Introduction
The QSEN competencies are a collection of six essential abilities for every healthcare team. Patient-centered care, cooperation and collaboration, evidence-based practice (EBP), quality improvement (QI), safety, and informatics are some of them (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012). Each competence has its own set of expectations for the knowledge, abilities, and attitudes that must be shown. It is vital to remember that these competencies are important not only for nursing students but also for all healthcare workers. Moreover, it is expected that all healthcare professionals will have attained these competencies by the time they graduate and will continue to address and use them in their professional practice positions (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, 2021). A proper application of QSEN competencies on individual and group levels fosters positive team dynamics, allowing for the best patient care and safety practices.
Scenario
In my previous experience, I was a member of a team that was in charge of establishing new safety standards in our hospital unit. The team was made up of nurses, doctors, and administrators. The need for redesigning safety standards was mainly caused by the poor nurse-to-patient ratio. The nursing staff has to consider numerous factors, such as the acuity of patients, the number of admissions, transfers, and discharges, and the resource and technology availability. In this context, the more patients are assigned to a single nurse, the higher will be the risk of patient safety issues.
QSEN Competencies
To promote patient-centered care, we identified patients who had encountered safety issues on the unit and then included them in the formulation of new safety measures. We made certain that their experiences and viewpoints were taken into account during the decision-making process. In addition, we reviewed the most recent research on patient safety to verify that the safety measures were in accordance with evidence-based practice. We had frequent meetings to discuss our progress and identify any issues that needed to be addressed in order to foster cooperation and collaboration. By establishing explicit roles and duties and encouraging criticism, we also fostered open communication and collaboration among team members. We valued each team member’s skills and ensured that everyone had a say in the decision-making process.
We conducted frequent audits of the safety processes to assess their performance and identify areas for improvement to ensure quality improvement. We also gathered information on patient safety issues and examined it to look for trends or patterns. We revised the safety measures based on our findings and continued to monitor their implementation. To encourage safety, we made certain that all team members were aware of the new safety standards and had undergone the appropriate training to put them in place. We also provided regular training to keep everyone up to date on the newest safety measures (Sherwood & Barnsteiner, 2021). Lastly, in order to take advantage of informatics, we employed electronic health records to track patient safety occurrences and assess the success of the new safety standards. We also used informatics to interact with team members and discuss patient safety information.
Conclusion
Overall, the team was extremely effective in adopting QSEN competencies, greatly enhancing patient safety and quality of care on the unit. We were able to effectively guide our decision-making process and ensure that we were addressing all aspects of patient-centered care, including but not limited to patient safety, communication, collaboration, patient education, and quality improvement initiatives, by utilizing the QSEN competencies for teamwork (Butts & Rich, 2022). Our use of evidence-based practice aided in strengthening our approach and ensuring that our efforts were based on the most recent research and best practices. Furthermore, our emphasis on safety and informatics enabled us to successfully manage patient data and use it to enhance patient outcomes (Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2013). Overall, our team’s commitment to patient-centered care and use of the most effective ideas and approaches has resulted in major gains in patient safety and overall quality of care within the unit.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2012). Graduate-level QSEN competencies: Knowledge, skills and attitudes. Web.
Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2022). Nursing ethics: Across the curriculum and into practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (2013). WIHI: Navigating new care teams with nurse practitioners. Web.
Sherwood, G., & Barnsteiner, J. (2021). Quality and safety in nursing: A competency approach to improving outcomes. John Wiley & Sons.