ANSWER:
Accountability for Clinical Outcomes and Promoting Safety and Quality
Discussion – Promoting Safety and Quality
The Joint Commission (JCT), founded in 1951, collaborates with other key health stakeholders in assessing healthcare facilities to perpetually improve the safety and quality of care through the provision of health care. It is the United States body responsible for setting standards and accrediting healthcare organizations. Those set standards are on patient safety and quality care with the inspiration of providing safe and effective care of the highest value to patients (“Measures,” n.d.). Due to the rapid technological evolution of health care and medicine, the non-profit organization regularly updates the standards to cater to the changes. Among the issues the JTC addresses are the medication management and prevention of medical errors. This discussion focuses on patient death or disability linked to medication errors such as giving wrong drugs, wrong dosages, inaccurate medicine preparation, or the incorrect administration to heart failure patients (HF).
In the United States, HF affects over five million citizens. CMS and TJC have taken the initiative to improve quality care and patient satisfaction to HF patients. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) funds numerous research activities that assess community-based interventions to reduce patient re-hospitalization chances. On the other hand, TJC offers guidelines and regulations on the discharge procedure of HF patients. Patients are discharged with clear instructions on the dietary requirements, the medication prescribed, the right dosages, and the method of application, as well as the follow-up appointment. Caregivers are instructed on what to do in case the patient worsens. CMS requires healthcare facilities to be accredited by the TJC before they release funds to the hospitals. According to Tingle (2018), this promotes quality health care and avoids the never events.
Nurses play a crucial role in almost all aspects of quality care. The nursing roles include patient care, medication management, data collection, and reporting. They are responsible for assessing and monitoring patients. They need to be educated on disease management. Nurses influence quality outcomes for patients, families, and communities (Finkelman, 2020). They significantly play a role in the reduction of adverse events such as medication errors. The nursing leaders are responsible for creating an environment with adequate staffing levels and resources to prevent unnecessary deaths. With the right nurse to patient ratio and staff expertise, patient safety outcomes are due to healthcare facilities.
Despite the efforts taken by nurses to improve patient safety and quality care, they encounter hindrances. These challenges include insufficient staffing, uneven distribution of schedules, inadequate nursing training, and advancing nursing technologies. According to research conducted by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), there is a clear connection between nursing staffing and the quality health care provided. Medical errors can be caused by fatigue, stress, or nursing inexperience (Finkelman, 2020). Nursing staffing involves all-around factors like nursing skills, experience, education, and the nurse-patient ratio.
With the ability to track patient traffic in hospitals, facilities should distribute the shifts effectively to prevent overworking nurses, which affects their overall performance and the quality of healthcare provided. The management should also support the nurses by providing a collaborative working environment and providing continuous training opportunities for healthcare providers. Moreover, a patient-centered culture should be developed where the focus is mainly on the patient rather than the revenue.
References
Finkelman, A. (2020). Quality improvement: A guide for integration in nursing. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Measures. (n.d.). Leading the Way to Zero | The Joint Commission. https://www.jointcommission.org/measurement/measures/
Tingle, J. (2018). Never events in the NHS. British Journal of Nursing, 27(3), 166-167. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2018.27.3.166
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QUESTION:
Accountability for Clinical Outcomes and Promoting Safety and Quality
Introduction
Throughout your education, patient safety and improving the quality of patient care have been examined. Through numerous readings and media pieces, you have heard about Never Events. These are serious and costly medical errors that are preventable, such as wrong-side surgery, medication errors, and hospital-acquired infections. Each of these types of medical errors is preventable. The consequences of such errors are now financial as well as legal and emotional. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services no longer reimburse for medical errors classified as Never Events.
As a nurse, how can you help to prevent these types of medical errors? What is your accountability for clinical outcomes? There are standards and core measures in place that guide nursing practice. In addition, the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) examines those components of clinical care that are specific to nursing. The NDNQI quantifies, or assesses, these nurse-sensitive components and provides specific feedback on how well nursing practice is being executed in those areas related to patient care.
This week, you will consider a series of articles that focus on strategies for ensuring safety and quality care for patients. You will also explore how successful, efficient teamwork between nurses, nursing leaders, physicians, and other medical personnel can help prevent many of the Never Eventsfrom occurring and decrease the likelihood of such events in the future.
Discussion: Promoting Safety and Quality
In the article “Managing to Improve Quality: The Relationship Between Accreditation Standards, Safety Practices, and Patient Outcomes,” the authors discuss the growing trend by medical insurance companies to eliminate reimbursement for Never Events. As these types of mistakes should be easily preventable, hospitals have developed protocols to lessen or extinguish the occurrence of these events. In addition, The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have developed core measures to guide health care providers’ efforts in improving patient safety and the quality of care delivered.
Health care organizations have developed strategic agendas to help meet these standards and reduce the incidence of Never Events. Nurses significantly influence the overall quality of health care provided and play a pivotal role in improving patient outcomes.
For this Discussion, you will consider the standards that are in place for nurses and how they can be used to improve quality of care.
To prepare for this Discussion:
- Review the information at the Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services websites on the core measures and standards presented in this week’s Resources.
- Consider the nurse’s role in supporting the organization’s strategic agenda as it relates to improving clinical outcomes.
- Conduct an Internet search for either a Never Event or a core measure, and select one to address in your post.
Respond to the following:
- How has the emphasis on quality of care, patient safety, and clinical care outcomes been impacted by specific standards emanating from TJC and/or CMS? Cite your selected core measure or Never Event in your response.
- What is the impact of the nurse’s role in clinical outcomes for the organization?
- Discuss nurse-specific challenges in influencing change in quality improvement.
- How does this influence the ability of the organization to achieve its strategic agenda?
Support your response with references from the professional nursing literature.
