NURS 6050/6053 Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example
Assignment Brief: NURS 6050/6053 Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example
Assignment Overview:
In this assignment, your task is to conduct a thorough analysis of a significant healthcare issue of your choice. The chosen issue should be of national relevance, and you will explore its impact on the broader healthcare sector and, specifically, within your organization. The goal is to critically assess how other healthcare entities address the selected issue and propose effective strategies to mitigate its impacts.
Understanding Assignment Objectives:
- Identification and Definition of the Healthcare Challenge: Clearly identify and define the healthcare challenge you have chosen for analysis. Provide a comprehensive overview of the issue, highlighting its prevalence, scope, and potential consequences within the healthcare sector.
- Impact on the Organization: Investigate and articulate how the selected healthcare challenge directly impacts your organization. Consider factors such as financial implications, resource utilization, and the overall operational dynamics of your healthcare setting.
- Article Summaries: Summarize and analyze relevant articles that shed light on the broader landscape of the chosen healthcare challenge. Identify key themes, proposed solutions, and interventions presented in these articles.
- Strategies for Addressing the Challenge: Explore and discuss strategies employed by other healthcare organizations to tackle the chosen issue. Emphasize interventions related to training, policy development, protocol implementation, and technology adoption. Consider the applicability of these strategies to your organization.
- Strategies to Address Impacts: Examine studies presenting strategies to address the impacts of the chosen healthcare challenge. Consider a multi-faceted approach involving education, training, policy development, and fostering a culture conducive to addressing the organizational implications of the issue.
Your Role:
As a student, your role is to critically examine and analyze a healthcare challenge of your choice. Engage in comprehensive research to understand the broader implications of the selected issue in the healthcare sector and its specific impact on your organization.
You are expected to evaluate proposed solutions presented in key articles, considering their relevance and adaptability to your organization. Moreover, propose strategies that comprehensively address both the core challenge and its organizational impacts. Demonstrate a deep understanding of the broader healthcare context and the specific nuances of your organization’s response to the chosen healthcare issue.
This assignment encourages you to synthesize theoretical knowledge, practical insights, and evidence-based strategies to propose comprehensive solutions to a critical healthcare challenge.
Detailed Assessment Instructions for the NURS 6050/6053: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
Question Description
Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of goals to pursue to maintain and improve healthcare. Within each goal are many issues that, if addressed successfully, may have a positive impact on outcomes. For example, healthcare leaders are being tasked to shift from an emphasis on disease management often provided in an acute care setting to health promotion and disease prevention delivered in primary care settings. Efforts in this area can have significant positive impacts by reducing the need for primary healthcare and by reducing the stress on the healthcare system.
Changes in the industry only serve to stress what has always been true; namely, that the healthcare field has always faced significant challenges, and that goals to improve healthcare will always involve multiple stakeholders. This should not seem surprising given the circumstances. Indeed, when a growing population needs care, there are factors involved such as the demands of providing that care and the rising costs associated with healthcare. Generally, it is not surprising that the field of healthcare is an industry facing multifaceted issues that evolve over time.
In this module’s Discussion, you reviewed some healthcare issues/stressors and selected one for further review. For this Assignment, you will consider in more detail the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. You will also review research that addresses the issue/stressor and write a white paper to your organization’s leadership that addresses the issue/stressor you selected.
To Prepare:
Review the national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the Resources and reflect on the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for study.
Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post for the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. Quadruple Aim Nurse Burnout Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
Identify and review two additional scholarly resources (not included in the Resources for this module) that focus on change strategies implemented by healthcare organizations to address your selected national healthcare issue/stressor.
The Assignment (3-4 Pages):
Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
Develop a 3- to 4-page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following:
Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).
Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.
Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.
Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example: Nurse Burnout in Healthcare
Introduction
Nursing, as an integral part of healthcare delivery, involves a broad scope of practice, including direct patient care and decision-making. However, the demanding nature of the profession, coupled with challenges such as overwork and understaffing, can contribute to nurse burnout. Nurse burnout is a critical issue in the U.S. healthcare system, with potential implications for patient safety, job satisfaction, and overall healthcare quality. This white paper aims to provide an in-depth analysis of nurse burnout, its impact on our organization, and strategies to address this pertinent healthcare issue.
Nurse Burnout: Definition and Causes
Nurse burnout is characterized by decreased physiological and psychological energy resulting from factors such as overwork, lack of job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion. The complexity of nursing duties, coupled with the demanding and stressful work environment, puts nurses at a high risk of burnout. Contributing factors include increased workloads, long hours, a shortage of healthcare workers, and the pressure to enhance patient satisfaction scores.
Impact of Burnout on the Organization
The consequences of nurse burnout extend beyond individual nurses to impact the entire organization. Nurse burnout has been identified as a leading cause of patient safety and quality concerns in the U.S. healthcare system. In our organization, signs of burnout are evident through frequent absenteeism, refusal to work outside assigned shifts, and a high turnover rate. This turnover trend has been associated with understaffing and overworked staff, leading to negative trends in quality measures such as falls, incident reports, and errors.
Review of Relevant Literature
To better understand and address nurse burnout, two scholarly articles were reviewed:
- Occupational Stress Management and Burnout Interventions in Nursing by Nowrouzi et al. (2015): This literature review explores workplace interventions aimed at creating a healthy work environment for nurses. Strategies such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and psychosocial intervention training were found to significantly decrease perceived stress and burnout. Additionally, addressing issues like staffing and workload was suggested to improve nurse satisfaction and retention.
- Burnout and Resiliency in Peri Anesthesia Nurses by Card et al. (2019): This study focused on peri-anesthesia nurses and identified a link between burnout, fatigue, and poor physical and mental health. Positive perceptions of leadership support, economic satisfaction, workload acknowledgment, and opportunities for growth were associated with decreased burnout. Strategies for organizations included improving relationships with employees, providing career advancement opportunities, and promoting social connections.
Strategies to Address Nurse Burnout in Our Organization
Implementing effective strategies to address nurse burnout requires collaboration between organizations, management, and employees. Based on the literature review, potential strategies for our organization include:
- Involving Employees in Decision-Making: Providing nurses with a voice in decision-making processes can enhance job satisfaction and engagement.
- Using Evidence-Based Guidelines for Staffing: Adhering to evidence-based staffing guidelines can ensure adequate nurse-to-patient ratios, reducing stress and burnout.
- Encouraging Extracurricular Activities: Supporting nurses’ participation in extracurricular activities can contribute to their overall well-being and work-life balance.
Challenges in Implementing Strategies
While these strategies offer promising solutions, implementing them in our organization may face resistance. Overcoming the longstanding negative attitude towards change is crucial. Management may perceive these strategies as financially burdensome, necessitating education on the relationship between nurse burnout, patient safety, and healthcare quality. Open communication and a commitment to building a positive relationship between staff and management are essential for successful implementation.
Conclusion
Nurse burnout poses a significant challenge to healthcare organizations, affecting patient safety, job satisfaction, and overall healthcare quality. By understanding the causes and consequences of burnout and implementing evidence-based strategies, our organization can work towards creating a healthier work environment for nurses. Collaborative efforts between healthcare leaders, organizations, and nurses are essential to mitigate the impact of nurse burnout and foster a positive and sustainable healthcare workforce.
References
Card, E. B., Hyman, S. A., Wells, N., Shi, Y., Shotwell, M. S., & Weinger, M. B. (2019). Burnout and Resiliency in Peri anesthesia Nurses: Findings and Recommendations from a National Study of Members of the American Society of Peri anesthesia Nurses. Journal of Peri Anesthesia Nursing, 34(6), 1130–1145.
Nowrouzi, B., Lightfoot, N., Larivière, M., Carter, L., Rukholm, E., Schinke, R., & Belanger-Gardner, D. (2015). Occupational Stress Management and Burnout Interventions in Nursing and Their Implications for Healthy Work Environments: A Literature Review. Workplace Health & Safety, 63(7), 308–315.
Gaines, K. (2020). Joint commission tackles burnout in a new report. Retrieved from https://nurse.org/articles/joint-commission-tackles-nurse-burnout/
Hall, L. H., Johnson, J., Watt, I., Tsipa, A., & O’Connor D. B. (2016). Healthcare Staff Wellbeing, Burnout, and Patient Safety: A Systematic Review. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4938539/
Mudallal, R., Othman, W. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. (2017). Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5798741/
Nursing.org. (2020). Nurse burnout. Retrieved from https://www.nursing.org/resources/nurse-burnout/
NursingLincensure.org. (2020). Nurse Burnout: Epidemic, or Mendable Malady? Retrieved from https://www.nursinglicensure.org/articles/nurse-burnout.html
Penque, S. (2019). Wellness series part 1: Open Mindfulness to promote nurses’ wellbeing. Nursing Management, 50(5), 38–44.
Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example Two: Nurse Shortage
Introduction
The healthcare landscape in the United States is grappling with a significant challenge—the shortage of nurses. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a demand for over 275,000 additional nurses from 2020 to 2030, with employment opportunities growing at a faster rate (9%) compared to other occupations (Haddad et al., 2022). This essay examines the critical issue of nurse shortage, delving into its causes, impact on healthcare organizations, and potential strategies for addressing this complex problem.
Causes and Scope of Nurse Shortage
The nursing shortage is a multifaceted problem with various contributing factors. As the baby boomer generation ages, the demand for healthcare services increases, exacerbating the shortage over time (Brown, 2015). Dissatisfaction among healthcare workers, attributed to a lack of educators, high turnover, poor workplace conditions, inflexible schedules, and an uneven workforce distribution, further compounds the issue. The recent pandemic has also led to a shift in career choices for many nurses, resulting in a decline in healthcare staff and an increase in workload, subsequently leading to burnout (Ryu & Shim, 2021).
Impact on Healthcare Organizations
In my organization, the nurse shortage has reached crisis proportions, manifesting in constant overtime, session pickups, and inadequate staffing levels. This shortage adversely affects the nurse-to-patient ratio, compromising the quality of care, creating an unsafe work environment, and increasing the likelihood of errors (Poghosyan, 2018). A shortage of nursing staff is correlated with a rise in errors, mortality rates, and adverse patient outcomes, contributing to increased financial burdens on the hospital.
Employee Satisfaction and Mental Health
The critical issue of nurse shortage is further exacerbated by challenges related to employee satisfaction and mental health. A substantial percentage of healthcare workers contemplate leaving the nursing profession due to issues such as short staffing, extended work hours, and inadequate support from administration (Morris, 2022). Addressing these concerns is crucial for nurse retention, job satisfaction, and, ultimately, patient outcomes.
Strategies to Mitigate Nurse Shortage
To combat the nurse shortage crisis, strategic interventions must be implemented. The following strategies are derived from the literature:
- Supportive Work Environments: Prioritizing mental health and emotional wellness is essential for nurses during times of crisis or staffing shortages. Creating a positive work environment, where nurses feel appreciated, supported, and valued, can contribute to increased retention and improved job satisfaction.
- Mentorship Programs: Establishing mentorship programs and career coaching can provide nurses with a sense of belonging and support in their professional growth. Mentorship encourages career fulfillment, making it a valuable tool for retaining nursing staff.
- Flexible Work Hours: Implementing flexible shifts, such as 12-hour schedules, facilitates better work-life balance, particularly for nurses with families. This flexibility can contribute to reducing burnout and increasing overall job satisfaction.
- Competitive Compensation: While increasing base salaries is one strategy to enhance retention, a comprehensive approach addressing the daily needs of nurses is necessary. Adequate compensation, incentives, and bonuses can motivate and recognize the invaluable work done by nursing professionals (Al-Assaf & Abduljawad, 2015).
Innovative Solutions and Technology Integration
In addition to the above strategies, integrating technology into nursing practices can alleviate workforce challenges. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have significantly impacted healthcare efficiency by reducing paperwork, saving time, and improving clinical processes. Furthermore, nationwide staffing ratios and creative strategies for adequate unit staffing can enhance patient care without overburdening healthcare professionals (Haddad et al., 2022).
Conclusion
The nursing shortage is a pervasive issue with far-reaching consequences for healthcare organizations, nurses, and patient outcomes. By implementing a combination of supportive work environments, mentorship programs, flexible scheduling, competitive compensation, and technological innovations, healthcare organizations can address the root causes of nurse shortage and promote nurse retention. It is imperative to recognize the invaluable contributions of nurses, prioritize their well-being, and invest in strategies that create a sustainable and fulfilling work environment for the nursing workforce.
References
Al-Assaf, A., & Abduljawad, A. (2015). Incentives for better performance in healthcare. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121024/
Haddad, L., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2022). Nurse Shortage. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/
Morris, G. (2022). How to Support Nurses and Raise Nurse Retention Rates. Retrieved from https://nursejournal.org/articles/how-to-support-nurses-considering-resigning/
Poghosyan, L., Norful, A., & Laugesen, M. (2018). Removing restrictions on nurse practitioners’ scope of practice in New York state: Physicians’ and nurse practitioners’ perspectives. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 30(6), 354–360.
Ryu, I., & Shim, J. (2021). The Influence of Burnout on Patient Safety Management Activities of Shift Nurses: The Mediating Effect of Compassion Satisfaction. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC862111/
Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example Three
Introduction
The perpetual high demand for healthcare services has led to an even more pronounced need for health providers. As the population’s demand for healthcare continues to grow, the shortage of health providers has become increasingly problematic, resulting in deficits in patient care. This issue is particularly evident in our organization, where an overwhelming demand for emergency services collides with an insufficient number of staff to meet this demand.
Challenges Faced by the Organization
The impact of this imbalance is evident in our organization, manifesting as a surge in nurse burnout, increased 30-day readmissions, and lower patient satisfaction scores. The strenuous workload on healthcare providers, coupled with inadequate patient-to-nurse ratios, significantly contributes to nurse burnout, leading to an elevated risk of medical errors (Norful et al., 2018). The consequences of these errors not only affect patient outcomes but also increase the organization’s liability for medical malpractice. Moreover, the shortage of health providers results in a higher rate of patients returning to the hospital within 30 days, leading to financial repercussions as insurance companies may hold the hospital responsible and withhold payments (Park et al., 2018).
Strategies to Address the Issue
Despite being a longstanding issue, strategies have been proposed to alleviate the shortage of health providers. Advanced scheduling has been identified as an effective approach to reducing wait times and enhancing the overall continuity of patient care (Qu et al., 2007). By carefully examining daily healthcare provider demand and patient needs, organizations can create schedules with appropriate provider-to-patient ratios, mitigating the issue of overworked healthcare providers and prolonged patient wait times.
Additionally, the initiation of federally qualified health centers in underserved communities has been suggested as a means of decreasing the shortage of health providers (Xue et al., 2018). By providing primary care services to underprivileged communities, these health centers aim to reduce the overall demand for healthcare providers in the broader community.
Balancing Competing Needs
While implementing these strategies is crucial, it’s essential to acknowledge the competing needs surrounding the shortage of health providers. Maintaining staff and appropriate staffing ratios is a significant challenge. Existing policies, such as those enforced by staffing committees, often approach the issue from a business perspective, aiming to balance patient care efficiency with budget constraints. The competing needs of ensuring patient safety and managing financial resources pose ongoing challenges.
Advocating for Nurse-to-Patient Ratios
One solution that has been advocated for is the establishment of policies enforcing nurse-to-patient ratios. While only California has successfully passed such legislation, studies suggest that enforcing these ratios can lead to improved patient care, reduced wait times, and minimized complications for nurses (Jan, 2009; Benko, 2003). However, it is essential to recognize the potential financial implications and operational challenges associated with implementing such policies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the shortage of healthcare providers poses significant challenges to organizations and affects the quality of patient care. Addressing this issue requires a multifaceted approach, incorporating strategies such as advanced scheduling and the establishment of health centers in underserved areas. However, it’s crucial to carefully balance these strategies with the competing needs of maintaining staffing ratios and financial sustainability. Additionally, advocating for policies enforcing nurse-to-patient ratios may provide a comprehensive solution to enhance patient care while addressing the ongoing challenges of the healthcare workforce shortage.
References
Benko, L. B. (2003). Ratio daze in California; State staffing law may exacerbate nursing shortfall. Modern Healthcare, (24). Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost…
Jan, G. (2009). Nurse Groups, Administrators Battle Over Mandatory Nursing Ratios: California Law Debated on National Stage. Annals of Emergency Medicine, (3), A31. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com…
Norful, A. A., de Jacq, K., Carlino, R., & Poghosyan, L. (2018). Nurse practitioner–physician comanagement: A theoretical model to alleviate primary care strain. Annals of Family Medicine, 16(3), 250–256. doi:10.1370/afm.2230
Park, B., Gold, S. B., Bazemore, A., & Liaw, W. (2018). How evolving United States payment models influence primary care and its impact on the Quadruple Aim. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 31(4), 588–604. doi:10.3122/jabfm.2018.04.170388
Qu, X., Rardin, R. L., Williams, J. A. S., & Willis, D. R. (2007). Matching daily healthcare provider capacity to demand in advanced access scheduling systems. European Journal of Operational Research, 183(2), 812–826. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2006.10.003
Xue, Y., Greener, E., Kannan, V., Smith, J. A., Brewer, C., & Spetz, J. (2018). Federally qualified health centers reduce the primary care provider gap in health professional shortage counties. Nursing Outlook, 66(3), 263–272. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2018.02.003
Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example Four
The shortage of nursing staff is a critical challenge in the United States healthcare sector, impacting various medical settings. As the largest group of healthcare professionals, registered nurses (RNs) are integral to patient care. However, the nation is experiencing a growing gap in RN vacancies, currently at 7.2%, according to Haddad et al. (2020). Contributing factors to this shortage include high turnover rates, insufficient educators, an aging population, an aging workforce, and an imbalanced distribution of healthcare personnel. The aging population is expected to exacerbate this issue, demanding urgent attention from state and federal authorities to avert adverse consequences. This analysis delves into the impact of nursing staffing shortages on critical care units within hospitals, provides a summary of relevant articles, explores strategies employed by other organizations to address this issue, and evaluates the positive and negative impacts of these strategies on healthcare institutions and critical care units.
Impact on Critical Care Units
The shortage of nursing staff significantly affects critical care units in hospitals, where nurses play a pivotal role in delivering direct care to critically ill patients. Patient safety and care quality in these units are directly linked to the performance of nursing staff. The shortage results in adverse outcomes, notably an increased rate of patient falls, a critical concern in the intensive care unit (ICU). The reported rate of patient falls in critical care units is approximately 4.00 falls per 1000 patient days, three times higher than the national benchmark of 1.30 falls per 1000 patient days (Venema et al., 2019). Inadequate nurse practitioners to provide bedside care are identified as a contributing factor to this high rate of patient falls, emphasizing the urgency of addressing staffing shortages in these crucial healthcare settings.
Summary of Relevant Articles
Marć et al. (2019) conducted a study emphasizing the multifaceted nature of the nursing shortage and proposed global and local measures. The authors recommended nursing policies that integrate national social security agendas, aiming to enhance nurses’ employment conditions, regulate salaries, and support continuous learning. Another study by Tamata et al. (2021) explored registered nurses’ perceptions of factors contributing to nursing shortages in public hospitals. High workloads, extended working hours, work-related stress, and burnout were identified as key factors leading to nurses leaving their jobs.
Strategies Employed by Other Organizations
Various organizations have implemented strategies to address nursing staffing shortages. One approach involves offering higher wages to RNs, recognizing the motivational impact of competitive pay on nurse retention. Additionally, some organizations are recruiting foreign nurse practitioners to fill staffing gaps in different departments based on their specialization.
Addressing the Effects of Nursing Staffing Shortage
To tackle the consequences of nursing staffing shortages, organizations can adopt strategies proposed in the articles. Improving employment conditions, increasing salaries, and supporting continuous learning for nurse practitioners are crucial steps. Additionally, providing essential support to help nurses cope with work-related stress can mitigate high turnover rates.
Positive and Negative Impacts of Strategies
The proposed strategies are expected to have positive impacts on healthcare organizations and critical care units. Adequate nurse staffing is anticipated to improve patient care quality and safety, reducing the incidence of patient falls. However, these measures, such as improved employment conditions and increased salaries, may lead to a significant increase in operational costs, posing a potential negative impact on the organization’s financial sustainability.
In conclusion, the shortage of nursing staff poses a substantial challenge, particularly in critical care units. Patient safety and care quality are compromised, emphasizing the urgency of implementing evidence-based strategies. While proposed measures are expected to enhance patient care, organizations must carefully balance positive outcomes with potential financial implications to ensure the sustainability of healthcare services.
References
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., Toney-Butler, T. J. (2020). Nursing Shortage. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/
Venema, D. M., Skinner, A. M., Nailon, R., Conley, D., High, R., & Jones, K. J. (2019). Patient and system factors associated with unassisted and injurious falls in hospitals: an observational study. BMC geriatrics, 19(1), 1-10.
Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue Example Five: Medical Errors
The identified national concern in the healthcare domain for this assignment is medical errors. Medical errors are defined as the failure to execute or complete planned actions as intended, or employing an incorrect plan, leading to detrimental health outcomes such as harm to patients (Makary & Daniel, 2016). In the U.S. healthcare system, medical errors are a pressing issue, constituting 3.9% of all events in patients hospitalized with cardiac issues. The incidence of medical errors is estimated at 25 per 100 outpatients in the U.S., making it the most frequent cause of injury resulting from medical care in developed economies. Furthermore, between 44,000 and 98,000 people in the U.S. succumb to adverse events caused by medical errors annually (Ohta et al., 2019).
Impact on My Institution
The challenge of medical errors extends beyond the broader healthcare landscape and directly affects our organization. The repercussions of medical errors are evident within our institution. One notable impact is the prolonged hospital stay of affected patients due to unintended care requirements. Another consequence is the escalation of operational costs, attributed to high insurance reimbursement claims resulting from medical errors. Additionally, the institution expends resources on legal proceedings due to harm caused by medical errors. Lastly, there is a surge in the mortality rate among patients with chronic conditions like heart failure and kidney disease due to complications arising from medical errors (Kaur et al., 2019). Consequently, these effects impede our organization’s ability to attain its objectives.
Article Summaries on Addressing the Concern in Other Organizations
Selected articles by FDA (2019) and Pérez et al. (2019) shed light on the prevalence of medical errors in the U.S. The FDA (2019) highlights that over 100,000 medical errors are reported annually, resulting in outcomes such as disability, hospitalization, and death. Pérez et al. (2019) corroborate these findings, identifying medical errors as a prominent stressor in both the U.S. and global healthcare systems.
These articles propose practical solutions for American health organizations to mitigate medical errors. Recommendations include container labeling and proprietary branding to minimize drug dispensing confusion, provider training, prioritized counseling, and refresher training to reduce the risk of medical errors (FDA, 2019; Pérez et al., 2019). In response, healthcare organizations in my state have implemented various interventions, such as increasing nurse-to-patient ratios, adopting technology for efficiency, enhancing inter-professional communication, and implementing incident reporting and review processes to mitigate the risk of future medical errors.
Strategies Employed to Address Impacts and their Effect on My Institution
Studies, like the one by Zikhani (2016), offer a seven-step approach for health organizations to prevent and minimize medical errors. These steps involve health provider education, policy development, protocol implementation (e.g., checklists and reminders), procedure standardization, and automation. Such measures contribute to fostering a patient safety culture within organizations. Adelman et al. (2017) support these findings, demonstrating that automation and computerization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) significantly reduce wrong-patient orders.
Additional strategies proposed by Rishoej et al. (2018) include procedural standardization, education, refresher training, and the adoption of double-check processes. These strategies necessitate training healthcare providers on preventing various medical errors, offering refresher courses to keep them updated, and the establishment of policies guiding the prevention and management of medical errors. Moreover, promoting provider transparency and responsibility in communicating error incidents is crucial, reframing medical errors as learning opportunities rather than punitive events. Overall, these strategies positively impact our organization by enhancing training, reinforcing policies, and fostering transparency, ultimately promoting patient safety.
References
Adelman, J. S., Aschner, J. L., Schechter, C. B., et al. (2017). Evaluating Serial Strategies for Preventing Wrong-Patient Orders in the NICU. Pediatrics, 139(5). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2863
FDA. (2019). Working to Reduce Medication Errors. FDA. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-information-consumers/working-reduce-medication-errors
Kaur, A. P., Levinson, A. T., Monteiro, J. F. G., & Carino, G. P. (2019). The impact of errors on healthcare professionals in the critical care setting. Journal of Critical Care, 52, 16–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2019.03.001
Makary, M. A., & Daniel, M. (2016). Medical error—The third leading cause of death in the US. Bmj, 353.
Ohta, Y., Miki, I., Kimura, T., et al. (2019). Epidemiology of Adverse Events and Medical Errors in the Care of Cardiology Patients. Journal of Patient Safety, 15(3), 251–256. https://doi.org/10.1097/PTS.0000000000000291
Pérez, C. D., Fuentes, P. S., García, E. J., et al. (2019). Addressing medical errors: An intervention protocol for nursing professionals. Revista Da Escola de Enfermagem Da USP, 53. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1980-220×2018012703463
Rishoej, R. M., Lai Nielsen, H., Strzelec, S. M., et al. (2018). Qualitative exploration of practices to prevent medication errors in neonatal intensive care units: A focus group study. Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, 9(7), 343–353. https://doi.org/10.1177/2042098618771541
Zikhani, R. (2016). Seven-step pathway for preventing errors in healthcare. Journal of Healthcare Management, 61(4), 271–281.
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