NR351 Week 4 Discussion 1, Nursing Roles in Quality Improvement

NR351 Week 4 Discussion 1, Nursing Roles in Quality Improvement This is a graded discussion: 50 points possible due Jan 28 Week 4: Nursing Roles in Quality Improvement How do nurses promote patient safety and improve quality at your workplace? How do you report errors and near misses? What changes would you suggest be made on your unit or facility to improve a nonpunitive culture of safety? --- Deborah Augustyniak Yesterday Jan 20 at 6:31pm Class, you may begin posting in this TD on Sunday, Jan 21, 2018, which is Preview Day for Week 4. Each of us strives to provide quality patient care with the best outcomes. The Institute of Medicine (Hayes & Gordon, 2015) stated that quality care includes providing health services to improve outcomes while including patient-centered care, good communication, and collaboration. Hayes and Gordon (2015) claimed that quality improvement is a systems-based concern. As we learn more about the nursing core competencies of safety and quality improvement this week, we must also examine our own processes. By considering potential changes, you will show leadership in your professional nursing practice. Always remember to return to the assigned discussion topic and questions (above the first post) and make sure you thoroughly address each area. Professor Augustyniak Reference Hayes, K., & Gordon, D. B. (2015). Delivering quality pain management: The challenge for nurses. AORN Journal, 101(3), 327-337. -- Response 1: 1/24/18 Professor and classmates: Safety and quality improvement is an important nursing core competency. As nurses the majority of responsibility for the patients’ safety and quality of care falls on us. At the same time, we are caring for our patients and making sure we give the best quality of care we must make sure we are conscious of our own safety. According to QSEN “the nurse of the future will minimize risk of harm to patients and providers through both system effectiveness and individual performance” (Massachusetts, 2016). Total Quality Management (TQM) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) are just two programs used to improve safety and quality and are standards that are emphasized by the Joint Commission. “Success in CQI and TQM is based on the premise that if staff members who are closest to the point of service delivery are empowered and educated on the process of incremental change, the quality and efficiency of patient care will improve” (Hood, 2018). I work for a hospice company in the admission department and I’m stationed at a local hospital. My role is to admit patient to services at the hospital and collaborate with the facility doctor, nurses, and staff to transition the patient to hospice. We often use contract beds with the hospital for patients that are not stable enough to go home. With the contract beds there’s a lot of components I have to work on simultaneously: updating the patients’ demographics in our system, speaking with the doctor and getting discharge and admission orders, making sure the floor secretary discharges the patient from their current census, having registration readmit the patient under hospice. At the end of my admission I do my own quality check. I make sure that all the orders are in by the doctor and registration switched the patient to our care. I’ve taken it upon myself since I’ve had experience where I was told it would be done and I receive a call later that day that either there’s no orders in the new chart and then frantically make phone calls to the doctor or nurses station to have them done. Mind you this during this time the patient hasn’t received the medications they need. If there is an error or near miss it must be reported to the admission manager. A service failure or event report is done. Then the nurse is called into the office for counselling with the manager. I believe that many or the errors that had could be prevented by proper training. I’ve suggested this to my manager who has implemented more in services and education trainings. References: Hood, L. (2018). Leddy & Pepper’s Professional Nursing, 9th Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health. Massachusetts Department of Higher Education Nursing initiative. (2016). Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Nursing Core Competencies© Registered Nurse. Retrieved from