Safety and Quality Care in Nursing - Weebly



Safety and Quality Care in NursingWhitney AyersFerris State UniversitySafety and Quality Care in NursingThere are many characteristics that make up a high quality nurse. They must be able to openly communicate with patients about personal information, think critically in stressful situations, and maintain a proper relationship with patients from all different backgrounds and beliefs. There is one characteristic that stands out from all the rest, and that is, a good nurse must be able to provide safe, quality to care to all patients. Giving quality care to patients is critical because it helps to build a good relationship between the nurse and their patient. The better the patient perceives the quality of care they are receiving, the more willing they will be to share information that may be needed to create a care plan. Quality care is defined as the degree to which health services for patients increases the likelihood of desired health outcomes (Mitchell, 2008, Chapter 1). Today there are many quality-assurance programs designed to promote excellence in the field of nursing. These programs hold nurses accountable for their actions and enable nursing to be accountable to society for the quality of care given to its patients. All nurses are held up to certain standards, and if these standards aren’t being meet, the deficient works will be removed (Taylor, Lillis, LeMone, & Lynn, 2011, Chapter 16). There are many different ways to define safety in regards to patient quality, but a simple definition of safety is the prevention of harm to patients. Other than the safety of themselves, a nurse’s number one priority should be the safety of their patients. Safety is a major component of what it means to provide quality care to patients. Safety can be anything from taking step to try and prevent injury to teaching patients how to prevent accidents and promote safety (Taylor et al., 2011, Chapter 26). There have been many new development in healthcare implemented around the safety of patients and prevention of accidents. Although there will never be a time when accidents are nonexistent, with new technology and teaching of healthcare staff, the quality of nursing care is increasing every day. An area of safety and quality that is interesting to me is the safety of children in child car seats. Being less than five foot myself, I was interested to learn that children age’s eight to twelve should still be sitting in a booster seat in the care if they are not large enough to be seated safely in a seat belt. This is important for the safety of children in accidents because it ensures that the seat belts design is properly utilized. Many parents do not utilize the use of child restraint seat with greatly increases the likelihood of injury in an accident. (Kuska, 2011)The theory that I believe correlates best with safety and quality care issues in nursing is Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring from 1979. This theory emphasizes on the human aspect of nursing and the scientific knowledge. Quality and safety methods are developed from evidence-based practice and are continually changing with new research. According to Watson, the nurse’s role was to establish a caring relationship with the patient, and to treat those patients in a holistic way. Watson believed that the nurse’s attitude and competence had a direct effect on the patient’s behavior. She believed that it was important to give each patient unconditional acceptance, looking at the whole picture without judgment will allow the nurse to give better quality care. This theory also explains the importance of creating an environment that is supportive, protective, and involves holistic caring of the patient’s physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I believe this is important in regards to patient safety because if the patient feels that the nurse has their best interest in mind, they will be more willing to listen and get involved with the nurse’s care plan. This theory is about treating the patient as a whole and not just from a medical standpoint, which is important when trying to give the highest quality of care. One of the main roles as a nurse explained by this theory is to promote health through knowledge and intervention. This statement explains evidence-based practice in that nurse should perform each task the best possible way in order to avoid accidents and errors ("Watson’s Theory," 2011, p. 1).ReferencesDr. Watson’s Caring Theory. (2011). Retrieved from , T. (2011, November). Taking care of children: The case for booster seats. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 37, 580-583. Retrieved from , P. H. (2008). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Retrieved from , C. R., Lillis, C., LeMone, P., & Lynn, P. (2011). Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care (7th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven Publishers. ................
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