Importance of Questions in Promoting Patient Safety

This document discusses the importance of asking questions in promoting patient safety and improving healthcare outcomes. It explores a case study of Mrs. Kwong, who is suffering from depression and other health issues. The document emphasizes the significance of collecting cues and process information in nursing, as well as the role of communication in providing holistic care. It also provides references for further reading.

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Contents
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
Summarization of patient situation..............................................................................................1
Collection of the cues..................................................................................................................1
How questions can promote patient safety..................................................................................4
Process information.....................................................................................................................5
Reflection.....................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................7

MAIN BODY
Summarization of patient situation
Mrs. Kwong was being admitted to the medical ward. It has been analyzed from the case
study that patients husband has died 8 months ago. She also has 2 children who lives far away.
Her whole family lives in Malaysia and she has shifted to Australia with her husband. The
respiratory rate of service user was taken at 16 breathe per minute which can be considered as
normal (Hockenberry and Wilson, 2018). It has been analyzed that Mrs. Kwong felt quiet
depressed and sad after the death of her husband. Her blood pressure was rated at 95/60 mm gg.
This is quiet low there may be chances that patient can suffer from the problem of hypotension.
It has also been analyzed from the case study that service user is also been suffering from the
problem of Melanoma and she has no one to talk about. She also does not feel like eating all the
time.
Collection of the cues
Open ended questions: Person centered explanation and reason for
asking
Tell me everything in detail about the
health history?
It is really necessary for health care
professionals to know about the medical
history of Mrs. Kwong so that they can have
clear idea about the problem faced by her. It
will help the nurses in making their quality of
services better by providing patient with
person centered care (Potter and et.al., 2016).
It has been analyzed from the case study that
patient’s husband has died 8 months ago and
from that time she has been feeling alone and
depressed. From the medical chart of service
user it can be analyzed that the Blood pressure
rate of patient is quiet low which means she
has a risk of suffering from the problem known
as hypotension. Medical chart has also
provided the details that heart rate of patient
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has been measured at 115 per beat. It can be
taken as quiet risky and it may happen that
patient can face problem of tachycardia in
near future which can make their health
outcome deprived. Temperature of patient is
38.4 that can be considered as normal which
means that service user is not been suffering
from fever or high chills. Medical chart has
also provided us the detail that specific gravity
of Mrs. Kwong is 10.25. It has been analyzed
that this is quiet high and patient can suffer the
problem of dehydration because of it. It has
also been analyzed from the medical chart that
service user has high level of Ketones which
means that service user can face the situation
of high diabetes. In order to improve the
health outcome of patient, it is really necessary
for health care professionals to provide holistic
care so that quality of life of patient can be
improved. It will also help them in knowing
about patient’s exact situation.
What is your living situation? It has been analyzed from the case study that
Mrs. Kwong has married a man who was 20
years older than her. She also has two children
leaving far away. It has been analyzed with the
communication that patients family live in
Malaysia and she was living alone in
Australia. Her husband has died 8 months
ago. After that she became depressed and sad.
She also has no one to talk to. Patients relative
leaved far away and she feels like living in
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isolation. It has also been analyzed that Mrs.
Kwong daughter does not care about her and
she does not ask her questions about how
patient feels. This information will health care
professional in analyzing about if service user
is suffering from depression. This will help
them in providing Mrs. Kwong with emotional
support so that her health outcome can be
enhanced. It is really necessary for health care
professionals to know about all these
information. This will assist nurses in making
better nurse-patient relationship (Watkins,
Whisma and Booker, 2016). Listen and
empathize can have a profound effect on
biological and functional health outcomes as
well as patient satisfaction and experience of
care. It will help them in improvising the
health outcome.
What problems you are currently facing
related to your mobility?
It has been anlysed from the case study that
Mrs. Kwong has a wound on her leg. It can be
Melanoma. This is the reason that she is
unable to walk properly. It has hampered her
health outcome. It is one of the most serious
type of skin cancer. In this type of cancer the
patches and color of skin changes. This type of
cancer is only curable when it has been
detected at an early stage. Health care
professionals need to analyses whether the
treat will involve surgery, chemotherapy or
immunotherapy in order to improve health
outcome.
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Are you eating proper diet? It has been analysed from the case study that
Mrs. Kwong is alone and depressed. She also
feels like not eating anything. She has lost her
appetite. It means that patient is really
depressed and anxious. It is really necessary
for health care professionals to communicate
with her family member and provide her with
family centered care. This can assist them in
improvising the health outcome and patient
might improve their appetite (Giger, 2016). It
is really useful for health care professionals to
ask these types of questions in order to know
exact condition of Mrs. Kwong. This will help
them in enhancing her health outcome.
Do you feel alone or depressed? It has been analyzed from the case study and
even by asking questions to Mrs. Kwong. She
is alone and also feels sad and depressed.
There can be chances that she may be in
depression because of her husband death and
also her children not beside her. She is unable
to communicate with her son because of the
time difference. All this information can help
health care professional in providing acute and
holistic acre. This will enhance patient’s health
outcome.
How questions can promote patient safety
In the context of importance of question Sfantou and et.al., (2017) stated that questions
asked by patients play an important role because it helps professionals in identifying the main
problem from which patients is suffering. From the above study, it can be said that patient were
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asked about her medical history in detail and with the help of this question, some problems
identified such as: hypotension, tachycardia high diabetes. It can only be possible when patient
support or cooperate by giving all answers of questions asked by professionals. By getting
answers of all questions and knowing the main problem, nurses and professional can provide
them better healthcare services. For example, by knowing medical history of the patient or
asking questions, it is identified that Mrs. Kwong has a wound on her leg which can be
Melanoma, a type of skin cancer. By getting answers it is being identified at early stage and in
this case it is important to identify the nature of problem otherwise, it becomes difficult to save
the patient. So, it can be said that questions play an important role, as it helps in improving
patients health and protecting them at early stage.
In addition, Osei-Frimpong, Wilson and Lemke, (2018) stated that questions asked by
healthcare professional from patients play an important role in improving health of patients. One
of the main reasons of it is, they can get all answers related to health of patients and for
providing healthcare services it is important to have knowledge about health and all disease. For
example: in the case of Mrs. Kwong, it was important to know all problems from which she is
suffering in order to give her the best healthcare services. From this, it is identified she is
suffering from the problem of depression and he reason is she lost her husband 8 months ago and
her children also do not take care of her. She has no one to talk and to share her feelings. All
these informations are being identified by asking questions because these informations can not
be get from medical tests. After identifying all problems and reason, professional can provide her
emotional support which is the most important.
Process information
Process informations is all about having knowledge about patients’ current problems and
pats history in order to link the current situations with the past history. In the context of Mrs.
Kwong, it is identified that her husband died 8 months before and she lives in Australia and her
family lives in Malaysia. She has 2 children but they do not take care of her so, she feels
depressed and lonely. From the above scenario and case study, it is also analyzed that the patient
is not only suffering from depression but also from many other diseases. Reasons are she does
not take proper and nutrients diet because there is no one who can take care of her. She is lonely
and that is why she does not feel good and almost have lost hope to live and lack of willingness
to live create several problems (Foronda, MacWilliams and McArthur, 2016). From above
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scenario and case study of Mrs. Kwong, it is also analyzed that patient is suffering from
tachycardia and high diabetes. In the context of Diabetes it can be said that one of the main
reason of this disease is tension. Above scenario gave a lot of informations about her living
situation as she lives far away from her relatives, her husband died 8 months ago, her children
are not concerned about her and all these informations play a vital role in providing better health
services.
Reflection
As a nurse or healthcare provider of the patient, Mrs. Kwong I can say that this process of
healthcare improved my knowledge to the great extent. I came to know about the importance of
having a healthy and effective relation with children and lack of this relation can create several
problems. In the case of Mrs. Kwong, the main problem was depression and it was all because of
her loneliness after demise of her husband, living far away from relatives and having children
who are not concerned about her. So, the patient became completely lonely after the demise of
her husband and got depressed. I also came to know that depression is not limited to anxiety and
behavioral changes problems but is the serious problem which can create many other problems
as like it created in Mrs. Kwong like diabetes and others. In addition, I also want to share my
feeling as to the what extent patients informations play an important role and all these
informations only can be get by asking questions and having an effective communication skill.
Communication skills play an important role because it makes a patient feel comfortable and
make them able to give answers in detail in order to provide those better healthcare services
(Mou and et.al., 2018).
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Foronda, C., MacWilliams, B. and McArthur, E., 2016. Interprofessional communication in
healthcare: An integrative review. Nurse education in practice, 19, pp.36-40.
Giger, J.N., 2016. Transcultural Nursing-E-Book: Assessment and Intervention. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
Hockenberry, M.J. and Wilson, D., 2018. Wong's nursing care of infants and children-E-book.
Elsevier Health Sciences.
Mou, E. and et.al., 2018. Trust in neuroendocrine tumors: The importance of communication in
rare and chronic malignancies.
Osei-Frimpong, K., Wilson, A. and Lemke, F., 2018. Patient co-creation activities in healthcare
service delivery at the micro level: The influence of online access to healthcare
information. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126, pp.14-27.
Potter, P.A. and et.al., 2016. Fundamentals of Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier health sciences.
Sfantou, D.F. and et.al., 2017, December. Importance of leadership style towards quality of care
measures in healthcare settings: a systematic review. In Healthcare (Vol. 5, No. 4, p. 73).
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.
Watkins, T., Whisman, L. and Booker, P., 2016. Nursing assessment of continuous vital sign
surveillance to improve patient safety on the medical/surgical unit. Journal of clinical
nursing, 25(1-2), pp.278-281.
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