Creating a Safe and High-Quality Health Care Environment

The goal of healthcare facilities is to deliver quality services by addressing the reliable care process and organizational culture. Effective leadership is crucial in enhancing high performance in healthcare facilities to facilitate the realization of organizational goals and enhance patient value. Facilities that advocate for safety define employee behaviors that enhance accountability and create value to improve organizational culture. Senior leaders must connect to the process of care by dialoguing with patients, families, and line providers. Healthcare organizations encourage a culture of safety by enacting policies that support the delivery of quality services. As a result, nurses are advised to ensure safety-related feedback and good communication (Stone et al., 2008). A supportive healthcare institution workplace encourages safety in event reporting and improved interdisciplinary communication to create a safe and high-quality healthcare environment 

All healthcare organizations strive to deliver safe and effective care to all patients. However, in Incident A, nurse Andy engaged in reckless behavior by making unsafe choices while on night duty. Although she administered four doses of lorazepam to the patient, she only documented two doses in the E.H.R. Although lorazepam causes respiratory depression and oxygen obstruction in patients with pulmonary patients, the nurse continued to administer the dosage despite the potential risks posed to patients. Similarly, lorazepam causes pulmonary hypertension and the risk of oxygen saturation in patients with pulmonary diseases. As the leading nurse, the caregiver engaged in reckless actions and should receive disciplinary measures. Moreover, due to lack of competence, I recommend that the caregiver should undergo further training to ensure she maintains accountability for her actions. To provide high quality and consistent care, caregivers must administer medication effectively using reliable processes. 

Given the complex healthcare environment, care givers should communicate effectively with patients to avoid complications. Communication failures contribute to the majority of reported medical errors (Leonard & Frankel, 2010). Therefore, it is usual for caregivers to adhere to structured communication tools like situational briefing, checklists, and response to high-risk events and patient calls. Similarly, nurses must use effective language to enhance performance. Although Joan is a veteran nurse, she engages in reckless behavior of turning down patient calls or responding rudely. Failing to attend to a patient with chronic lung disease experiencing issues with dyspnea shows that nurse has little or no concern about risks of breath shortness. Therefore, due to lack of accountability, Nurse Joan should undergo retraining and disciplinary measures to ensure she is accountable for her actions. Reports indicate that she has a history of responding rudely to patients and ignoring their concerns. I believe that she might be in the wrong position managing clinical triage calls. I will, therefore, evaluate her conduct and recommend retraining and coaching. However, if she does not change her attitude after the re-training, I will request for her transfer or termination. 

Health care facilities seek to create a safe environment providing high-quality services by advocating for improved interdisciplinary communication and event reporting. In this case, Andy fails to document medication administered to the patient properly. Moreover, she ignores the side effects of lorazepam on patients with pulmonary ailments, which resulted in oxygen obstruction and respiratory depression. Similarly, although Joan is a veteran nurse, she repeatedly ignores patients' calls or responds rudely. The actions of Andy and Joan depict recklessly and I recommend that they undergo re-training to ensure accountability. Joan has a history of rudeness towards patients and she should be coached or transferred to other departments and terminated if she continues responding rudely to patients. 

References 

Leonard, M.W. & Frankel, A. (2010). The path to safe and reliable healthcare. Patient Education and Counseling , 80, 288-292 

Stone, P.W., Hughes, R., & Dailey, M. (2008). Creating a safe and high-quality health care environment. In: Hughes, R.G. editor. Patient safety and quality: an evidence-based handbook for nurses. Rockville (MD): Agency for healthcare research and quality (US).