector around the world. It is defined as ‘the prevention of patients harm’ (Kohn et al. 2000). Even thou patient safety is shared among organization members, Nurses play a key role, as they are liable for direct and continuous patients care. Nurses should be capable of recognizing the risk of patients and address it to the other multi disciplinary on time.
Safety is focused on reducing the chance of harm to staff and patients. The 2016 National Patient Safety Goals for Hospitals includes criteria such as using two forms of identification when caring for a patient to ensure the right patient is being treated, proper hand washing techniques to prevent nosocomial infections and reporting critical information promptly (Joint Commission, 2015). It is important that nurses follow standards and protocols intending to patients to decrease adverse
A cancer diagnosis can significantly change your life and the lives of your family in various ways. Hearing the news “you’ve been diagnosed with cancer” leave patients and their families in a whirlwind of emotions. The initial shock of this diagnosis leaves feelings of sadness, denial, frustration, confusion, fear, anger, and often times the “why me?” feeling. Thoughts start going through your head regarding how this affects yourself, your family, and your everyday life.
Therefore, I strive every day to be that professional, that health care provider that has a positive and long lasting impact on patient’s health and wellbeing. I always strive to be that professional that my patients and colleagues trust, respect and admire. As a registered nurse, I have accomplished that. I know it because I am asked to precept new nurses and students, because my colleagues come to me frequently to ask me questions when they are in doubt, because when there is a difficult or complicated patient, my supervisor trust me with his care, because at the end of a long busy shift with seven to eight patients under my care, my patients praise me and thank me for the great and unique care I provided them.
The major concern for registered nurses regard’s the nurse’s health and well being. Safe staffing levels are continuing to become more of a problem. The U.S is expected to experience a shortage of nurses as the “Baby Boomers” age and the need for health care grows (Rossester, 2014). This shortage is causing some health organizations to work with minimal amounts of nurses. This is affecting the nurse’s ability to provide safe care due to fatigue and injury. This shortage is also resulting in a dramatic increase in the amount of mandatory overtime, which often means that nurses stray from face-to-face patient care and can produce an increase in the amount of medical errors (American Nurses Association,
Mitchell, P. H. (2008). Defining patient safety and quality care an evidence-based handbook for nurses. Rockville,Maryland: Hughes. DOI: //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2681/
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,
The first nurse to introduce quality improvement was Florence Nightingale, who through gathering data on the positive effects of keeping adequate hygiene, nutrition and proper ventilation on the mortality rate during the Crimean War (Hood, 2014, p. 490-491). The initiatives towards improvement of quality lead to formation the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH), which is now known as The Joint Commission (2007). The Joint Commission is non-profit organization which gives accreditation to hospitals for recognizing their efforts to deliver quality health care with an added advantage of being eligible for the Medicare reimbursement program. Moreover, the Joint Commission also rolled out the Hospital Patient Safety Goals (2013) to prevent patient safety errors. Nursing professionals are essential for health care organizations to achieve and maintain the patient-safety goals as their work directly impacts the quality and safety of the patients. For instance, using two patient identifiers during medication administration to avert errors. Nurses have the distinct skills and responsibility towards patient safety and hence the need for Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) is the rational step towards quality improvement. Through the years, the QSEN has developed in Phases to ascertain the areas of competency requirements for nurses to deliver safe, efficient and excellent health care
Patient safety must be the first priority in the health care system, and it is widely accepta-ble that unnecessary harm to a patient must be controlled.Two million babies and mother die due to preventable medical errors annually worldwide due to pregnancy related complications and there is worldwide increase in nosocomial infections, which is almost equal to 5-10% of total admissions occurring in the hospitals. (WHO Patient Safety Research, 2009). Total 1.4 million patients are victims of hospital-acquired infection. (WHO Patient Safety Research, 2009). Unsafe infection practice leads to 1.3 million death word wide and loss of 26 millions of life while ad-verse drug events are increasing in health care and 10% of total admitted patients are facing ad-verse drug events. (WHO Patient Safety Re...