Quality and Sustainability Paper Part Two - Analysis and Application The Quality and Sustainability Paper is a practice immersion assignment designed to be completed in three sections. This is part tw

QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY-PART ONE 8

Quality and Sustainability

Name

Quality and Safety Part One

School Name

July 8, 2020

DNP 835

Quality and Safety Measures and Their Relationship and Role in Nursing Science Today

The main objective of this paper is to provide fundamental definitions pertaining to patient safety as well as health care quality. The proof of these definitions are summarized in the application of nursing in the contemporary field and the various components needed in evaluating quality outcomes.

From a nursing perspective, quality can be described as a maximum balance between possible realizations and a module of values and norms. Moreover, the definition of quality measure can be defined as the umbrella that covers the ethical practices and does not occur solely but as an abstraction. The term quality can also be defined in terms of standard measures where nursing services are postulated to achieve improvements and consistencies that are in line with contemporary practices. These are supposed to fulfill the desired outcomes from patients. On the other hand, safety measures in nursing can be defined as the emphasis placed on nursing systems and care programs to prevent the occurrence of harm and errors on patients. As pointed out by Taylor, et. al., (2018), safety measures have been devised to reduce risks emanating from adverse exposure to medical-related care. These can be across a range of conditions and diagnoses within the practice of nursing.

The relationship between safety measures and healthcare quality have largely intertwined as far as nursing is concerned. The contemporary nursing is being used as a key component in improving quality delivery through safety measures. Moreover, functional components of intensive care units, neonatal care, and general hospital care services have developed extensive structures and programs for improving outcomes through quality. According to Taylor et. al., (2018), the safety measures in contemporary nursing has considered multiple quality domains to be synonymous with safety. This implies that both quality and safety measures are run by care systems, improvement methods, and understanding of systems. Consequently, many improvement programs have applied to and safety goals with certain safety measures requiring specific approaches and tools in regards to quality. This relationship requires an understanding of the necessary tools for improving safety and quality.

In contemporary nursing patient safety has often been viewed as a critical responsibility in ensuring that medication errors are avoided. In a wide responsibility, the roles of these dimensions of safety and quality domains remain important within the purview of contemporary nursing. As asserted by Taylor, et. al., (2018), the breadth and depth of patient safety contribute to the coordination and integration of diverse aspects of quality directly provided by nursing. The integrative function of safety is largely considered as a component of enhanced nurse staffing. In this regard, the number of registered nurses has extensively increased thereby reducing mortalities and diagnostic complications (Taylor, et. al., 2018). Consequently, positive indicators of quality care serve the importance of sensitizing nursing inputs that would outdo what would be considered as undesirable outcomes. Therefore, quality care measures such as appropriate self-care and health-promoting behaviors are important in integrating numerous provider inputs. Furthermore, quality measures components in contemporary nursing care are centered on the conceptual rather than measured indicators.

How Quality or Safety Measures Are Applied in Nursing Science

Global data postulates that about 444,000 patients lose their lives due to avoidable nursing errors (Gliklich, et. al., 2014). However, there are contemporary measures that have been devised by nurses, consumers, and support staff in unison to improve patient safety outcomes and reduce these numbers. This is largely built on team performance which enhances the ability of the care providers to minimize harm, avoid errors, and reduce possibilities of mistakes emanating from communication and planning of nursing schedules. An example of a contemporary application of safety measures in the nursing field is the establishment of safety and health management systems. The safety and health management system covers safety and healthy wellbeing within a company. As pointed out by Grove & Gray, (2018), the safety measure stipulates that patients, nurses, and support staff have a common goal.

As an assessment structure for care institutions, safety, and health management systems have been established under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In this regard, nurses are required to layout guidelines and rules that would ensure enterprise safety and performance. Such guidelines would include; conducting periodic reviews on care programs and evaluating existing practices and policies in conformity to safety guidelines. Additionally, this tool is meant to encourage and instill safety protocols compliance where administrators, nurses, and support staff are engaged in decision-making processes relevant to patient safety. This is expected to be a regular organizational performance and reviews conducted to determine whether the intended safety outcomes are near achievements. Furthermore, administrators in contemporary nursing science have exploited these regular reviews to obtain information used in adjusting organizational policies.

According to Grove & Gray, (2018), consumers (patients) have been historically found to play passive roles towards their nursing recoveries. Through the installation of the safety and health management systems within the nursing field, patients have been offered opportunities to comprehend treatment plans and offer questions whenever necessary. These environments, therefore, make patients place their absolute trust in nurses and may even assist nurses in minimizing errors. For instance, contemporary nursing is encountering interactions with patients who are educated and understand care terms and can assist in reducing medically related errors. In this manner, the system has facilitated quality addition in the system of nursing by facilitating personal recovery efforts and tread towards safer treatments.

Additionally, the implementation of this tool has been enhanced by the online wealth of information. This facilitates the achievement of quality and safety. In the end, these systems have enabled organizations to achieve effective health and safety policies set out in clearly defined directions. Responsibilities to working environments and patients are met through nurse commitment, planning, performance, and implementation of the policies.

Quality Components Needed to Analyze A Health Care Program's Outcomes

In every healthcare system, missions and visions are placed in improving patient outcomes. However, successful patient outcome improvements cannot occur without placing effective care programs that would ensure quality measurements. According to Gliklich et. al., (2014), a successful healthcare system aimed at achieving effective patient outcome would prioritize measurements regarding integrated care, transparency, and interoperability. From these, efforts can lead to the creation of data-driven cultures where components such as data transparency, data integration and transitions of care, and interoperable data systems can be derived. These would enable effective exchange of outcomes measurements.

First, the component of transparency defines the whole journey of healthcare. This component works through a data system where nurses and patients are capable of having programs that utilize these data as a determinant to healthcare decisions. This is largely used in providing reassurances that the provided programs are issuing the best care as far as projected outcomes are concerned. Consequently, this component regarding data transparency would evaluate the extent of compliance to care guidelines as well as analyzing achievable outcomes. Given the dynamics in healthcare systems, having transparent data would enable nurses to track compliance to care guidelines, and inform where necessary reviews are required.

Secondly, integration and transitions of care highlight the various shifts that are achieved in healthcare systems. Care transition refer to movement of patient to various care providers due to uncoordinated care. When coordination is achieved across various health settings, then an integration is achieved. As pointed out by Gliklich, et. al., (2014), the integrated component has enabled patients to transition from their worst status to normal states. Consequently, the transition care programs are important in the critical care management as well as the provision of the appropriate care at the cheapest cost. Pursuing these objectives enables the identification and assessment of risks and opportunities (Grove & Gray, 2018).

Lastly, the interoperability component is used to define the ease with which data sharing between integrated departments and systems. It is defined as the capability of various information systems to access, integrate and exchange data within an organization or beyond. This is an important component within the integrated system since the outcome measurements and improvements depend on the ability of the system to share data. Interoperability is exploited to provide a single truth source, and this forms an important ingredient towards better outcome measurements (Gliklich, Dreyer, & Leavy, 2014). Analysis of these components would translate to quality outcomes which reflect through reduced mortality, safety care, reduced readmissions, and effective care.

References

Gliklich, R. E., Dreyer, N. A., & Leavy, M. B. (Eds.). (2014). Registries for evaluating patient outcomes: a user’s guide (No. 13). Government Printing Office.

Grove, S. K., & Gray, J. R. (2018). Understanding Nursing Research E-Book: Building an Evidence-Based Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Taylor, C., Lynn, P., & Bartlett, J. (2018). Fundamentals of nursing: The art and science of person-centered care. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.