Patient Safety
Building a safer health system in healthcare centers such as hospitals requires the adoption of a patient safety culture that is championed by each healthcare provider through proactively taking measures to provide a safe environment in which patients can recover their health. Leadership is the central factor that leads to the series of changes effected in the SICU and Hospital Hope at large and was inclusive of all staff regardless of their rank. The nurse manager played a pivotal role that consisted of actively promoting a culture that provided the safest environment for patients that was possible to be established as the daily practice. This form of leadership was not punitive and instead sought to learn from errors with the purpose of all hospital staff providing oversight to each other in a respectable manner. The framework most suitable for implementing practice change should entail the seven driving factors that promote safety through establishment and adherence to comprehensive safety policies. The seven factors included in the framework are patient-centered culture, leadership, a just culture, evidence-based practice, communication, and teamwork. Leadership is the most significant factor that facilitated the smooth and immediate transition to a more effective patient safety culture in Hospital Hope. Leadership is supplemented with other factors and these together form a framework that can effect change and make healthcare centers safer places for patients besides achieving the financial objectives of the health centers.
Leadership the most important factor in transforming Hospital Hope
The changes that took place to make Hospital Hope safer for patients especially those in the SICU can be attributed to the inspirational leadership of the management, the nurse managers, and the individual nurses. The IOM report had stimulated more awareness of patient safety issues, this had brought an impetus for all health care providers at all levels of leadership to want to embrace patient safety culture including at Hospital Hope thus taking ownership of it (Sammer & James, 2011). The nurse manager conceptualized a hospital environment where transformation for achieving the best quality and safe care possible would be available and set out to make it happen. The nurses took it upon themselves to lead inpatient care be it at the bedside or in the boardroom by taking ownership of patient care and leading from wherever they stand (Sammer & James, 2011). Thus, leadership from higher levels beyond the hospital organization down to the individual workers and even the medical assistants were part of the leadership team that propelled the hospital towards practices that promoted the safety of patients entrusted to its care.
The safety records achieved at Hospital Hope could not have been possible without the contributions of the nurse manager who actively promoted a daily practice in which the environment for patients was the safest that was possible. The major contribution made by nurse managers at the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) was to lead by example thus influencing their teams towards a culture that provides a quality and safe environment for the patient (Sammer & James, 2011). This was done by encouraging the team members to raise their concerns about the safety of their patients and encouraged those with special training and experience to bring their suggestions forward. The nurse manager in turn reported their findings to higher-level management and obtained support to aid in achieving the goal of safety in all operations of the hospital. Thus the leadership of the nurse manager played a key role in transforming excellence in terms of safety and quality success.
The aim of investigation and scrutiny on the practices of all healthcare workers in the hospital was meant to identify mistakes to learn from them instead of mete out punishment. This move was calculated to encourage all staff members to freely give their input without fear of victimization or reprisal even when they identified the mistakes of more powerful colleagues. Thus, nurses were encouraged to come forward with patient safety issues as well as patient harm through practicing a just culture that acknowledged the fallibility of humans and enhanced accountability. For example, a doctor who was observed failing to observe the best practice in preventing infection could be reminded by a graduate nurse of the necessity for doing the task the right way without negative consequences to the nurse (Sammer & James, 2011). Thus a platform was put in place that allowed the nurses to communicate their ideas to the leadership to improve the care for patients in terms of safety and quality.
Most effective framework for transitioning a health care center
The framework most suitable for implementing practice change should entail the seven driving factors that promote safety through establishment and adherence to comprehensive safety policies. The Seven Factors Framework is one best suited for facilitating the transition of an institution to a culture of patient safety within the shortest time possible and with minimal resources. This framework is facilitative in the fulfillment of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) four-tiered approach which attempts to improve the safety of patients through instating several changes in health care delivery (Sammer & James, 2011). The approach attempts to mobilize the nation to provide support through leadership forums, tools and research, and conventions concerning the safety of patients. It also provides a system in which errors are not ignored but instead serve to inform healthcare organizations by availing better knowledge that can be used to improve standards at all levels. Therefore, the seven-factor approach is sufficiently comprehensive and effective to ensure smooth transformation towards better safety outcomes.
The central tenet to the nursing profession is to devote oneself to the welfare of those committed to one’s care which signifies that a safe environment is one in which patient-centered care is provided. Sammer and James (2011) identify these central factors to the comprehensive plan towards a safer environment for patients as leadership, patient-centered culture, a just culture, evidence-based practice, communication, and teamwork (Sammer & James, 2011). A just culture is one in which the concept of accountability is more concerned with viewing human errors as a learning opportunity as opposed to being opportunities for punitive actions. The critical decisions on changes should be based on evidence that should be promptly communicated to enhance an environment of trust and teamwork. Establishing a patient care culture is a process that needs adequate and strategic planning and this necessitates a suitable framework that can be used to predict and anticipate all challenges and mitigate them to enhance the process of achieving the organizational culture in hospitals where patient safety is promoted.
In summary, within the Hospital Hope leadership is supplemented with other factors and these together form a framework that can affect change and make healthcare centers safer places for patients besides achieving financial objectives of the health centers. The leadership from higher levels beyond the hospital organization down to the individual workers and even the medical assistants were part of the leadership team that propelled the hospital towards practices that promoted the safety of patients entrusted to its care. Thus the leadership of the nurse manager played a key role in transforming excellence in terms of safety and quality success. The nurse leaders and managers also played a role in which a platform was put in place that allowed the nurses to communicate their ideas to the leadership to improve the care for patients in terms of safety and quality. For a hospital that requires changes in its practice, the seven-factor approach is sufficiently comprehensive and effective to ensure smooth transformation towards better safety outcomes. Establishing a patient care culture is a process that needs adequate and strategic planning and this necessitates a suitable framework that can be used to predict and anticipate all challenges and mitigate them to enhance the process of achieving the organizational culture in hospitals where patient safety is promoted.
References
Sammer, C., & James, B. (2011). Patient safety culture: The nursing unit leader’s role. Online J Issues Nurs, 16(3). doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No03Man03
