The core values and the behaviors that arise when there is a collective and continuous commitment by a health care organization’s leadership and health workers to emphasize safety over the competing goals define culture of safety in health care provision ("Culture of Safety", 2019). For everything to work in a health care institution, safety is crucial. However, lack of safety awareness within organizations makes every other ambition by the health care organization pointless. It is important that the safety of every party within the health care structure, both the patients and workers, is given maximum attention if the best long term care actions are to bear the intended results ("Culture of Safety", 2019) . The ANA explored a number of topics related to the culture of safety in 2016 with the aim to support patient safety and nurses health and wellness, this was done through regular webinars with expert speakers. From the webinars, abroad wealth of downloadable resources and a library on emerging safety issues was developed to provide nurses with the necessary support on the scope of issues that related to patient safety ("Culture of Safety", 2019) . ANA explored different topics on different months that touched on nurse leadership in organizational safety matters, personal nurse health, and patient protection matters.
Critique
What is your reaction to the content of the articles and the chapters?
The article covered the most critical issues that affect the culture of safety in a health care organization. In the first month, the article concentrated on introducing and elaborating the culture of safety. This is meant to ensure that all the nurses understand what it entails in a health care institution for the nurses to have a better understanding ("Culture of Safety", 2019) . This was followed by explaining the characteristics of a healthy nurse and the importance of ensuring nurses remain healthy at the workplace. It also elaborated the significant issues affecting the safety of nurses which includes fatigue, mental health and the national nurses’ week. Other than issues affecting nurses, the article addressed the emerging issues and trends in health care safety, leadership, hospice and palliative care ("Culture of Safety", 2019) . The article concludes by wrapping up the whole culture of safety in the last month of the year. It thus covers conclusively the issues relating to the culture of nurses and provides sufficient knowledge for further review by the nurses ("Culture of Safety", 2019).
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What did you learn about strategic planning, operational planning, and budget planning?
In a health care institution, strategic planning for to ensure safety is crucial since it identifies the expected outcomes or goals, the actions required towards the achievement of these goals, and also sets out the responsibility lines for each of the parties (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, n.d.). It shows how the organization plans to ensure safety as well as the necessary actions required for this. Operational planning helps to ensure that the strategies identified are efficiently undertaken. This is supported by budget planning that helps ensure that sufficient resources are provided, including human resources to ensure that the strategies are achieved.
What did you learn about Quality Improvement and how you can apply them?
In a healthcare context, quality improvement refers to the strategies geared towards ensuring patients receive appropriate care at the right place and time, supported by the availability of the correct information mix and other supporting resources (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, n.d.). Quality improvement tools often range from simple recommendations with decision making lying in the hands of certain individuals, to those that are concerned with patterns of care. Quality improvement efforts are usually evidence-based procedures that rely on data collected about processes and outcomes (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, n.d.). To achieve the quality goals, a quality indicator which is a pre-agreed outcome measure is used to determine the achievements.
Did these Chapter and articles change your thoughts about Managing for quality and Planning for improvement? If so, how?
Yes, they did. Covering these chapters and the article has helped me understand the need to have a strategic, operational and budget planning in the culture of safety. They provide a wide range of issues and factors that affect the culture of safety thus helping me to understand and appreciate the complexity of the topic, i.e., the culture of safety in health care.
Conclusion
Managing and planning for quality in health care is crucial in entrenching a culture of safety in every health care institution. ANA has committed to ensuring that safety is maintained across the nursing profession, and thus provided reference materials and resources for use by nurses. In the same line, ANA has also provided guidelines towards ensuring safety is observed, including the dynamics facing safety in nursing. These guidelines help in planning for safety within the organization as well as the need to have clear strategies to guide managing and planning for quality in a health care organization.
References
Culture of Safety. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/culture-of-safety/
Sherwood, G., & Barnsteiner, J. Quality and Safety in Nursing. John Wiley & Sons.
