Introduction
Patients’ safety has become a global concern in the past two decades. This is mainly due to the rampant cases of medical errors that have led to many deaths within the health service facilities. Medical errors have caused death, serious disability disorders, and in some cases permanent pain to the patients. However, the transformation of our healthcare system is the responsibility of every person. We need to ensure that every person plays his or her role.
A Summary of the National Patient Safety Goals for Hospitals
Several goals have been set in the effort to enhance the safety of patients and increase the effectiveness of healthcare services. These goals include identifying patients, improving staff communication, safe use of medication, preventing infection, among others (TheJointCommission, 2012). The correct identification of a patient ensures that he/she receives the right medication, which is meant for him/her. This reduces the risk of patients receiving the wrong medication hence reducing room for error (TheJointCommission, 2012).
Communication’s implications for patients’ safety
Most of the medical errors experienced in the health sector are mainly due to poor communication in healthcare centers. Research has proven that most of the poor patients’ outcomes are more prevalent in hospitals where the level of communication is dismal (TheJointCommission, 2012). In most healthcare facilities, nurses are required to work for long hours and this creates room for error. An effective channel of passing information to the right person in health care is vital for the safety of patients. Effective communication minimizes mistakes in surgery to ensure the right surgery is performed on the right patient (TheJointCommission, 2012).
How does communication make the patient safer?
Getting the right test results for the right patient is very important to ensure their safety. This is based on the quality of communication between the nurses and the doctors (Karen, 2010). Doctors need to receive the right test results for the right patients in order to reduce medical errors. Therefore, nurses must be careful to ensure the right information for the right patients is communicated. Safe use of medication is enhanced through proper labeling (Karen, 2010).
When a patient is visiting a doctor, he or she must always carry the current list of medicine that he/she has been taking to avoid confusion (Karen, 2010). This helps the nurse to confirm that the patient has been taking the right prescription and if not the prescription is changed and corrective measures are taken before it is too late.
Conclusion
This essay provides a summary of the National Patient Safety Goals for Hospitals. These are globally accepted goals meant to ensure a safer patients experience and to reduce the possibility of errors. Communication has been identified as the most important goal in the effort to ensure safe procedures are followed within the health sector. The paper gives a clear insight into the implications of ineffective communication on patients’ safety. This paper clearly shows how patient safety can be enhanced to improve and enhance better health outcomes.
References
Karen, S. (2010). Improving Quality and Patient Safety by Retaining Nursing Expertise. 15(3), 3-10.
TheJointCommission: National Patient Safety Goals. (2012).