National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS) were created to improve healthcare quality and protect the public from harm. This article focuses on Clinical Governance and Blood Management, two of the eight NSQHS standards. Clinical Governance includes elements such as education and training, clinical auditing, risk management, information management, clinical effectiveness, and research and development. Blood Management involves the process of blood donation and transfusion, and emphasizes the importance of proper storage and management to prevent infections. The article provides examples of how these standards were applied in nursing practice.

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National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards
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National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.
INTRODUCTION
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare together with the
Australian government, the clinical experts as well as patients came up with the National Safety
and Quality Health Service standards. The main objective behind this was to shield the general
public from harm as well as improving on the overall quality of the healthcare in the country
(Quick, 2013). There are eight in total and they include clinical governance, blood management
standards, comprehensive care standards, partnering with consumers, medication safety standard,
preventing and controlling health associated infection, communicating for patient safety and
finally recognizing and responding to acute deterioration standards. For the purposes of the
interview however, I will only demonstrate an understanding of the two of them which include
Clinical Governance and Blood management standard.
Clinical Governance
Clinical governance is a branch of the NSQHS whereby health care institutions are
accountable for continuous improvement in the quality of their services then provide an
environment in which there would be excellent clinical care. I have come to realize during my
practice that clinical governance has several elements which include education and training,
clinical auditing, openness, Risk management, information management, clinical effectiveness
and finally research and development (Duffy, 2013). During my nursing practicum, there was a
scenario I came across whereby a certain patient was interested in retrieving his medical
information that he had been subjected to the treatment.The Health Information Records
department easily retrieved the data that had been stored on the computer seven years ago.After

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this scenario, I realized how important management of information is at the healthcare facility.
(Goodman et al., 2016). Information management is an element of clinical governance that
ensures proper collection, management and the utilization of information within the healthcare
institutions and it determines how effective health problems can be detected. It also assists in
defining different priorities and coming up with new ways or methods and finally allocation of
resources so as to improve the health outcomes. Mismanagement of information is very common
especially when handing over shifts.
During my nursing practicum one day, There was a health drive to ensure that all the
healthcare professions are immunized against all the infectious diseases .This move is very
healthy and in line with the NSHQS under risk management. The rationale behind all this is to
prevent the workers from infections like hepatitis that can spread through contact of fluids like
blood and sweat while nurse are handling patients especially at the emergency department.
(Vincent & Amalberti, 2015). This act of immunization is a component with Clinical governance
under risk management. Risk management ensures that all practitioners are immunized against
infectious diseases and also work under very safe environment. They should also be updated on
current quality assurance techniques.
Education and training is an element of the clinical governance. Education and training is
very important in the nursing practice as it provides new methods of nursing interventions .It is
therefore necessary for all the nurses to spare time and attend regular education and training.
During my nursing practicum, the head of departments had drafted a schedule in which all the
healthcare workers would attend classes at least two times a day. Education and training is very
important since it provides new methods of doing things. Advocating for continuous education
and training by the head of departments was therefore a very healthy move.

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Blood management
Blood management is another NSQHS that I understand very well. Blood management
involves the process from which the blood is donated up to the point that the blood is introduced
into the body of the patient or the recipient who is in need of it (Clark, Collier, & Currow, 2015).
Blood is a component that should be well managed since nearly all infections arise as a result of
contact with infected blood. There are different scenarios during my nursing practice that have
necessitated the use of blood management skills as an NHSQ so that I can provide quality blood
to the patient.
During one of my routine nursing practice in the blood transfusion department, there was
a time in which I transfused blood to a patient successfully after carrying out al the necessary
tests.This was due to the previous seminars I had been attending on blood transfusion.I had been
taught on how well to prepare fresh frozen plasma,platelet rich plasma and red cell
concentrates.Another important thing I had learnt about blood management is the temperature for
stroge whereby blood components are supposed to be stored at normal body temperature to
prevent haemolysis.Another important aspect I had learnt is storage under hygienic conditions to
avoid infections to the recipient.In this context therefore,I utilized both the elements of education
and training and blood management as components of the NSQHS. (Shander, Isbister, &
Gombotz, 2016).

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References
Clark, K., Collier, A., & Currow, D. C. (2015). Dying in Australian hospitals: will a separate
national clinical standard improve the delivery of quality care? Australian Health
Review, 39(2), 202. doi:10.1071/ah14175
Duffy, J. R. (2013). Quality Caring in Nursing and Health Systems.
doi:10.1891/9780826110152
Goodman, D., Ogrinc, G., Davies, L., Baker, G. R., Barnsteiner, J., Foster, T. C., … Thor, J.
(2016). Explanation and elaboration of the SQUIRE (Standards for Quality
Improvement Reporting Excellence) Guidelines, V.2.0: examples of SQUIRE
elements in the healthcare improvement literature. BMJ Quality & Safety, 25(12), e7-
e7. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004480
Quick, O. (2013). Patient Safety, Law Policy and PracticeImproving Health Care Safety and
Quality: Reluctant Regulators. Medical Law Review, 22(1), 137-143.
doi:10.1093/medlaw/fwt018
Shander, A., Isbister, J., & Gombotz, H. (2016). Patient blood management: the global view.
Transfusion, 56, S94-S102. doi:10.1111/trf.13529
Vincent, C., & Amalberti, R. (2015). Safety in healthcare is a moving target. BMJ Quality &
Safety, 24(9), 539-540. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004403