Nursing Interventions to Enhance Patient Safety in Acute Care Settings

Abstract

Introduction: Every aspect of nursing care has the potential to have both positive outcomes and negative consequences. It is no different for patient safety. Patient safety has become a critical global concern and a major accountability and priority for all healthcare organizations and health professionals. The importance of patient safety is that healthcare can produce harm as well as benefit to patients. As medical errors are common and can lead to suffering and functional disabilities in patients, it is very important to maintain the patient's safety during the implementation of medical care. Patient safety is also a responsibility for nurses who are at the bedside 24 hours a day and for healthcare providers who are delivering various types of care. Therefore, it is necessary for nurses to recognize and minimize potential hazards and to improve the overall safety status of patients. In this chapter, the four research tasks will be conducted with the aim of providing the level of scientific evidence of self-reported nursing interventions to enhance patient safety in hospitals.
Methods: Nurses ensure patient safety in acute care settings. They must prevent errors and create safe systems. Educational methods and system-level changes are necessary. Key interventions and their implementation are discussed. Recommendations for specific safety interventions are provided. Fatigue, checklists, falls, infections, and care bundles are addressed. Educational development is emphasized. Goal: Safe patient care in acute care settings.
Conclusion: The field of patient safety is ever-evolving, from a focus on preventing errors which cause patient harm, to recognizing and responding more often to a general systems-based approach to safety in health care. Nurses are crucial to the efforts of individuals and organizations responding to the mission to protect individuals from patient harm. It is imperative that environmental factors in the acute care setting are continuously addressed to assure that nursing practice benefits accountability, authority, and responsibility. This is particularly true when economic pressures are deemed necessary and prudent to control health care costs, that the nurse plays the lead role in maintaining patient safety. Given the hierarchical nature of health care institutions, the professional relationship with managers and physician partners is important. The ability to lobby for recommended changes contributes to a safety environment that optimally benefits patients. Issues concerning collective bargaining for nurses are an example reflective of patient advocacy. Whether through staff education, practice changes or research related to recommended changes, professional nursing has a shared responsibility with healthcare administrators to promote a safe environment for patients.