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Quality and Safety

The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving to meet the increasingly complex demands of patients making quality and safety integral to healthcare service delivery. Today, nurses and other healthcare professionals serve more informed patients that put quality and safety first. Quality care represents the extent to which services provided meet the client’s needs and exceed their expectations. To ensure these demands are met, nurses ought to provide care by doing the right thing at the right time, and for the right patient (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 2021). Different models are available to guide quality care delivery in healthcare today. For instance, providing quality care in nursing requires adherence to the aspects of patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, safety, and informatics. On the other hand, patient safety is part of the quality care delivery continuum that focuses on minimizing harm (AHRQ, 2021). Patient safety involves the reduction of unnecessary harm associated with healthcare delivery at an acceptable minimum.

Nurses play a critical role in ensuring quality and safety while providing direct care to patients. In my role as a nursing student, I have managed to incorporate these aspects into my nursing care delivery. I always recognize each patient as unique requiring individualized care. To ensure I provide care that is acceptable, I have managed to involve patients and their families in redesigning their plan of care and making important decisions concerning their health. Secondly, I believe interprofessional collaboration is crucial to the delivery of quality healthcare services to patients. I always ensure to involve senior nurses, my colleagues, and doctors in making decisions that impact the health of my patients. Regarding the aspect of safety, I have managed to practice safely to prevent infections through hand hygiene practices and patient education. I am honest, transparent, and put the job first to minimize any harm that might result from selfish decisions.

Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence-based practice use is now widely recognized as the key to improving healthcare quality and patient outcomes. It is an approach that uses current evidence to implement changes that improve patient care including healthcare costs. Since the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, healthcare providers have focused on meeting the healthcare demands of patients based on value rather than cost (Chien, 2019). The use of evidence-based practices has then led to improved patient experiences, improved health of populations, reduced costs, and reduced burnout among healthcare providers. Studies have established that evidence-based practice use gives nurses a more active role in shaping their practice and that of other professionals (Chien, 2019). Nurses are now able to practice confidently and make informed choices due to the availability of strong evidence from research. Evidence-based practice gives a pathway from increased costs, subpar care, and unsatisfactory results.

One of the key pillars of BSN programs across all Universities today is evidence-based practice. Throughout this program, I have managed to learn how the scientific basis for nursing interventions improves care and patient outcomes. For example, working in the ICU and theatre units helped me appreciate the importance of hand hygiene in preventing healthcare-associated infections. Research provides evidence that hand hygiene practices reduce the transfer of microbes to patients through contact thus reducing infections. Apart from this practice, I have been involved in situations involving oxygen supplementation for patients with COPD. Many providers do not recommend this therapy because of the belief that it can cause issues like acidosis, hypercarbia, or even death. However, there is strong evidence that oxygen supplementation improves the quality of life for COPD patients and even helps them live longer. In addition to the above scenarios, the hospital always organizes education and training to improve the nurses’ approach to care based on new evidence-based guidelines.

Applied Leadership

Nursing leadership is one of the single most important factors in motivating and inspiring nurses today. Leadership helps build strong nurses that are able to provide quality care irrespective of the challenges faced during the process. Leadership represents the ability to guide, inspire, and support teams that are working towards a common goal (Ariosto et al., 2018). Applied leadership involves the use of certain skills including communication and problem-solving approaches to guide teams toward achieving set goals. Leadership in nursing should provide an environment that is visioned, empowered, and motivated. To effectively lead in healthcare, nurse leaders must possess qualities like emotional intelligence, integrity, critical thinking, and good communication (Ariosto et al., 2018). The nurse leader should be able to copy and emulate what other leaders do to achieve success.

Throughout the buildup of my nursing career, I have come to appreciate the power of leadership in driving quality outcomes in healthcare. I believe organizational performance is tied to leadership rather than individual efforts. During my clinical rotations, I have observed that being proactive is one way of demonstrating leadership. On many occasions, I have tried to solve problems proactively using reflections and thinking broadly about what managers could do. For instance, when a patient complains about his bed contributing to his pain, my approach will include investigating the problem and requesting a new bed or a bed transfer to make the patient comfortable. In such a situation, I don’t have to follow protocols like reporting to the charge nurse who will come later to investigate the problem when I could provide the solution instantly. Another approach that I have learned is delegation of duties and trusting fellow nurses to best perform in my absence. I understand that a good leader delegates tasks and communicates appropriately to avoid confusion and delays that could otherwise be costly.

Community and Population Health

Community health nursing is a discipline that incorporates evidence-based research to improve the health of communities. Unlike nurses who work with patients one on one, community health nurses focus on populations with different sets of needs. Their primary duty is to provide preventive care and health education to improve the health of communities (Ariosto et al., 2018). Apart from directly providing care to patients, community and population health follow the route of advocacy for better healthcare services. Community health nurses work with local communities, private organizations, and governmental institutions to influence policy changes for better health.

During the buildup of my career, I have engaged in various community health activities to influence population health. Reflecting back during my community health placement, I participated in community diagnosis using the windshield survey approach. I was able to work with colleagues and community health nurses to identify healthcare problems in the community. Additionally, I have had opportunities to promote community health through health education and awareness campaigns. The most recent one was the COVI-19 vaccination awareness campaign in one of the rural communities. Engaging in these activities has broadened my understanding of communities and how different factors influence their health. I plan to apply this knowledge to effectively manage population health in the future.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2021). Nursing and patient safety. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/nursing-and-patient-safety

Ariosto, D. A., Harper, E. M., Wilson, M. L., Hull, S. C., Nahm, E. S., & Sylvia, M. L. (2018). Population health: A nursing action plan. JAMIA Open, 1(1), 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooy003

Chien L. Y. (2019). Evidence-based practice and nursing research. The Journal of Nursing Research : JNR, 27(4), e29.

https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000346

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