Essay or Digital Narrative
This assignment requires you to develop and extend your skills in sourcing scholarly information to answer a question on a specific topic. You may submit your assignment as either a traditional essay or a recorded PowerPoint presentation. Whichever you choose.
There are eight National Safety & Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards developed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care in 2017. Choose three (3) of these Standards and discuss how they relate to nursing. Your discussion should explain why it is essential that nurses are aware of the quality and safety frameworks that govern nursing practice.
To write a correctly structured essay, your paper needs three sections: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. For your assignment, these sections might look like this.
1. The introduction
The introductory paragraph to your essay should set out the topic of the paper and how you are planning to address it. This sets the context for the rest of the essay, so the reader knows what to expect, and it should clearly address the assignment requirements. For an assignment of 1500 words, four or five sentences should be sufficient, In academic writing you should use the third person. Introductions do not usually contain references; if you are using a definition (and therefore a reference), this should be included in the first paragraph of the body of your paper rather than in the introduction. Exploring The Relationship Between Nursing And NSQHS Standards Discussion Paper
For example: “This essay will explore some of the characteristics that a professional nurse should exhibit and the professional behaviour that is appropriate to the role, in order to fulfil the responsibilities of our social contract with society. I will be concentrating on the characteristics of XXX and YYY, and describing how they can be demonstrated by a professional nurse.”
2. The body
This is where you discuss the topic in detail. It should consist of a number of paragraphs, each of which focuses on a particular aspect of the discussion. The first sentence of each paragraph (known as the topic sentence) should explain the context of that paragraph, and the rest of the paragraph will expand on this. (Please note a single sentence is NOT a paragraph – you need to expand on the idea in the sentence, or merge it with the previous or following paragraph.) It is a good idea to plan your paper around these topic sentences – use them to set out the structure of your discussion, then fill in the details. Ideas should flow from one paragraph to the next, with clear links between ideas so the flow is logical and the reader can follow your argument.
Ideas and opinions should be supported by references as they are expressed (ie don’t leave the references to the end of the paragraph, use them at the end of sentences in which the idea is used). Remember to use references whenever you use somebody else’s ideas, and to support your own ideas to produce a stronger argument.
3. The conclusion
A conclusion is not a summary of what you have done step-by-step through your essay (eg ‘I started by defining the concept, then I discussed it using references to support my argument, and now I’m concluding’). Instead, the conclusion draws together the threads of your discussion and demonstrates to your reader that you have addressed the topic you outlined in the introduction, and shows how you have proven your argument/supported your viewpoint. Again, in a paper of this length it will be quite short. (You don’t need to start it with ‘In conclusion’, as the fact that it is at the end of the essay will let your reader know that.) This is also another good opportunity to use the first person, to finish the paper strongly in your own voice. For example: “I have shown how XXX and YYY are essential characteristics for a nurse, as they allow the nurse to carry out their duties effectively and efficiently by [behaviour]. By behaving in this manner, nurses display professionalism and gain the trust and confidence of their patients and from society.”
Developed by the Australian commission of safety and quality in healthcare, National Safety and Quality Health Services (NSQHS) set of standards that aims to ensure protection of the public from harm as well as towards the improvement of care quality, provided by the health service organization. The standards of NSQHS, provides quality improvement and quality assurance to the public. This essay will elaborate over the relation of the nursing profession with three major NSQHS standards, the Medication Safety Standard, Communicating for Safety Standard and Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration Standard.
Nurses initiate to the engagement in a critical role towards the prevention of medical errors. This commentary furthermore explorers human, system as well as environmental factors which contributes to the field of medication administration mistakes as well as the nearby misses. The leaders of healthcare organisations who identify, implement as well as monitor the system for the reduction of a medical accident follows the medication safety standards (Beltrán Salazar 2016). Medical safety standards are aim towards the improvement of quality as well as the safety of the uses of medication.
According to the research data, the medication safety standard is intended each and every condition are completed enough towards the safe practice of health tools. The standard furthermore highlights the importance of safe prescription, defence as well as the administration of medicine to an effective monitoring of the uses of medicine (Safetyandquality.gov.au. 2017). It is the role of the conditions to ensure that the patients are well informed about the medicines and understand the need and the risk of their individual medicinal dose.
According to the research data the nurses uses the quality and safety systems from the clinical governance standards for managing risk associated with medication management as well as identifying the training requirements for medication management (Poorchangizi et al. 2017). While partnering with the patient, the nurses use organisational process of parenting with the standard in medication management for meeting the needs of the patient’s data, engage in active involvement with the patient for their care and share their decision. Documentation of the patient data during the commencement of the episode of care is the primary responsibility of the nurse. This is because the medication history and information of patient’s health challenges and drug reactions , helps nurses to engage in effective treatment plan for the patient. One of the major factors associated with the role of nurses in line with medication safety standards, is ensuring the right of the patient (Dudeck et al. 2015). Example : Nurses should engage in hourly check-ups of the patients and follow a proper prescription for giving medicine. Nurses should not be reluctant to their commitment of the prescription of medicines and drug concentrations.
Effective communication practices provides a key role in the health experience of a patient. Communication towards safety includes the careful and accurate exchange of data regarding the care of a person among the clinicians, multidisciplinary team and family members of the patient (Cohen, Coleman and Kangethe 2016). Clinical communication influences safety and quality outcomes throughout the healthcare journey of a patient. It is the integral part in effective communication and care that ensure high quality and safe care. According to Safetyandquality.gov.au. (2017), the leaders of the health organisation maintains system together with processes for supporting effective communication practices with the patients, nurses and patient families across the entire health service organisation. It is reported that effective communication is practised within the entire health service workforce to ensure patient safety. The intention of communicating for the safety standard is mainly to ensure a purpose driven, timely as well as an effective practice of communication and documentation which supports coordinated and continuous care towards patients. The standard furthermore recognises the importance of communication and the role of a nurse to support coordinated safe patient care. According to Eggins and Slade (2015) communication being the variable in the healthcare process, it is the role of nurses to adapt to the system for ensuring that the entire process of communication are appropriate and flexible for the benefit of the consumer as well as the patient service. Communication is thereby inherent to the role and responsibility of the nurses throughout their actions of care delivery (Sujan 2015). Relevant across the NSQHS standards, the nurses use the structural clinical handover procedure which includes the preparation and scheduling of clinical handover, supporting the patient and the family of the patient to be involved in clinical handover, being aware to the preferences and the goal of the patient and having relevant information by the means of effective health communication (Safetyandquality.gov.au. 2017). Effective communication of critical data are essential for safe care of the patient. Nurses and multidisciplinary clinical teams use effective clinical communication for effectively communicating critical data, risks as well as alerts in a timely way while making any certain decision regarding the health care of a patient in accordance with the patience wish. Interpersonal communication among the patient and the nurse for the most satisfying the innate requirements of the patient as per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As per ‘Communicating For Safety Standards’, effective clinical communication contributes to the opportunity of individualized and patient centered care in the nursing role. The nurses who take time for understanding the concerns and unique challenges by engaging in good communication will be beneficial advocating and addressing the health issues the patient is suffering from. Example : Nurses should display kindness, clinical security to the patient by their actions and clinical communication so that they can successfully establish good rapport with the patient and can learn about their internal health challenges if any.
Among the NSQHS standards, the recognising and responding to the ‘Acute Deterioration Standard’ in clinical setting illustrates the criteria and the actions for the wide hospital system for the response and recognition towards the clinical health degradation of the patients in the hospital (Mitchell, Spencer and Edmiston Jr 2015). Based on the national consensus statement, this standard illustrates how the leaders of health service organisation maintain and setup system for the response and recognition to acute deterioration. In line to the recognition and responding to acute deterioration standard, the nurses use response and recognition system in patient health facilities. The standard aims to ensure that acute determination of a person can be recognised and appropriate actions are taken. According to the research studies, clinical deterioration is the significant challenge within the acute settings of nursing care. Nurses play a vital role in the process of post operative patient monitoring (Griffiths et al. 2016). It is the role of the nurses to address the symptoms of the acute deterioration of a patient that includes acute changes and psychological changes in mental state and cognition. In line with duty and the responsibility of the nursing profession, factors contributing to the failure to respond and recognition of the deterioration of the patient includes several factors. Exploring The Relationship Between Nursing And NSQHS Standards Discussion Paper These includes, the lack of nursing awareness on their potential for the mental state of a patient and also regarding the benefits of early recognition and delirium for the patient’s safety (Safetyandquality.gov.au. 2017).
The Delirium clinical care standard of the commission illustrates over the importance of the nursing job role to be alert and asses any observed changes in the mental state of a person. As per standards, it is the role of the nurses to identify the risk of the patient in developing delirium m assess the possible causes, cognitive functions, behavioural changes, physical actions, and thereby document the symptoms for planning a proper and effective treatment. The nursing professionals thus, require to adopt special skills for the management of acute deterioration of the patients so that they can deliver advanced care and lie support. According to the World Health Organization (2017), acute deterioration includes worsening symptoms such as cognitive and psychological changes in the status of patients health. Nursing role towards addressing the deterioration includes implementation of advancement care plan, advanced life support with aseptic techniques for a proper and effective assessment of the health condition of the patient (Safetyandquality.gov.au. 2017). Example – The nurses should handle the situation of adverse drug reaction and take part in antimicrobial stewardship for the reduction of the risks associated with antimicrobial resistance in the patient.
It is thus essential for nurses to be aware of the safety and quality framework that governs the nursing practices. This is because the role of the nurses are primarily involved within the administration of medicine across several healthcare setting (Mitchell, Spencer and Edmiston Jr 2015). As per medication safety standards, it is the role of the nurse to ensure better access of patient data as well as support of clinical decision for the reduction of the causes related to medical accidents. Furthermore, being aware of the quality and safety framework, provides the nurses with a clear goal regarding critical information about the health standard of a patient and to address an effective care plan.
Conclusion
In line with the Medication Safety Standard, Communicating for Safety Standard and Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration Standard, organised and wide practices of nursing needs to be practiced in the health service organisation for supporting as well as promoting safety for manufacturing, dispensing as well as monitoring the effects of medicines. Nurses play a major role in ensuring patient’s safety by adhering to the principles and the standards of NSQHS.
References
Beltrán Salazar, O.A., 2016. The meaning of humanized nursing care for those participating in it: Importance of efforts of nurses and healthcare institutions. Investigación y Educación en Enfermería, 34(1), pp.18-28.
Cohen, J.F., Coleman, E. and Kangethe, M.J., 2016. An importance-performance analysis of hospital information system attributes: A nurses’ perspective. International journal of medical informatics, 86, pp.82-90.
Dudeck, M.A., Edwards, J.R., Allen-Bridson, K., Gross, C., Malpiedi, P.J., Peterson, K.D., Pollock, D.A., Weiner, L.M. and Sievert, D.M., 2015. National Healthcare Safety Network report, data summary for 2013, device-associated module. American journal of infection control, 43(3), pp.206-221.
Eggins, S. and Slade, D., 2015. Communication in clinical handover: improving the safety and quality of the patient experience. Journal of public health research, 4(3).
Griffiths, P., Ball, J., Drennan, J., Dall’Ora, C., Jones, J., Maruotti, A., Pope, C., Saucedo, A.R. and Simon, M., 2016. Nurse staffing and patient outcomes: Strengths and limitations of the evidence to inform policy and practice. A review and discussion paper based on evidence reviewed for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Safe Staffing guideline development. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 63, pp.213-225.
Mitchell, A., Spencer, M. and Edmiston Jr, C., 2015. Role of healthcare apparel and other healthcare textiles in the transmission of pathogens: a review of the literature. Journal of Hospital Infection, 90(4), pp.285-292.
Poorchangizi, B., Farokhzadian, J., Abbaszadeh, A., Mirzaee, M. and Borhani, F., 2017. The importance of professional values from clinical nurses’ perspective in hospitals of a medical university in Iran. BMC medical Ethics, 18(1), p.20. Exploring The Relationship Between Nursing And NSQHS Standards Discussion Paper