NR 103 Week 4 RUA Draft Review: Safety Culture in Nursing

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Safety Culture in Nursing Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 103: Transition into the Nursing Profession Safety Culture in Nursing Over the past decade the workload of the nurse has continued ... to increase due to added safety policies and responsibilities they must undertake. This paper’s goal is to assess the impact of added safety measures in the hospital space upon the nursing workload. Testing and experimentation This study’s “data collection involved 60 h of fieldwork over a three-year period on both morning and afternoon shifts” (Ross, Rogers, & King, 2019). First, observations were gathered by researchers, and then healthcare workers were interviewed to elaborate on tasks they had performed. Specific things observed to increase workload were steps such as setting up televisions, retrieving lifting devices, and even things that were considered ‘fundamental care’ such as rounds (Ross et al., 2019). How is workload affected by safety implementation?/Results The various interviews identified that while various extra steps to ensure patient safety have been implemented over the past few years, often the time and effort these extra steps take to be executed by nurses is not factored into their workload. In other words, nurses have to do more work per patient but these additional tasks are often not factored into their workload. In the hospital setting specifically, a culture was observed wherein nurses absorb various additional safety related tasks into their routine when mandated by their organization, without thought towards their effect on workload. This culture is then passed on to new nurses that come into the organization (Ross et al., 2019). For the protection of the patients, the nurses, and the hospitals it is vital that an accurate nursing workload is accounted for. Reflection In my role as a CPR instructor, I have a set amount of time during which I am expected to complete a Basic Life Support class. However, after being trained on how to issue certification cards for this course, I was expected to perform this additional task within the teaching period. This absorption of an additional task, while not safety related, is similar to the culture that is being observed in hospital settings among nurses. While I do not have much insight on how to mitigate this problem on an organizational level, I can understand how workload can slowly increase over time. In addition, I recognize that while extra tasks I take on are simply that; for nurses the tasks that are being unconsciously added to their daily workload are crucial to patient safety, and ironically, can cause burnout that puts patients at greater risk (MacPhee, M., Dahinten, V. S., & Havaei, F., 2017). Conclusion This research clearly points to a strong positive correlation between nursing workload and patient safety interventions. However, more evidence is required to illustrate the effect of increased workload on the quality of patient care. That said, it should be recommended that hospitals and other healthcare facilities factor in additional roles and responsibilities related to safety interventions when assessing nursing workload. References MacPhee, M., Dahinten, V. S., & Havaei, F. (2017). The Impact of Heavy Perceived Nurse Workloads on Patient and Nurse Outcomes. Administrative Sciences, 7(1), 7. https://doi- org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/admsci7010007 Ross, C., Rogers, C., & King, C. (2019). Safety culture and an invisible nursing workload. Collegian, 26(1), 1–7. doi: 10.1016/j.colegn.2018.02.002 [Show More]

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