Quality and Safety Measures in Nursing Science
Directions:
Write a 1,000 word paper discussing the role of quality and/or safety in nursing science. Include the
following:
- Define quality or safety measures and describe their relationship and role in nursing science today.
- Provide a contemporary example of how quality or safety measures are applied in nursing science.
- Identify the quality and/or components needed to analyze a health care program’s outcomes.
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Quality and Safety Measures in Nursing Science
It is internationally recognized that standardized nursing care is essential for the
achievement of the safe and better quality healthcare system (Bianchi et al., 2016). Effective
strategies are therefore required for the elevation of safety or quality in nursing practice today.
The recommended standard operating procedures (SOPs) are widely employed in various
healthcare settings to ensure quality or safety in patient care and attain sustainability in the future
(Kim, Lyder, McNeese‐Smith, Leach, & Needleman, 2015). Excellence in nursing science is the
extent to which the healthcare services offered to individuals and community improve the
desired health outcomes and how they are consistent with contemporary professional knowledge.
Conversely, safety is considered to be part of quality measures, and it is defined as the
prevention of harm to patients in a healthcare setting (Woo, Lee, & San Tam, 2017). The focus
is, therefore, to underscore the roles of quality and safety measures, how they are applied in
nursing science and the necessary components for healthcare outcome analysis.
Relationship and Role
Safety is closely related to quality since patient safety is a significant contributor to
quality healthcare in nursing practice today (Kim et al., 2015). Any method that is geared toward
improving the safety of patients usually results in overall improvement in the quality of care. The
indicators of patient safety require the measurement of errors and adverse events and such
information can be obtained from sources like patient records and administrative databases
among others. Quality measures are multidimensional and include appropriateness, effectiveness,
and efficiency (Woo et al., 2017). The two concepts play a significant role in nursing science
today as they aid in ensuring that healthcare services are appropriate to the individual clients,
producing the desired outcomes and achieving the best efficiency at the lowest cost possible.
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Nurses can learn on how to enhance the safety of patients in the multidisciplinary teamwork
among while handling patients, thus the contemporary nursing science dramatically benefits
from the aspects of quality and safety in patient care.
Contemporary nursing science requires quality and safety measures to enable nurses to
participate in the surveillance and the coordination aimed at reducing adverse outcomes in
patient care (Bianchi et al., 2016). Another role of safety or quality measures in nursing today is
the improvement of the health status of patients through positive indicators of safety and quality,
for example, the implementation of appropriate self-care. It also enables the integrative function
of the nursing fraternity in the healthcare providers to ensure that there are fewer complications
and reduced mortality. Today’s nursing science is that which encourages integrative and
collaborative care provided by the nurses for prompt identification of hazards and deterioration
of patients before any error, and the adverse event occurs (Chiang, Hsiao, & Lee, 2017). These
aspects constitute the quality and safety measures in today’s nursing science, and it significantly
helps in achieving quality and sustainability in nursing practice.
Contemporary Example
Quality measures are significantly applied in the modern nursing science, and these
practices have the objective of reducing the occurrence of adverse events that could be related to
medical care exposure in the various conditions or medical diagnoses (Chiang et al., 2017).
Additionally, other practices may not have been researched on, and yet they considerably play a
role in promoting quality and ameliorating harm. Evidence-based nursing science and practice
indicate that certain practices are considered to be part of the quality and safety measures. One of
these practices includes the rational use of prophylaxis in preventing thromboembolic events
among patients who are at risk, for example, women (Coronado-Vázquez, García-López, López-
QUALITY AND SAFETY MEASURES IN NURSING SCIENCE 4
Sauras, & Alcaine, 2017). Another contemporary example of safety measures is the use of
maximum sterile barriers when IV catheters are being placed centrally for the prevention of
infections. The modern nursing science advocates for the judicious use of perioperative beta
blockers for the prevention of morbidity and mortality preoperatively among the appropriate
patients.
Contemporary nursing science employs quality and safety measures like the use of
simulators, crew resource management, bar coding in avoiding safety errors and for the
realization of improvement of healthcare processes (Chiang et al., 2017). Other examples of
safety measures include the use of central venous catheters which are impregnated with
antibiotics to curb against any infections that could be catheter-related. Additionally, the
provision of early enteral nutrition among those who are severely ill and post-surgical patients is
a useful measure that prevents the emergence of complications related to the described states
(Coronado-Vázquez et al., 2017).
Analyzing the Outcomes of a Healthcare Program
The results of a healthcare program are examined using data to assess the performance of
the plans, programs and the healthcare workers against known quality standards. The need for
reviewing the healthcare outcomes is substantiated by the substandard nature of service provision
noted across the United States and globally (Woo, et al., 2017). The components of the analysis
include the mortality, morbidity, and quality of life of the patient. Outcome measurement targets
the patient’s wellness after the interventions by the healthcare personnel (Morris, & Bailey,
2014). Mortality involves the traditional measure of survival rates, while morbidity covers
disease incidence. The level of satisfaction of the patients with the services they were rendered is
another quality aspect that is measured and analyzed in the outcome.
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To thoroughly analyze the outcomes of a healthcare program, the needs of the patients
must be considered together with their values and preferences. This is because the outcome
measures give a reflection of what is essential for the patient and their satisfaction level based on
the service provision (Morris, & Bailey, 2014). Also, the social determinants of health are
necessary. To adequately analyze the quality of life of the service user, there is a need to
consider the social determinants, for example, their socioeconomic status. It is also imperative to
include the critical differences that exist among patient populations when analyzing the
outcomes.
In conclusion, quality and safety for patients in nursing science is a contemporary
phenomenon that significantly contributes to the sustainability in healthcare provision as
discussed above. The observed close relationship between quality and safety measures describes
their roles in nursing science today. Various examples are indicating the current employment of
safety measures in nursing practice through evidence-based science. The quality and safety
measures ensure efficiency in service provision, and this leads to better outcomes which can be
analyzed through various while considering all the necessary components as described in the
essay.
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References
Bianchi, M., Bressan, V., Cadorin, L., Pagnucci, N., Tolotti, A., Valcarenghi, D., … & Sasso, L.
(2016). Patient safety competencies in undergraduate nursing students: a rapid evidence
assessment. Journal of advanced nursing, 72(12), 2966-2979.
Chiang, H. Y., Hsiao, Y. C., & Lee, H. F. (2017). Predictors of Hospital Nurses’ Safety Practices.
Journal of nursing care quality, 32(4), 359-368.
Coronado-Vázquez, V., García-López, A., López-Sauras, S., & Alcaine, J. M. T. (2017). Nursing
involvement in risk and patient safety management in Primary Care. Enfermería Clínica
(English Edition), 27(4), 246-250.
Kim, L., Lyder, C. H., McNeese‐Smith, D., Leach, L. S., & Needleman, J. (2015). Defining
attributes of patient safety through concept analysis. Journal of advanced nursing,
71(11), 2490-2503.
Morris, C., & Bailey, K. (2014). Measuring health care quality: an overview of quality measures.
Families USA issue brief May.
Woo, B. F. Y., Lee, J. X. Y., & San Tam, W. W. (2017). The impact of the advanced practice
nursing role on quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost in the
emergency and critical care settings: a systematic review. Human resources for health,
15(1), 63.