Leadership and Clinical Governance

Leadership and Clinical
Governance

Contents
Part 1: ESTABLISH THE CONTEXT....................................................................................................3
Part 2: APPLY THE CLINICAL RISK MANAGEMENT MODEL....................................................4
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7

Part 1: ESTABLISH THE CONTEXT
I was a part of a clinical setting, i.e., a hospital with a staff of nearly 80 health
professionals. The hospital had trained as well as experienced professionals who were committed
to treating the patients in the best way and ensuring their speedy recovery. All of the staff
members at the clinical unit were supportive and helped me in whichever area I needed help. I
was given the responsibility of looking after the health care needs as well as medications of a
patient who was dealing with Arthritis. The patient was a 65 years old woman who was admitted
to the hospital due to pain, swelling as well as a reduced range of motion. She had difficulty
while walking and also had pain in her ankles, muscles, back and fingers. I was a trainee nurse in
the same and was under a doctor who was handling the patient’s case. The patient had been
experiencing pain for sometime and after consulting the doctor, she was admitted to the hospital.
It is important to immediately take actions to address the situation of arthritis as it can
further lead to an increased risk to the overall health of the patient. Although the hospital had a
decent infrastructure with proper conditions for the patients. In case of the respective patients,
the joints had been affected and thus, there was an increased risk for falls. There was a high risk
because the patient’s overall strength of the muscles was impaired and there was increased joint
pain with reduced functioning. The doctor had advised the patient to use hot and cold therapy,
follow a healthy diet and manager her weight. Physiotherapy was one of the major treatment
measures that the doctor had advised the patient in order to ensure that there was a reduction in
the pain and other symptoms that she had been experiencing as well. One day, while I was
examining another patient’s reports, I observed that the 65-year-old lady was trying to walk and
there was no walking stick available beside her. Also, none of her family members was present
there, I saw her and immediately rushed to provide support because had she walked without any
support, she would fall. I helped her walk to her bed and immediately asked a fellow nurse to
provide the patient with a walking stick.
My overall experience of this incident was that it is very important to keep the safety of
the patients in mind. This is because any kind of carelessness can lead the patient into a high risk
for their life. Apart from this, I think that although the doctor prescribed physiotherapy to the
patient taking into account her condition, they forgot to mention about providing the patient with
a walking stick. I think that it was a coincidence that I was around when the patient was trying to