The critical role of nurses to the successful implementation of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane E. Twigg ◽  
Christine Duffield ◽  
Gemma Evans
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Hospital Performance ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Skill Mix ◽  
National Quality ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Service Standards

The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards requires health service compliance by 2013 and covers several areas including governance arrangements, partnerships with consumers and eight key clinical processes. Nurses in Australia comprise 62% of the hospital workforce, are the largest component and hence play a critical role in meeting these standards and improving the quality of patient care. Several of the standards are influenced by nursing interventions, which incorporate any direct-care treatment that the nurse performs for a patient that may be nurse or physician initiated. The ability for nurses to undertake these interventions is influenced by the hours of care available, the skill mix of the nursing workforce and the environment in which they practice. Taking into consideration the predicted nursing shortages, the challenge to successfully implement the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards will be great. This paper examines the role of nursing in the delivery of the National Standards, analyses the evidence with regard to nursing-sensitive outcomes and discusses the implications for health service decision makers and policy. What is known about the topic? The National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards have been endorsed for implementation by the Australian Health Ministers. Compliance with the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is required by Health Services in 2013. Nurses play a critical role in providing high-quality patient care and meeting accreditation standards. A decline in nursing standards is associated with inadequate staffing levels and skill mix and a lack of effective leadership and results in an increase in patient mortality. What does this paper add? The role of nurses in achieving compliance with the standards is discussed. We demonstrate that the capacity for nurses to undertake interventions is influenced by prevailing workforce characteristics. Significant nursing shortages have been identified as possible challenges to successfully implementing the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. What are the implications for practitioners? Practitioners need to review nursing hours of care, skill mix and the practice environment as part of the actions required to achieve the National Quality and Safety Standards. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has the opportunity to take the lead by including such indicators in the measurement of hospital performance.

Discharge communication from inpatient care: an audit of written medical discharge summary procedure against the new National Health Service Standard for clinical handover

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Brooks Reid ◽  
Shaun R. Parsons ◽  
Stephen D. Gill ◽  
Andrew J. Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Discharge Summary ◽  
Junior Doctors ◽  
Department Heads ◽  
Clinical Handover ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Service Standards ◽  
Discharge Summaries ◽  
Summary Procedure

Objective To audit written medical discharge summary procedure and practice against Standard Six (clinical handover) of the Australian National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards at a major regional Victorian health service. Methods Department heads were invited to complete a questionnaire about departmental discharge summary practices. Results Twenty-seven (82%) department heads completed the questionnaire. Seven (26%) departments had a documented discharge summary procedure. Fourteen (52%) departments monitored discharge summary completion and 13 (48%) departments monitored the timeliness of completion. Seven (26%) departments informed the patient of the content of the discharge summary and six (22%) departments provided the patient with a copy. Seven (26%) departments provided training for staff members on how to complete discharge summaries. Completing discharge summaries was usually delegated to the medical intern. Conclusions The introduction of the National Service Standards prompted an organisation-wide audit of discharge summary practices against the external criterion. There was substantial variation in the organisation’s practices. The Standards and the current audit results highlight an opportunity for the organisation to enhance and standardise discharge summary practices and improve communication with general practice. What is known about the topic? The Australian National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (Standard 6) require health service organisations to implement documented systems that support structured and effective clinical handover. Discharge summaries are an important and often the only form of communication during a patient’s transition from hospital to the community. Incomplete, inaccurate and unavailable discharge summaries are common and expose patients to greater health risks. Junior staff members find completing discharge summaries difficult and fail to receive appropriate education or support. There is little published evidence regarding the discharge summary practices of inpatient health services. What does this paper add? The paper demonstrates that there is substantial variation in practice regarding discharge summaries in a large regional health service. Departments have different processes and vary in the degree of attention and quality assurance provided to discharge summaries. Variable organisation procedures make completing discharge summaries more difficult for junior doctors, who regularly move between departments. Variable practice is likely to increase the risk of absent, untimely, incomplete or incorrect communication between acute and community services, thereby reducing the quality of patient care. It is likely that similar findings would be found in other hospitals. What are the implications for practitioners? To be accredited under the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, health organisations must ensure that adequate processes are in place for safe and effective clinical handover. Organisations should reduce the practice variability by standardising processes, monitoring compliance with processes, and training and supporting junior doctors.

Principles and Purpose: The Patient Surrogate's Perspective and Role

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Koch
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Patient Representatives ◽  
Home Based Care ◽  
Treatment Alternatives ◽  
Affect Patient Care

The critical role of surrogates—commonly if erroneously called “Informal caregivers”—has been generally ignored by clinical and bioethical literatures. While assumed to provide no more than ancillary support, these patient representatives directly or indirectly affect patient care to the extent they inhibit or facilitate both home-based care and patient decisions regarding treatment alternatives. Members of this group include relatives and neighbors who may or may not act in consort as advisors, assistants, care providers, and surrogate decisionmakers acting on the patient's behalf with members of the medical community. Not only do they often possess a critical voice strongly influencing both patient care decisions and, after discharge, home care and rehabilitation, this paper argues they do so from a perspective that is often radically different from one endorsed by medical professionals.

Critical Role of Bionanotechnology in Healthcare and Society

2008 ◽  
pp. 331-338
Author(s):  
Shivani Choudhary ◽  
Eliezer Geisler ◽  
Nilmini Wickramasinghe
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
General Health ◽  
Allied Health ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Broad Term ◽  
Oxford Dictionary ◽  
Area Of Study

Bionanotechnology is a combination of three terms: “bios” meaning “life,” “nano” (origin in Greek) meaning “dwarf,” and “technologia” (origin in Greek—comprised of “techne” meaning “craft” and “logia” meaning “saying”), which is a broad term dealing with the use and knowledge of humanity’s tools and crafts. Bionanotechnology is a term coined for the area of study where nanotechnology has applications in the field of biology and medical sciences. Healthcare is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the “care for the general health of a person, community, etc., especially that is provided by an organized health service.” Moreover, Healthcare can also be defined as the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well-being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions1.

Accreditation of Australian dental practices: Does the low number of reported breaches of patient safety justify the rejection of accreditation?

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 102-106
Author(s):  
Gillian Jean
Keyword(s):  
Patient Safety ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Dental Treatment ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Dental Practice ◽  
Dental Patient ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Dental Practices ◽  
Service Standards

Here, our current knowledge of the occurrence of errors during dental treatment in Australia, and whether the Australian National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (Standards) are likely to have an impact in reducing the incidence of errors, is examined. This article is the first critical evaluation of the Standards as they apply to private dental practice in Australia, and therefore contributes to the building of an accreditation scheme that will improve dental patient safety.

scholarly journals Key Factors in the Success of Eco-Communities in Taiwan’s Countryside: The Role of Government, Partner, and Community Group

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Yi Sun ◽  
Yen-An Chen ◽  
Xiuzhi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
The Government ◽  
Crucial Part

The ideals of the successful implementation of an eco-community involve several key elements. This study used a literature review to clarify the key factors for the successful implementation of an eco-community and established the influence of these key elements through expert questionnaires. The results of the study showed that the most crucial part of building a successful eco-community is the community group, followed by the partners who assist the community, and finally the assistance and support of the government. The leader of a community plays the most critical role, followed by the community group, and community self-consciousness. In addition, if the community can establish partnerships with experts, scholars, nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofit organizations, and construct a stable autonomous financial system, the eco-community is guaranteed to continue operating.

scholarly journals Advancing child health and educational equity during the COVID-19 pandemic through science and advocacy

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Gur-Arie ◽  
Sara Johnson ◽  
Megan Collins
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Academic Activism ◽  
Johns Hopkins University ◽  
Integral Role ◽  
Quality Health ◽  
Changing Role

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the changing role of scientists, clinicians, ethicists, and educators in advocacy as they rapidly translate their findings to inform practice and policy. Critical efforts have been directed towards understanding child well-being, especially with pandemic-related educational disruptions. While school closures were part of early widespread public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, they have not been without consequences for all children, and especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. In a recent Isr J Health Policy Res perspective, Paltiel and colleagues demonstrate the integral role of academic activism to promote child well-being during the pandemic by highlighting work of the multidisciplinary academic group on children and coronavirus (MACC). In this commentary, we explore parallels to MACC’s work in an international context by describing the efforts of a multidisciplinary team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, to aggregate data, conduct analyses, and offer training tools intended to minimize health and educational inequities for children throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As both MACC and our work collectively demonstrates, multidisciplinary partnerships and public-facing data-driven initiatives are crucial to advocating for children's equitable access to quality health and education. This will likely not be the last pandemic that children experience in their lifetime. As such, efforts should be made to apply the lessons learned during the current pandemic to strengthen multidisciplinary academic-public partnerships which will continue to play a critical role in the future.

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