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Introduction
Every patient expects to be safe inside a hospital. It is one of the core priorities of a health provider, to avoid all possible harm that can come to the patient. The lack of safety can also cause indirect issues such as higher occurrence rate of human error of the staff. However, an environment of safety can be fostered through effective organization and management. This paper will cover the importance of patient safety culture, and examples of it from the field.
Patient Safety
The majority of modern ideas about patient safety culture are based on the publication by the Institute of Medicine from 1999 titled To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health Care System. It outlined the concept that by building a safe environment for patients, a health provider can improve the safety of workers. The same principle works in reverse, as a safe work environment allows for safer and better health care environment. The report outlined five elements that create a culture of safety in an organization. The first is that management should improve safety for patients and workers. The second involves the participation of workers in the planning process. The third is the provision of required protective equipment. The fourth is the use of group norms to influence safety practices. The fifth and final element is the use of the socialization process to work with new personnel. When creating a safety culture, the planning team needs to be aware of reasons behind possible issues. Therefore, active participation from the workers is beneficial to the safety culture ( IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute, 2018). A variety of programs and organizations exist to assist health care providers in creating improving their safety. One such organization is the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. It was formed in 2007 with the goal of improving patient safety in the country. This organization promotes innovation and sustainability in safety planning as a solution to the increasing complexity of safety issues ( Safety and health topics, 2018).
Examples
One of the most prominent efforts to resolve issues with patient safety were made in my place of work last year. Our staff has experienced an increased occurrence of pressure ulcers in patients who were hospitalized for a long period of time. While this issue was expected due to the nature of long-term hospitalization, in most cases any harm to the patients was prevented in time. However, a recent worker shortage caused the preventative treatments to become less frequent, and the pressure ulcer cases began to rise. Our management made sure to follow proper safety planning procedures such as involving workers in the process. By creating a new schedule of preventative treatments, our team was able to reduce the occurrence rate of pressure ulcers drastically.
A smaller example was noticed during a clinical experience. An unfortunate accident left a small but significant depression in the floor of the corridor where both patients and workers walked daily. The issue was beginning to cause falls for a significant number of people. The management made sure to consult the workers before making a renovation plan because a section of the floor had to be redone to ensure safety.
Conclusion
Patient safety is paramount for health care providers. However, it is important to realize that patient safety and safety of the workers are intrinsically connected. When a proper culture of safety is fostered within an organization, all of its stakeholders gain benefits from it. Hopefully, the majority of health care providers make sure to plan using proper recommendations.
References
IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute. (2018). Web.
Safety and health topics. (2018).Â
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