PATIENT SAFETY AND QUALITY

The only important part of health care to the patient is the outcome and our interactions with them. Understanding that quality and safety in the health care arena are more than one person’s individual responsibility.

Journal Entry #1:
After viewing the video created by the Cleveland Clinic please create your first journal entry in APA format with at least 2 references. Reflect on the following: Did the Cleveland Clinic video effect how you worked your next shift? What impact did the video have on you, in general your practice of nursing or even your every day life? Remember that the journal entry is only shared between you and I. Please reflect honestly.

This is for a master’s level nursing course titled Innovation in Information, Quality, and Safety. I work in both the adult and pediatric emergency departments at Rochester General Hospital (located in Rochester, NY).

Some other background information provided within this learning module included (without citation): What is Quality and What is its Role? When defining quality, we should always think about what the patient would perceive as quality. Most patients feel that when they come to a hospital they are going to a safe environment where only the best will be provided to them. They view us as professionals who are knowledgeable and most definitley would provide quality care. But again we are back to …”what is quality”? Think of a patient and their experience… first off they don’t feel well and most likely are scared. They present to the emergency room hoping we can discern what the problem is and make them feel better. The first thing we do, remove all of their comforts and securities such as clothes, place them in a gown and begin asking questions and poking and prodding. They remain scared and when (and if) we communicate with them we do so in a “medical language” that only WE understand. The patient’s experience is startling at best and certainly confusing!! But still have we provided “quality care” to them? How can we meet their expectations in a safe environment while still obtaining quality? It is imperative that we all know and understand the definition of quality. However, this is where one of the biggest issues with health care arises….do we really have a unified definition for quality? Can anyone really truly define quality? Not really and that is the part of health care that without each of us to change that philosophy and practice we will never be able to obtain quality if we can’t define it. Similar to any performance measurement, if we do not know and understand the expectations, we will not know how and if we achieve the goal. What about Patient Safety? Patient safety – can we define it? It is much easier to think that patient safety is doing the right thing to the right patient and at the right time. But could that same definition be used for quality? Probably yes. The issue here being that patient safety and quality really are not two distinct and separate practices but rather to processes or systems that interact to provide the patient experience and ultimately the outcome of care. Cleveland clinic empathy video: There are many things to consider when we strive to improve quality and patient safety. One of the most important aspects is the patient’s perception. This video, created by the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, reminds us of just that. While you view this clip think about your most recent day at work. Maybe you passed one of these patients and never realized it. Would you have done anything different? Maybe we need to approach our patients and encounters differently. How would we approach people? Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care Duration: (4:25) User: clevelandclinic – Added: 2/27/13 YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDDWvj_q-o8