Promoting Patients' Safety in Hospitals

This article discusses the importance of promoting patients' safety in hospitals and explores various strategies and roles involved in ensuring safety. It covers topics such as collaboration between hospital departments, measuring patients' safety, the role of the Joint Commission, and the responsibilities of the chief nursing officer. The article emphasizes the need for a collaborative approach and highlights the significance of patient-centered care and communication in maintaining safety.

Running head: PATIENT’S SAFETY 1
Patient’s Safety
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

PATIENT’S SAFETY 2
Patient’s Safety
Introduction
Patients’ safety is one of the key principles of a registered nursing practitioner.
Maintaining patients' safety in the hospital setting is vital for the achievement of the 2020
objectives regarding healthy people. Patients’ safety requires a collaborative move between the
hospital departments. However, a wide range of strategies has to be executed for the maintenance
of patients’ safety in the hospital section. Therefore, this paper is set to bring forth mechanism
that would be implemented to enhance patients' safety, the role of a chief nursing officer and
joint commission in maintaining safety, how to measure patients’ safety, and finally hospital
departments that need to work together in attaining patients’ safety.
Departments that Require to Collaborate in Promoting Patients’ Safety
Several departments in the hospital entity have the responsibility of collaborating in
ensuring patients' safety. For instance, the central sterilizing unit must work together with the
housekeeping department. The central sterilizing department plays a vital role in keeping the
instruments in the hospital clean and sterilizing them to avoid transmission of infections to the
patients and other individuals in the hospital. On the other hand, the housekeeping department is
responsible for keeping the entire hospital clean (Shivan, 2014). Therefore, both departments
should work together to comply with the principles of sanitation for the wellbeing of the patients.
The catering and food service department should work together with the nutrition and
dietetics department. Usually, the nutrition and dietetics department is made up of specialists
who are responsible for providing professional advice regarding the diet of the inpatient and
outpatient departments. Often, different diseases such as diabetes, elderly care, and kidney
problems call for special diets. Despite the professional advice provided by the nutrition and

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dietetics department, a different department (catering and food service department) engage
provides the food services to the patients. Therefore, there is a need for the two departments to
work together to ensure the food services comply with the professional expectations for the
safety and wellbeing of the patients.
The critical care department should work together with the Casualty department. Usually,
the casualty department deals with emergencies and accidents whereby patients are brought in by
ambulance. The patients at this point are provided with immediate treatment before being sent to
a specialized department. On the other hand, the critical care department (ICU) deals with
seriously ill patients with life-threatening complications (Disabled World, 2016). It is naive to
neglect the fact that most of the accidents and emergency cases involving ambulances result in
serious problems. Therefore, the safety of the patients should be guaranteed through
collaborative action between the ICU and the casualty department. In so doing, the patients in
critical zones in the casualty department will be transferred to the ICU for more medication.
Measuring Patients’ Safety
1. Reporting of adverse events: Adverse events are usually incidences that occur during
the administration of medication services to the patient but whose effect
unnecessarily cause harm to the patient (Slawomirski, Brownwood, Fujisawa, &
Klazinga, 2018). However, the integrity of this strategy will depend on in-depth
analysis and learning processes and incident disclosure. This strategy is cost effective
as it entails the use of no resources other than documentation when adverse events
occur.
2. Routine collection of data: Even though most of the data collected are used for
different reasons such as system management and funding, this information can be

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relevant in measuring the degree of harm to the patients in the hospital entity
(Slawomirski, et, al., 2018). Despite the fact that this measure consumes a lot of
time, it is economical as no costs are incurred to obtain primary data.
3. Patient-reported measures: Patients possess unique and quality personalities
regarding the quality of health care services provided by the practitioners. The
patients can tell when things happen as per the plan and when not (Slawomirski, et,
al., 2018). Therefore, patients' satisfaction is a valuable measure of safety. The
patients can be surveyed with forms to comment on the quality of services provided.
The views of the patients can be critically analyzed to assess the patients' safety. This
information plays a significant role in creating people-centered health care services
(Slawomirski, et, al., 2018). The method is also cheaper as no cots are incurred to
obtain feedback from the patients. One only needs to photocopy a single paper with
relevant questionnaires.
The Role of Joint Commission in Health Care
The Joint Commission plays fundamental roles and responsibilities in maintaining the
patient’s safety in hospitals. For instance, the commission participates in the organization and
strengthening of the safety efforts (The Joint Commission, 2018). The standards and initiatives
set by the Joint commission direct the issues surrounding patients’ safety and quality of care
(The Joint Commission, 2017). The commission also engages in the accreditation programs
which ensures quality services are provided to the patients. In so doing, patients’ safety is
promoted while strengthening community confidence in the quality of services provided in
hospitals. Accreditation by the commission provides a competitive environment in the health
sector (The Joint Commission, 2018). In so doing, the health institutions struggle to maintain a

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higher quality of their services to meet the needs of the competitive environment. The result of
these struggle in the market is the promotion of patients' safety. Joint Admission is not a
profitable organization that serves a fundamental role in educating accredited organizations. The
organization provides professional counseling and advice. As we all know, education and
training to the health professionals help in not only improving the quality of services offered but
also minimizing the number of accidents in the work area. In so doing, patients safety is highly
promoted.
Patients’ Safety Action Plan
In my future profession, I will implement the following strategies in promoting patients’ safety
Action 1: Establishment of a safety and health management system. I will formulate
guidelines that inspect the safety of enterprises and the performance of the management system. I
will incorporate all the management stuff in the decision making the process for effective
achievement of safety objectives.
Action 2: Creating awareness about the safety policies amongst the employees in the
working area. Employers and employees must understand their roles in promoting patients’
safety (Regis College, 2018). Therefore, I will initiate a training and development program for
creating awareness among the workmates.
Action 3: Creating a safety compliance plan. I will develop a team that will constantly
monitor and evaluate the degree to which employees comply with the established policies.
Monitoring and surveillance will help identify hazards before they become adverse events and
errors within the organization (Mitchell, 2017). The information collected by the organization
will play a vital role in deciding areas which require development in the organization (Regis
College, 2018).

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Action 4: Practice patient-centered care: Patients are the determiners of the degree at
which healthcare services meet the quality required. Patient satisfaction is an indication of safe
and quality services. Therefore, developing patient-centered care is the fundamental strategy in
maintaining quality services to the patients. In so doing, patients’ safety shall be promoted
within the organization.
Action 5: Communicating safety information to the patients. Educated patients play a
significant role in minimizing errors during the delivery of healthcare services. It is important for
the patients to understand the application of health-related facts to their circumstances (Regis
College, 2018). In so doing, the patients will understand their rights and prevent irrational
nursing practices that may lead to errors during service delivery.
Action 6: Contacting research to improve patients’ safety. This strategy has been greatly
employed and proven to be successful in maintaining patients’ safety. Nightingale is a typical
example of the nurses who have utilized the strategy while investigating the factors that impact
the outcome of patients’ care (American Nurses Association, 2018). It is significant to proceed
with the same tradition and strengthen the nurse-patient relationship as a strategic approach in
promoting patients' safety.
The Role of Chief Nursing Officer in Promoting Patients’ Safety
Nursing responsibilities: The chief nursing officer has the responsibility of maintaining
clinical and patient-care standards (HADP, 2019). Such standards include ensuring the patients
have the right medical care and are safe. At this point, the chief nursing officer works closely
with the stakeholders including the management staff in the hospital entity for the wellbeing of
the patients.

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Administrative responsibilities: The chief nursing officer plays a fundamental role in
planning for the daily operations in the hospital entity. Planning is a vital aspect of maintaining
safety among patients. Failure to plan is usually termed as a plan to fail. Therefore, the planning
aspect of the chief nursing officer is significant in maintaining patients' safety.
Advisory roles: The chief nursing officer has the advisory responsibilities whereby he
engages in research operations, evaluation of results and identification of the best courses of
action towards quality healthcare. In so doing, the Chief Nursing Officer maintains the patients’
safety.
Leadership role: As a leader in the health department, the chief nursing officer exercises
diverse duties that promote patients’ safety. For instance, the chief medical officer maintains
unity among the different departments of the organization thus reducing the number of errors.
Also, the Chief nursing officer engages organizes the training and development programs in the
organization thus improving the quality of services to the patients. Finally, the CNO supervises
the operations in the organization to ensure they fully comply with the standards of the Joint
Commission. Furthermore, the chief nursing officer organizes compensation for the nursing staff
which promotes motivation thus enhancing quality and safe services to the patients (NCBI,
2018).
Conclusion
Promoting patients' safety is a significant aspect in promoting healthier people in the
society. However, huge arguments are presented regarding the best approach in promoting
safety among the patients. It is vital to effectively execute roles of the chief nursing officer in
enhancing patients’ safety. The patients also need to be empowered with knowledge about their
services. Furthermore, employees need to be motivated though training and development

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programs and proper compensation. Most importantly, community development is a vital aspect
in promoting patients’ safety.
References
American Nurses Association (2018). Patient safety: A shared responsibility [online]. Retrieved
from:
http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/
OJIN/TableofContents/Volume82003/No3Sept2003/PatientSafety.html
Disabled World (2016). Hospital departments list and section definitions [online]. Retrieved
from: https://www.disabled-world.com/definitions/hospital-departments.php
HADP (2019). Five job duties of a chief nursing officer [online]. Retrieved from:
https://www.healthcare-administration-degree.net/lists/5-job-duties-of-a-chief-nursing-
officer/
Mitchell, H. (2017). Defining patient safety and quality care [online]. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2681/
NCBI (2018). Chief nursing officers’ view on meeting the needs of the professional nurse: how
this can affect patients’ outcomes [online]. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6023280/

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Regis College (2018). Seven tips for ensuring patient safety in healthcare settings [online].
Retrieved from: https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/7-tips-ensuring-patient-safety-
healthcare-settings/
Shivan, R. (2014). Different departments required in a hospital [online]. Retrieved from:
https://www.slideshare.net/rheashivan/different-departments-required-in-a-hospital
Slawomirski, L., Brownwood, I., Fujisawa, R., & Klazinga, N. (2018). Measuring Patient safety:
opening the black box [online]. Retrieved from: https://www.oecd.org/health/health-
systems/Measuring-Patient-Safety-April-2018.pdf
The Joint Commission (2017). Facts about patient safety [online]. Retrieved from:
https://www.jointcommission.org/facts_about_patient_safety/
The Joint Commission (2018). Benefits of joint commission accreditation [online].
https://www.jointcommission.org/benefits_of_joint_commission_accreditation/