Entry-Level Competency In Professional Nursing Practice

In the leadership in care delivery course, we were assigned to a hospital to perform clinical hours and provide care to four patients. Additionally, the purpose of this paper is to explain and provide examples on how our patient care included the concepts of Quality and Safety Education for Nursing (QSEN) competencies, delegation, handoff reporting, and a reflection of the clinical experience.

The documentary “Chasing Zero” reflects on the importance of quality care and patient safety. From the video, a child presents with jaundice, but the hospital fails to recognize immediate treatment. As a result, the child develops further complications such Kernicterus, which results in brain damage from jaundice (Quality and Safety Education for Nurses, 2014). Unfortunately, there were many devastating instances such as this, which could have been greatly prevented.

Pharmacy technicians work under the supervision of a pharmacist helping prepare and give out medications. It is very crucial for a pharmacy technician to be aware of their work at all times and check their work more than once. Pharmacy technicians need to ensure any medication they have prepared has been done properly, if not that could potentially harm the patients. Pharmacist trust their technicians will always follow system-based processes and provide an extra layer of safety. Working as a pharmacy technician it is important to communicate with the pharmacist and address any questions or concerns, not asking a simple question could cost the life of a patient.

The feeling of being able to alleviate the suffering of an acutely ill patient is at once incredibly satisfying and immensely humbling. I am constantly in awe of the fact that by coming to work everyday, I have the privilege of helping others who cannot care for themselves. During my time in my Clinical Care Extender Internship, I developed a special interest in caring for the geriatric population and have had the opportunity of serving as a personal caregiver to an elderly woman with dementia. I do not take the trust and confidence that my patient places in me lightly and work hard to advocate and provide for her safety because she deserves no less. Thus, in the interest of patient advocacy, as a nurse in your facility, I will seek to improve the practices that will keep my patients safe and promote their healing. I aim to achieve this goal with the help of your institution by working hard, continually advancing my education, and using evidence-based findings to guide my

The nursing scope of practice gives a precise definition of the strict duties of a registered nurse practitioner. It is obligatory for these professionals not to engage in medical activities that go beyond their scope of practice. Registered nurses are required to deliver wide-range nursing attention and treatment to all persons in a healthcare setup (American Nurses ' Association, 2000). Notably, they have to offer emergency care and guarantee the safe execution of treatment. It is mandatory for nurses to demonstrate a broad knowledge of the laws and regulations that are in line with their profession. Additionally,

Interpersonal skills and effective communication among healthcare professionals are at the core of quality patient care. Interpersonal skills are defined by Rungapadiachy (1999, p.193) as “those skills which one needs in order to communicate effectively with another person or a group of people”. It includes verbal communication, non-verbal communication, listening skills, negotiation, problem-solving, decision-making, and assertiveness (Skills You Need, n.d.). The National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (1991) defined communication as, “Any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person, information about that person 's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states.

Recognizing, acknowledging, and understanding medication safety is important when administering medications. Understanding which medications are high-risk ones, being familiar with the medications being given, remembering the five most important rights when administering medications, communicating clearly, developing checking habits, and reporting the medication errors will lead to safe outcomes for the residents. However, errors do occur from a lack of experience, rushing, distractions, fatigue, doing too many things at once, not double checking, poor communication, and lack of team work. It is not only the staff that commit errors, but also the work environment that contributes to the medication error. Two examples are poor reporting systems

There are many roles and areas of practice available to graduates with a master’s degree in nursing. Changes in healthcare resulting from the passage of the Affordable Care Act offer new and innovative roles for nurses. Among these roles are direct care practice roles as a Nurse Practitioner (NP) in family care, gerontology or adult health. Indirect care roles as a Nurse Educator, Nurse Administrator, or Nurse Informaticist are also options graduates of master’s program may choose. Regardless of the path chosen, there are core competencies that must be met for each, in addition to specific competencies related to the area of practice chosen. This paper will compare and contrast the roles of Family Nurse

Härkänen, M., Voutilainen, A., Turunen, E., & Vehviläinen-Julkunen, K. (2016). Systematic review and meta-analysis of educational interventions designed to improve medication administration skills and safety of registered nurses. Nurse Education Today, 41, 36–43. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2016.03.017

Quality improvement efforts and risk management are complementary, and together are key modules of clinical governance. Risk management reinforces quality management in healthcare. This leads to:

I find it overwhelming that the majority of the research literature (studies, surveys and reports believe nursing plays the pivotal role in changing the face of health care and improving quality care and patient safety. In order for the future of health care to change, changes must begin at the top with stakeholders, the hierarchy and nursing management, nurses as leaders within their organizations. According to Disch J. (2008), nurses as leaders within their organizations need to also step forward, CNEs have the background, perspective, and platform to help their organizations seriously tackle safety issues that jeopardize patient care and that face nurses and their colleagues daily, and are the essential building blocks of all health systems--and

Yvonne, your post was extremely intriguing to me as a community health department is not an environment I have had the privilege of experiencing. Interestingly, the utilization of computerized order entry does not prevent the prescriber from ordering an incorrect medication dose or the wrong drug (Lapane, Waring, Dube’, & Schneider, 2011). Do the facility employ process to assure nurses are checking the medication in order to avoid the administration of an incorrect drug or dosage?

There are many concerns the scenario illuminates for practicing nurses. Prior to going out on placement to a healthy facility,

(Joint Commissions, 2014).It is important for nurses to explain how to use the call light to the elderly patients, and also to ask for help before getting out of bed. Vulnerable patients should be placed close to the nursing station for close monitoring. It is very important to educate health care workers on the approaches used to prevent falls. The measures used to prevent falls in the elderly could include; carrying out a risk assessment during admission, placing colorful stickers outside their doors, stopping the use of psychotropic medications, teaching them the best way to use their assistive device, placing their call light and belonging within their reach, placing their beds in the lowest position with brakes /wheels locked at all times, removing throw rugs from their surroundings, making sure that they are wearing non-skid shoes/socks before ambulating and also giving them their prescribed Vitamin D supplement as well as encouraging them on the use of their corrective glasses or hearing aids. It is very important to educate health care workers on the approaches used to prevent

Communication is described as the interchange of information, thoughts, and feelings between individuals using dialog or other methods (Kourkouta, & Papathanasiou, 2014). Communication between patients, nurses, and other healthcare professionals can influence the patient outcome subsequently, understanding what establishes an effective communication will be beneficial for nurses and other healthcare professionals. Having the skills to articulate efficiently exists beyond having verbal skills. According to Wright (2012), to establish effective communication, a nurse should develop the use of nonverbal cues such as body language, demonstrating active listening skills to facilitate assurance that the interaction remains successful, and having