Clinical Governance
Answer 1. The ways in which consumers can actively participate in shaping heath service delivery are as follows.
Participation of the consumers in decision making – The active participation of the consumers in the decision making regarding care and treatment, health policy and planning and wellbeing of themselves can significantly help in shaping health service delivery (Austin Health, 2018). The decision of the consumers to participate in the processes relating to healthcare is often influenced due to lack of confidence and medical knowledge. For the active involvement of patients, they need to be provided with individualized self-management tools and quality information.
Consumer feedback on clinical care- feedback of the consumers can be obtained in the form of surveys, suggestions, recordings, etc. consumers can use their experience in order to identify issues of concerns in quality performances and organizational safety with the help of meaningful information. Such feedback will provide active participation of the consumers on the service delivery and their own health care. The suitability of the outcome can then be evaluated by the customers along with the expected level of quality care. Such feedback is a lesson for an organization.
Answer 2. As a registered nurse, I would contribute towards increasing consumer participation by providing an opportunity to the patients such that they can increase the appropriateness of their care by participating effectively in the planning and delivery of their care. For achieving this, the requirement arises of implementation of policies and protocols for embedding in the routine of wards and departments. The input of the consumers will be included in these policies. Moreover, I will inform the patient regarding all the care and services provided by me along with requirements of medication which may arise in future. I will also inform the patients in cases when inappropriate care is being provided to them. I will also involve the consumers in the information development for the purpose of review of care and services which are disease- specific. Consumer participation in their own care will be effective only when they become a part of the clinical setting routine. This requires training and support of senior management along with role development.
I would also collaborate with the consumers in three levels: in direct communication, in development of patient information, and between the community and health service for the purpose of planning, developing and improvement of care. The health service planning, monitoring and the care being delivered by me will significantly enhance as a result of consumer participation as they can provide real-time feedback including complaints regarding the care and services. This will significantly help in the evaluation of the care being provided by me.
Quality and Safety
Answer 1. Medication Safety is identified as one of the standards from the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards.
The risks associated with the Medication Safety Standard involve high incidence of errors in medication which lead a patient towards adverse events than other interventions in healthcare. If the best practices are not adhered to then it might result in adverse impacts on the health of the patients who might have to spend more time and money to obtain further treatments from the healthcare organizations.
Medication errors have resulted in adverse events for over 1.5 million Australians every year. This leads to approximately 1,90,000 admissions in hospitals (2-3% of the total admissions) along with 4,00,000 visits to the general practitioners. Around 30% of the unplanned admissions of elderly people are a result of adverse medicine event, 50% of which is considered to be potentially avoidable. These adverse events results in heavy financial burdens for the individual patients. (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2011). This standard affects the patient outcome with the help of establishing a medication management process for proper administration, manufacturing and monitoring of the medicines and establishing proper governance and systems for medication safety.
Answer 2. As a registered nurse, I can employ a variety of strategies in order to improve patient outcomes under Medication Safety standard. I will make sure that the patients do not suffer due the medication errors by the adoption of following strategies.
Have the physician or another nurse to read it back- I will double check an order by reading it back to the physician with the view to ensure that the ordered medication is transcribed correctly. In cases where the physician is unavailable, I can ensure the medication by reading the transcribed order back to another nurse which will ensure the accuracy by reviewing the MAR (Vickerie, 2017).
Document everything- I will make sure that the medications are properly labelled, administered medications are properly recorded and legible documents of all the medications are available. Medication errors may result as a consequence of lack of proper medication. This will ensure that another nurse treating my patient also provides the same dosage with the help of documents relating to administered medication. Moreover, I will make sure that I provide medicines to the patients only after reading the expiration date and prescription level of the medicines since there may arise a case where a correct label may have incorrect medication or vice versa which can result in medication errors.
Leadership and Management
Answer 1. Registered Nurses must bring the following leadership skills to their roles.
Human Skills- Human skills will bring the ability and judgement in the nurses in respect of performing the tasks with and through people. It will also develop an effective understanding of motivation within the nurses. The nurses require professional skills for making the use of effective communication, sharing the vision and showing proper commitment to the project. Such skills will enable the nurses to encourage their group for focusing on the values, goals and vision of the healthcare organization by becoming a role model for others (Nunnery, 2015).
Conceptual Skills- Conceptual skills will allow the nurses to deal effectively with chaotic environment and apply the necessary mental skills to analyses the situations in accordance with different possibilities and plausible approaches (Northouse, 2015). Such skills will enable the nurses to think strategically as they are required to deal with the patients of different medical conditions which require different treatments. The decision making power of the nurses will enhance and will make them decide the correct measure and action required to treat the patient (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). It will foster creative thinking within the nurses along with setting goals for their own selves and taking steps for their achievement.
Answer 2. I would like to further develop my human skills as human skills are people skills. It means that the development of human skills will significantly improve my ability to work with other people (TechnoFunc, 2018). Also, it will make my dealings effective with my peers, subordinates and bosses and make me an effective leader. Moreover, human skills will bring soft skills within me which will improve my dealings with others. Also, the human skills will enable successful completion of the given task by shaping the expertise of a leader within me in terms of interaction with others. This will also encourage me to motivate others to perform better towards the achievement of the goals of the organization. I will be able to communicate effectively with others with a positive attitude and will also be able to develop team spirit and cooperation among my subordinates. It will enable the development of my own perspective on a variety of issues and will develop skills such that I will openly listen and appreciate the inputs of others from their perspective. Therefore, my strategy for the achievement of human skills will be continuous practice of creating effective dealings and communication with the subordinates.
Organizational Culture
Answer 1. Learning culture can be defined as the set of organizational values, practices and processes which in turn encourages the organization and the individual to improve the performance, knowledge and competence (Huber, 2013). Therefore learning culture encourages the continuous learning and professional development of the nurses in the health organizations. The characteristics of a learning culture include the following.
Top Management Support- The top management support is clear and visible in various innovations, initiatives, flexibility and experimentation.
Information Sought from all levels- Learning culture promotes a mechanism and structure that effectively support the ideas originated from the people working at the lower levels of the healthcare organization.
Knowledge- Learning Culture promotes the desire to understand the working of various things and processes relating to the adaptation to the environment, achievement of the objectives of the healthcare organization.
Performance Orientation- Learning culture also emphasizes on the short and long term performance of the healthcare organization.
Communication- Learning culture ensures that the information and knowledge are effectively disseminated to all the people who require such information and are therefore encouraged to apply such knowledge in their work.
Learning culture within a healthcare organization results in good outcomes for the patients due to the enhancement of capabilities and improved performances of the nurses.
Answer 2. As a registered nurse, I would like to contribute towards the culture of learning within the healthcare organization in the following ways.
Establishment of effective communication and teamwork- I will establish effective communications within the healthcare organization regarding the news, developments and new ideas thereby promoting networking (Lawrence, Perrin & Kiernan, 2015). The networking will significantly lead towards effective teamwork which will have a positive impact on the healthcare services provided and on the patients (Bach & Ellis, 2011). This will also facilitate the sharing of responsibility along with the reduction in workload and creation of a variety of ideas and abilities. Communicating with the patients will also lower their stress and depression caused due to their condition ultimately making them feel happy and satisfied with the healthcare services provided by the organization (Savoy, 2014).
Link Learning and Performance- I will link my learning with my performance which will significantly improve my routine and the way I perform. It will help me in analyzing where I made a mistake and provide me growth opportunities. When my performance will improve it will also motivate other staff members to perform well in order to attain their growth objectives. This ongoing development is important as it will improve the overall performance of the healthcare organization with the improvement in the performance of the staff members.
Professional Practice
Answer 1. Role ambiguity can be defined as the situation of being unclear regarding what is expected within a certain role in the workplace (Chang, 2015). The occurrence of role ambiguity is found in cases when the job of a person is vaguely defined and no particular instructions are available regarding the role in the organization (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & Grady, 2014). Role ambiguity has a negative effect on the registered nurses as unclearly defined roles lead them towards dissatisfaction from their jobs, stress and anxiety and ultimately frustrate them which may have an adverse impact on the patients in the healthcare organization. The nurses may also suffer from emotional exhaustion and depersonalization as a result of role ambiguity. Moreover, role ambiguity can slowly lead the nurses towards lack of commitment to the organization and ultimately make them quit the profession as a result of undesirable outcomes of their efforts due to lack of clear instructions.
Answer 2. Self-care is an intentional action for the purpose improving mental, physical and emotional health. For staying emotionally and physically well I will employ the following self-care strategies.
Playing a sport- I will play a sport of my choice as a self-care strategy for keeping myself physically well (Steinberg, 2015). It will not only refresh my mind from the day to day stress and depression but also provide several health benefits such as improved bone health, cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, coronary health and increased life expectancy ultimately leaving a positive impact on the mental health (Cohen, 2017). In simple words, it will help in keeping me health by managing my health issues and providing an instant recharge after a stressful day.
Mindfulness Meditation or Praying- Daily meditations, mindful awareness practices and prayers will significantly help in bringing spirituality in my life (Blumberg, 2016). It will help me in developing self-awareness and encouraging those activities that will bring my body and mind to a place of piece. Such practices will also assist me in knowing myself better, freeing my mind and reshaping it along with paying attention to how life is experienced every moment. It will significantly reduce my problems associated with stress, depression and anxiety along with ensuring improved mental health and emotional wellbeing.
References
Austin Health. (2018). Consumer and Community Partnership. Retrieved January 17, 2018 from https://www.austin.org.au/page?ID=135
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2011). National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. Retrieved January 3, 2018 from https://safetyandquality.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/NSQHS-Standards-Sept-2012.pdf
Bach, S. & Ellis, P. (2011). Leadership, Management and Team Working in Nursing. SAGE
Blumberg, A. (2016). Daily Meditation: The Value Of Self-Care. Retrieved January 17, 2018 from https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/daily-meditation-the-value-of-self-care_us_57059e9fe4b0b90ac2713ae9
Chang, E. (2015). Transitions in Nursing: Preparing for Professional Practice. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Cherry, B. & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, & Management. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Cohen, B. (2017). How Does Playing Sports Affect Your Health?. Retrieved January 17, 2018 from https://www.livestrong.com/article/245944-how-does-playing-sports-affect-your-health/
Hamric, A. B., Hanson, C. M., Tracy, M. F. & Grady, E. T. (2014). Advanced Practice Nursing: An Integrative Approach. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Huber, D. (2013). Leadership and Nursing Care Management – E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Lawrence, J., Perrin, C. & Kiernan, E. (2015). Building Professional Nursing Communication Skills. Cambridge University Press.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications.
Nunnery, R. K. (2015). Advancing Your Career Concepts in Professional Nursing. F.A. Davis.
Savoy, C. (2014). 7 WAYS TO DEVELOP YOUR LEARNING CULTURE. Retrieved January 11, 2018 from https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/rework/7-ways-develop-your-learning-culture
Steinberg, J. (2015). 100 Strategies to Help You Practice Self-Care. Retrieved January 17, 2018 from https://www.throughthewoodstherapy.com/100-strategies-for-self-care/
TechnoFunc. (2018). Katz’s Three-Skill Approach. Retrieved January 11, 2018 from https://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-skills-2/leadership-theories/item/katz-s-three-skill-approach
Vickerie, D. (2017). 10 Strategies for Preventing Medication Errors. Retrieved January 17, 2018 from https://minoritynurse.com/10-strategies-for-preventing-medication-errors/
