Accredidation Standards

This was a great unit to end on, as it is the material that we are covering for our Group Project.  We are looking at never events, and this helped to put me in the right mindset for the project.  I was wanting to be able to learn more about never events and sentinel events, and to learn what the difference.  I also was interested to learn more about National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) and how they play a role in patient safety.  It was good to see how big a role the NPSGs play in helping to safeguard our patients. 

The activities were very good at helping to see the importance of patient safety and how I would do things for my patients.  Many of us in the discussion chose to look at the basics of patient safety in looking at the NPSG that we would choose to begin in our unit if we were looking at the basics.  The critical thinking was another way that we provide the best care to our patients.  The HCAHPS are a way that we are viewed by our patients.  When I attempted to get the best scores, judged by myself, it was actually pretty hard to do.  I will have to look at the way that I do things and make sure that I am providing the best care possible.  It is a bit disheartening to know that the hospital only gets reimbursed for the top choices and not at least a little bit for the others.  It is nearly impossible to quell expectations, but it is a task that I look forward to undertaking.  This was a great unit that helped me to see the way that patient safety can be managed and how never events and sentinel events play a role in the way that we care for our patients and watch over them. 

Patient Safety Application

I think that I was expecting to learn more about patient safety stands and the uses of health care services.  I also wanted to learn more about the ways to reduce variation in providing health care in a safe manner, with patient safety at the helm.  I feel that I have learned quite a bit about the role that patients play in health care and continue to feel that their role gets dismissed a bit by some and it needs to be reinforced instead of crushing it.  I learned that transparency helps to reduce lawsuits instead of creating them as many still believe. 

The discussion was a really good one about the ways that we can help to protect our patients.  It brought about a real life situation and looked at ways that we would handle it.  When it comes to our patient’s safety, there should be any egos or barriers put up by us.  We should be transparent and acknowledge when we have made a mistake.  Like the Case Study that we looked at, we need to realize that not all of our patients are looking to sue or get something more than the truth from us.  We need to be careful of our licenses, but not assume that there is always someone at every turn that wants to try to take it from us.  At the core, people are mostly just scared and just want to be properly cared for. 

Reading over the information from this unit, I really took a look in the mirror to see how I am doing things in my own practice and to evaluate the care that I am providing.  I will make a conscious effort to always put my patients first and to make sure that they know that I am willing to go to bat for them and to always keep them informed.  I love learning more about safety and quality and want to strive to always provide the highest quality care to all of my patients.