Introduction
The issue of patient safety plays a paramount role in contemporary health care as it defines the quality of services, prescribed medication, relationships between a nurse and a patient, nutrition, and so on. In this connection, it is important to ensure continuous improvement of patient safety, thus meeting the modern requirements. With this in mind, one may distinguish between educational safety, technological safety, potential risk factors, and other aspects that may be taken into account to make sure that a patient is safe. Even though medical institutions try to adhere to the mentioned aspects, there are still the cases of unintended harm such as post-operational infections, the lack of hygiene, and readmissions resulting in more lamentable consequences and showing that the importance of patient safety cannot be overestimated.
The Major Problematic Points That Increase Safety Risks
Among the most critical points that tend to amplify safety risks, one may note that staff lacks specific qualifications that are necessary to establish a secure environment. It is possible to state that this point lays in the core of patient safety as, without knowledge of hygiene and other related issues, it is unattainable to provide secure health care services (Sprayberry, 2014). The second point is associated with a lack of clear guidelines that prevent the creation of a comprehensive risk management plan (Sprayberry, 2014). At the same time, improper sanitation and cleanness of the settings as well as the inability to provide safety education for patients and communities are caused by understaffing.
Risk Management Plan Development
To develop a comprehensive risk management plan, it is essential to consider several stages. First of all, analyze the needs and features of the facility to reveal potential risks. Second, it is necessary to elaborate identification, control, and administration of potential steps that can be initiated to lower risk levels (Hood, 2014). In particular, all the facilities are to be analyzed and properly interpreted so that the risk factors can be ultimately addressed. Based on the findings of the analysis and its subsequent interpretation, it is possible to create the detailed guidelines that would describe the required intervention day by day. After that, a range of strategies may be suggested supported by the overview of evidence-based literature to ensure their practical relevance.
In effect, it is expected to prevent mistakes that previously served as causes of health outcome complications. It is also rather important to point out the necessity of evaluation of the implemented intervention (Hood, 2014). In particular, such documents as health care sector laws, policies, and so on are to be explored to identify whether the intervention is effective or not. Implementing and assessing the initiated measures, it is crucial to pay attention to the local regulations as well. Thus, the presented stages create a comprehensive risk management plan that will reduce risk levels by addressing patient safety challenges that were enumerated earlier in this paper.
Conclusion
In conclusion, patient safety measures are to be developed and implemented in the context of the comprehensive risk management plan to minimize risks. Considering that patient safety presents a rather complicated issue, it is necessary to pay attention to all the factors that may potentially violate safety regulations. Both national and local levels should be noted while investigating evidence-based literature and official documents and suggesting the most applicable and feasible strategy.
References
Hood, L. J. (2014). Leddy & Pepper’s conceptual bases of professional nursing (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Sprayberry, L. D. (2014). A response to the transformation of America’s health care: Direct-care nurses bring FLOWERS (TM) to the bedside. MedSurg Nursing, 23(2), 123-130.