From the Editor’s Perspective…

Article Outline

• References
• Copyright

• 
  • View Large Image
  • Download to PowerPoint

• Cindy Lewis, MSN, RN

Question: How many nurses does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: Five.

One to change the bulb, one to check the policy and procedure, one for documentation, one for performance improvement, and one for the Task Force on hospital lighting.

Funny? But true? In this day and age when National Patient Safety Goals are on everyone’s agenda, we are all addressing our organizational systems and processes to ensure we are providing safe, quality care. Many of you may be reviewing new policies, evaluating your assessment parameters and documentation of patient care, demonstrating safe patient identifiers, providing complete medication reconciliation, and ensuring thorough communication between health care members. We are all being held to high standards to demonstrate and ensure patient safety.

Patient safety is an essential and vital component of quality nursing care. Many accrediting agencies and bodies have evolved to assess, measure, and report the outcomes of care provided by our organizations. But patient safety is a shared responsibility. Ultimately, many stakeholders are responsible to see that no harm occurs to patients. These stakeholders include accrediting agencies, professional associations, regulatory, and legislative bodies. In addition, other stakeholders include society in general, our patients, individual nurses, nursing educators, administrators, researchers, physicians, and other health care disciplines involved in the care of patients.

It is difficult to address patient safety without acknowledging the current nursing shortage and its impact on practice. It is important for all of society to work to improve communication between direct care nurses and nursing management and administration, promote staffing flexibility, use appropriate staffing formulas, discourage use of mandatory overtime, provide adequate compensation, minimize hazards, promote workplace safety, and implement new technologies that automate nonvalued tasks.¹

In addition, patients have assumed a more active role in managing their health care. Most health care institutions work to ensure certain patient rights and support patient-informed choices. Patients are often seeking out and accessing information about their health care institutions and practitioners. It is vital we continue to partner with our patients in the provision of their care and health care needs.

Nursing is a knowledge-based profession. The basis for the scientific practice of nursing includes not only nursing science, but also biomedical, physical, economic, behavioral, and social sciences along with ethics and philosophy. A nurse’s ability to be a critical thinker and to use this knowledge in the delivery of nursing care is essential to the well-being and safety of those for whom nurses care.

Early in nursing history, Florence Nightingale advocated for safe care. She proposed that nurses through their practice had to put the patient in the best condition possible for nature to act on the patient.² Currently, the American Nurses Association states that an essential feature of nursing is the provision of a caring relationship that facilitates health and healing.³ It is important that as nurses we work to continue to strengthen our nurse–patient relationship and diligently use research findings to provide safe care for our patients.

Laws, rules, and standards are identified to enhance safe care. As nurses, we are held accountable to follow the rules of licensing authorities, professional standards, and ethics as stated by our nursing associations. We can also enhance safe care by serving as competent leaders. We must know the competencies, legal parameters, and tasks that can be performed by others such as unlicensed assistive personnel. It is also important that we make informed choices about educational courses, clinical advancement programs, and specialty certification to demonstrate and strengthen our proficiency and expertise in our practice arenas.

Our Society has provided direction to us by developing practice standards and position statements. These documents express the primary goals, values, and obligations of our profession. Our National Conference provides the opportunity to share learning experiences, research, and practice trends. Our Journal provides the avenue to share and reflect the values and priorities within our profession and provide direction and support for our practice outcomes. Our Journal allows the dissemination of quality of care projects and initiatives, promotes nursing research, and provides education in the science of nursing.

Patients are entitled to safe, quality care. Many stakeholders and health care team members are accountable to enhance care for all. As nurses, we play and will continue to play an ongoing and essential role in the movement to promote safe care. What is your role? Continue to stay active within your professional organizations. Continue to seek out educational opportunities. Continue to share your stories, practice challenges, successes, and research, and publish in our Journal.

Nursing remains a key strand in the health care safety net. Our Journal provides you the avenue or thread to communicate and distribute the wealth of knowledge and expertise within each of your practices. I hope to hear from you soon!

Back to Article Outline

References 

1. Ballard KA . The world of nursing practice . In:  Vallano V editors. Your career in nursing . ed.. New York: Simon and Schuster; 2002;p. 23–39
   • View In Article
2. Nightingale F . Notes on nursing (what it is and what it is not) . London: Harrison and Sons. (A facsimile edition, 1946.) . Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company; 1859;
   • View In Article
3. American Nurses Association . Nursing’s social policy statement . Washington, DC: American Nurses Association; 2003;
   • View In Article