Patient Safety Culture

These changes are then reinforced to employees by the Charge Nurses in Morning Huddles and in special called Safety Huddles throughout the week. While management is very open to change, implementation of the changes must be carried out by the actual hands-on personnel, and this often times leads to fear of the unknown. As Yoder-Wise (2015) states, “All changes, whether perceived as positive or negative, large-scale or simply, are scary and generate fear” (p. 307). In the short time I have worked in the ED, I have seen both support and resistance among co-workers regarding change processes. While some embrace change, others resist, and are set in their ways viewing change as inconvenient and an addition of time-consuming steps to an already stressful environment. Most whom I work with, when presented with the facts and evidence behind the change, view it positively and have no problem implementing it.

Implementing a change in practice within these environments can produce anxiety or fear of failure in nurses, leading to a resistance to change. Several studies (Bozak, 2003; Lehman, 2008; Spetz, Burgess & Phibbs, 2012) expounded the need for a concise plan and clear communication between nurses and management when implementing a change of this nature. The use of Lewin’s Change Management theory can support nurses through the transitions and identify areas of strengths and resistances prior to implementing change. Without a framework for guidance, it can be difficult to keep on track.

The profession of nursing is usually described as high-demand job, as well as stressful. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses believes that nurses can empower their work environments and truly make a difference (AACN, 2016). Although nurses have the ability to join committees and help make changes slowly, there are many factors in the nursing that cannot be changed by nurses. “The global increase in the aged population, the intensity of health care problems, the incidence of chronic illnesses and advanced technology, nurses are faced with a variety of work-related stressors” (Lambert & Lambert, 2008, p. 38). Regardless of nursing communication and social aspects of units, nurses need to accept some stressors as they are and

As a scholar and leader in the area of medicine, it is imperative to understand how to work as a team to provide the best possible care to patients. “Educators are responding to complexities of today’s medical knowledge by developing educational programs based on current learning theories, such as enactivism, where learning takes place within teams that are actively engaged in clinical environments” (Davidson, Morgan, & Simons, 2012, p. 291). This results in more patients that can place their trust in physicians and nurses who know how to work together as a team.

As the Joint Commission aims to nationally improve health care systems through health care organizations collaborations, it publishes recommended patient safety goals. As stated by the Joint Commission, “the first obligation of health care is to “do no harm””. The Joint Commission’s 2015 National Patient Safety Goals for hospitals include : Identify patients correctly; Improve staff communication; Use

Health care has evolved and is continuously evolving. The management of care now involves different clinicians to better assess, diagnose and cure a patient. The clinicians evolved from a general practitioner to a team now comprised of Physician’s Assistant, Nurse, License Practical Nurse and Specialists. These health care professionals now compose a team of health care providers that are essential in a patient’s over all health care. The team-based approach is a delivery system that provides a patient an all-encompassing health care delivery system. “ By practicing in a team-based care model, physicians and other

The National Patient Safety Goals were created in response to the IOM article, To Err is Human: Building Safer Health Systems. These goals were written to address patient safety and are tailored depending on the health care setting to which they are written for. They address system wide solutions rather than focusing on whom or how the error was made. Medical errors have been noted as being the 8th leading cause of death in the U.S. with the most frequent of these errors being medication related (Johnson, K., Bryant, C., Jenkins, M., Hiteshew, C., & Sobol, K. 2010). Therefore a great focus on these goals is needed across the health care continuum. The goals are updated and amended on a regular basis using evidence-based research, in response to areas with high errors in patient safety.

“Organizations with a positive safety culture are characterized by communications founded on mutual trust, by shared perceptions of the importance of safety and by confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures” (Stavrianopoulos, 2012, pg, 202). Communication and teamwork go hand and hand. An effective teamwork involves effective communication. No communication can lead to possible medical errors, whether the failure to communicate comes from the patient to the nurse or between the health care providers. Evidence based care is another factor which aids in safety. “Healthcare organizations that demonstrate evidence-based best practices, including standardized processes, protocols, checklists, and guidelines, are considered to exhibit a culture of safety” (Stavrianopoulos, 2012, pg, 203). Providing better safety means learning from the past mistakes. By understanding the root of the issue, which would then lead to learning how to improve the situation. Educational training about safety should be available for medical staff to attend and learn if there was to be any doubt in he or she’s mind. Patient centered care is another factor in providing safety. It focuses on the patient and their family. Helping patient’s and family be more active in the care of the health plan can lead to safer and better

Stakeholders at all levels of a healthcare organization benefit from the collaborative practice model since it crosses boundaries that span all disciplines and departments to create a team-based planning and treatment approach. This strategy is conducive to meeting the requirements of healthcare reform that promote patient-centric care while maintaining efficient operations, optimized reimbursements, reduced costs, and most importantly better patient

Patient safety should be the number one goal for all healthcare workers. The Joint Commission has established National Patient Safety goals with recommended guidelines for use. Medical offices such as Curative Health have a responsibility to their patients to conform to these guidelines to prevent medical errors. Mary was fortunate that the wrong procedure performed on her caused no harm. Clear processes to identify patients and correctness of procedures should be established in the offices of Curative Health before to prevent future, possibly harmful,

Change fatigue is an organizational term defined as poor emotional responses to attempted change (McMillan & Perron, 2013). Change leaders will fail to follow through, there may be a lack of data transparency, staff are impatient with efforts, resources are quickly diverted to other initiatives, and value is increasingly questioned (Reineck, 2007). It can result from rapid continuous and relentless organizational or individual changes that are implemented in daily work practices (Buchanan et al., 2005). Nurses, as frontline staff closest to patients, are the healthcare group most often subjected to initiatives regarding patient care improvement. Whether as a result of evidenced-based care practices, quality measures, financial incentives, or regulatory statues, the trickle-down effect of change stops with the RN (McMillan & Perron, 2013). Thus, nursing is in the most danger of developing change fatigue. As RN’s are typically the largest part of any healthcare organizational labor force, institutions need to leverage nursing’s power to avoid change fatigue and enjoy positive initiative outcomes (Iacono & Altman, 2015).

Teamwork is vital in healthcare.  When all participants are engaged in a program, goals are successfully achieved. Being able to communicate and work collectively as a team requires an appreciation for each other’s area of practice.  Every team member has an important role and being acknowledged provides a sense of responsibility and accountability. Essentially, inter-professional collaboration helps ensure that the patient is getting care that is not only accessible but also comprehensive.  The plan of a patients’ care includes active participation by all health care professionals working interdependently in accordance to the patient’s preferences, values and beliefs. The health care team accomplishes the goal of meeting the patient’s medical needs by delivering evidence-based practice.   To deliver quality care, the patient should always be involved.

There continue to be many concerns confronting hospitals and other healthcare facilities in America regarding their quality care and patient care. According to The American College of Healthcare Executives (2015), “Patient safety and quality ranked second on the list of top concerns in the healthcare industry” (p. 1).” When a research paper is being completed, there is a results/findings section included, however, this section should not be used to explain the result of the paper but should be used to assist with reciting one finding without trying to infer or assess them. In this section, I will discuss the findings and applications of findings used to assist with determining if physicians should be assisting health care leaders to develop ways to improve quality care and patient safety. In conclusion, I will discuss the recommendations of research used to assist with determining if physicians should be assisting health care leaders to develop ways to improve quality care and patient safety.

The start of the change must start at its core, and that is when the imbalance between stability and chaos. The need for change was identified at the outpatient clinic that I work at due to several reasons. First, the clinic is growing in terms of patient population and health care providers, the increasing amount of work leads to overwhelming number of tasks overdue, which in turn leads to a great amount of patient’s dissatisfaction. Second, changes are indicated due to the nurse dissatisfaction of the work responsibility, which deviates the definition of nursing from the American Nurses

This assignment will discuss the area of improvement in my team and the people involved to bring it to implementation using frameworks and concepts to support the initiative. I will also explain why it is important to patients, stakeholders and my team members. How I work with my team will also be review showing the different leadership styles I will use to get the best possible outcome. I will also show how I intend to plan the rest of the project over the coming weeks as well as what is left to further scope for the initiative