Reflection on NSQHS Standards in Nursing Practice

Running head: NRSG367 ASSESSMENT 2 REFLECTION
1
TRANSITION TO PROFESSIONAL NURSING PRACTICE: REFLECTION
Title page
Student Name:
Semester 2, 2019
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NRSG367 ASSESSMENT 2 REFLECTION 2
Introduction: The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS)
(Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017), has been
developed for the purpose of enlightening and guiding healthcare organizations towards
the deliverance of quality, safe, patient-centred and evidence-based healthcare services
to patients. A key learning which I acquired during my Bachelor’s academic experience
is the need to ensure compliance to these standards during professional practice as a
Registered Nurse (RN) in the future. The following paper will demonstrate my reflection
of the importance of NSQHS Standards during my experience as a nursing student in
my Bachelor’s practicum.
Industry standard 1: STANDARD 3.8: HAND HYGIENE: INFECTION PREVENTION
AND CONTROL SYSTEMS
o Reporting : The violation of this standard occurred during one my
incidences as a nursing student where I was required to procure practical
experiences from a local healthcare organization as a part of my
Bachelor’s academic requirements. On the second day of my practicum, I
was required to report to the assigned RN for learning on basics
underlying medication administration in patients. After reporting however ,
I noticed that the RN promptly proceeded to intravenously inject the
prescribed medication to the patient, without washing her hands and
wearing gloves. Fortunately, at that very moment, the Nurse Practitioner
was on her rounds and immediately corrected the discrepancy.

NRSG367 ASSESSMENT 2 REFLECTION 3
o Responding: I was deeply shocked and astonished to see that my
immediate supervisor, the RN, who is seemingly assumed to posses
greater healthcare literacy and awareness, engaging in such unhygienic
and unsafe patient care practices. Not only was this act of hers a serious
violation of the NSQHS Standards of Hand Hygiene (Australian
Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017). but was also a
violation of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Standard 1 of
Practice, which dictates RNs to reflect and conduct evidence based care
(NMBA, 2016). Even though the mishap was corrected on time, the
incident provoked me to reflect on possible personal and professional
implications for my future nursing practice.
o Relating : The incident came as a significant shock to me considering that
maintenance of hand hygiene is one of the most basic considerations
which we are taught during childhood as well as during our academic
engagement in nursing. A simple act like not washing my hands on time
has led to personal experiences of illness during my childhood. Indeed,
lack of adherence to hand hygiene practices by healthcare professionals
like nurses during patient care results in adverse health consequences like
healthcare associated infections across patients which can include
patient-to-patient transmission of communicable diseases, dermal
infections or respiratory illnesses (Sickbert-Bennett et al., 2016). Thus, the
RN’s lack of adherence to such basic patient care needs not only
increases the risk of negative healthcare outcomes on patients but also