The Importance of Patient Safety in Healthcare

Patient safety is a critical aspect of quality improvement in healthcare institutions, making reference to the attempts made by the health unit to reduce harm to patients. Ultimately, it ensures a systematic as well as continuous action that contributes towards measurable improvements in the healthcare unit. Considering the fact that risks are inherent in all forms of healthcare units, regardless of the duties performed by these units, it is necessary for the unit leadership to come up with safety improvement plans that are aimed at making sure that all patients are safe (Squires, Tourangeau, Laschinger, & Doran, 2010).

            The Destiny Rehabilitation Center, a community-based center aimed at rehabilitating drug addicts, has recently recorded alarming rates in is safety score – demonstrating that enough measures have not been taken to address the safety issue they are facing. To address this, the management has sort to come up with measures that would help in improving the safety score, by coming up with a safety plan.

            The major safety issues being faced by patients in the organization is the risk of violence, especially considering that most drug addicts tend to be very violent, especially when they have been faced with obstacles. Apart from the voluntary patients, who seek medical attention for their addiction problem upon their wish, the facility admits individuals who have been recommended for rehabilitation. These are the individuals referred for rehabilitation by statutory organs or healthcare professionals. Often, these individual are not committed to undergoing rehabilitation, thus, they could be violent as they seek to escape or to access the drugs they have been addicted.

Influence of Nursing Leadership in Driving Change

Nursing leaders working on the drug addict rehabilitation centers could help in making a positive change and contribution towards the achievement of both health together with social changes. This could have a positive influence towards improving the recovery of the drug addicts, who are under rehabilitation. One of the ways that nursing leaders could offer a positive change is through leading as well as managing the leadership teams. This is an integral part of the rehabilitation process, especially considering that the drug addicts receive services from managed care teams that help in addressing various issues they could be facing. By leading and managing healthcare teams, the managers get to work as advocates for their patients, such that they make sure that interventions that are taken by members of these teams are in a manner that would not agitate or inspire violence in them.     

The next strategy is clinical supervision, with the nursing leaders overseeing the individuals working with the patient to make sure that all interventions are patient centered, especially addressing the risk of violence. Reflective practice, working in partnerships, together with offering advisory services to the teams and individuals working with the patient could also offer a positive contribution, towards improving the care given to the patients and making sure that this care is such that it addresses all the patient needs. Nursing leaders are expected to offer various services in their capacity as leaders in the healthcare fraternity, and act as advocates for their patients (Sullivan, 2010). They make sure that all the interventions taken by the healthcare management teams and health workers are designed in such a manner that they consider the violent nature of their patients, rather than invoking violence in them.     

How current policies and procedures may affect Violence

This could be analysis using the systems thinking theory, a model that attempts to solve problems through analyzing the challenges that could be posed by the aspects within the system. These are the surrounding aspects that have an interaction with this problem, those that are affected by it, or those that work together with it (Kim, & Senge, 1994). At the Destiny Rehabilitation Center, a number of issues could be linked with the problem of violence among the drug addicts under rehabilitation. One of these is the urge to use the drugs, where the patients being rehabilitated are driven by a strong desire to use these drugs, such that they could be ready to do anything to use them. As such, taking initiatives to reduce this urge, like giving them small doses or alternative medicines or drugs could work towards reducing this problem. Another major contribution is poor attitude toward rehabilitation, especially in instances where the patients being rehabilitated are not open to the rehabilitation. For instance, a patient who has not acknowledged the fact that they are addicted and need help will do all it takes to avoid going to the rehabilitation center. These could be very violent, when they are taken to these centers. This could be addressed through measures that will motivate the addicts under rehabilitation to participate in the initiative.

Recommendations

The most appropriate approach to address violence in the rehabilitation center is by getting the drug addicts to support the rehabilitation initiative. This could be realized through making them acknowledge their drug problem, before getting them to agree to participate in the rehab. The healthcare professional will mention the negative contributions of the drug problem in the lives of these patients, using individuals that have had drug problems to act as role models, and encouraging these individuals that they could live normal lives if they were rehabilitated. The primary aim of this approach is to make sure that the patients that are being rehabilitated willingly participate in the process. The source of this problem could be determined by identifying the issues that the violent patients are mentioning in their arguments, rants, or statements. For instance, a violent patient could mention that they are not addicted and do not deserve to be in the rehab. This could be a demonstration of the fact that the patient is not is not committed to the rehabilitation process.

To monitor the outcomes of these recommendations, the nursing leaders will observe the attitude among the addicts under rehabilitation. A positive improvement in attitude, such that they support their rehabilitation will be a demonstration that the recommended approaches are bearing fruits, However, if the status quo continues, or when there is an increase in negative attitude towards rehabilitation will demonstrate that these initiatives do not work. Implementing these approaches will require changes in policies, especially with regards to the manner in which patients are admitted in the rehabilitation center. Nurses will be trained on the necessary guidance and counseling skills that will enable them motivate and encourage these patients to accept rehabilitation, recognize their problem, as well as willingly join and be involved in the rehabilitation process.

Reference List

Kim, D. H., & Senge, P. M. (1994). Putting systems thinking into practice. System Dynamics Review, 10(2/3), 277–290.

Squires, M., Tourangeau, A., Laschinger, H. K. S., & Doran, D. (2010). The link between leadership and safety outcomes in hospitals. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(8), 914–925.

Sullivan, D. T. (2010). Connecting nursing education and practice: A focus on shared goals for quality and safety. Creative Nursing, 16(1), 37–43.