Essay Example on Patient Safety Culture

The culture of safety in an organization is mandatory to improve the overall health care as well as reduce errors within a hospital setting. Healthcare professionals should have the ability to efficiently deliver services that meet both cultural and social needs of patients. Typically, safety culture is the day-to-day routine of health professionals in hospitals. Medical workers emphasize on the delivery of care that is free from errors and high-quality. The article about organizational safety culture from the OSHA website provides many insights. The paper focuses on a reflection of patient safety culture on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) site. Healthcare institutions ought to reinforce their efforts on patient safety and quality improvement to improve the well-being of their patients.

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The first element learned from the readings is the significance of a strong management commitment and active worker participation as well as how it unites patient and worker safety. Largely, I learned that workplace hazards could significantly reduce through a comprehensive and thorough management team. As Kaplan, Orris, and Machi (2009) affirm, the Institute of Medicine Committee stated that health care ought to be equitable, safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, and efficient. In my area of specialty, one of the most common patient safety procedures that our hospital pays attention to is medical errors. To ensure the wellbeing of our patients, we as nurses make certain that we review patients records over and over again to make sure that they are correct. Also, we document every aspect of patients files and store medications properly for efficacy. Ideally, the safety of patients begins with that of medical professionals.

Another important aspect that I learned from the readings is that there is a connection between patient and worker safety. According to OSHA (n.d), sources of patient harm such as disruptive behavior, patient harm, and hospital-associated infections can result in harm to hospital staff. Moreover, OSHA (n.d) indicates that hospitals that take into consideration both patient and worker safety benefit from the experience of their integrated programs. I found the lesson informational because I now know that safety and health management systems prevent risks associated with patient and worker safety. More to the point, OSHA (n.d) emphasizes that the same tools, strategies, and business processes applied in patient safety are also applicable to worker safety. Our hospital, being Joint Commission Accredited, incorporates similar strategies used in patients to ensure occupational safety. Every day, our manager conducts safety meetings in early mornings to oversee any safety issues or concerns within the hospital setting. After reading the text, it came to my understanding that our management team applies similar strategies and tools of patients to their staff because it prevents hazards on both patients and hospital staff.

In summary, healthcare institutions ought to ramp up their focus on patient safety and quality improvement to improve the well-being of their patients. Apparently, patient safety culture starts from the top. Additionally, the management as well as workers in healthcare facilities ought to make their commitment manifest to the rest of the organization to save lives of patients. One significant element that I have known during my clinical experience is that patient safety culture involves everyone at every level from the employees, physicians, and members of the board. In general, a diverse, dedicated, and skilled workforce can deliver quality care and ensure the safety of their patients.

References

Kaplan, S., Orris, P., and Machi, R. (2009). A Research Agenda for Advancing Patient, Worker and Environmental Health and Safety in the Health Care Sector. UIC School of Public Health. Retrieved from https://noharm.org/sites/default/files/lib/downloads/other/Research_Agenda_Health_Safety.pdf

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Integrating Patient and Workplace Safety Programs. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/arabi/Downloads/2.1_SHMS_integration_508.pdf