Discussion post 1: Safety to the Patients The joint commission has an article called National Patient Safety Goals. In this article there are five goals and applications of the goals stated is a systematic and legible way. These goals and their application pertain to safe home health practices but be applied to all form of nursing. The goals are in order starting with the first goal of how too: ‘improve the accuracy of patient identification’. It is important to identify in two different form the patient’s identification and their address. I can only imagine showing up to your patient’s house and completing a visit just to realize you had the wrong address and wrong patient. The next goal stated is to ’improve the safety of using medications’. Patients use multiple medications. It is important to educate them about what they are taking and set up weekly medication distribution to help the patient safely take their medications. Third goal stated: ‘Reduce the risk of health care – associated infections. Following the world health organization on hygiene guidelines and center for disease control states that proper hand hygiene prevents the majority of staff to patient transmission of infections agents. The fourth goal stated: “Reduce the risk of patient harm resulting from harm’. Falls are a major problem for patients in the home as well as in institutions. It is imperative that health care providers assess a patient’s environment and fall risk with the goal to prevent falls. The fifth goal is: ‘The organization identifies safety risks inherent in its patient population’. It is emphasized that the use of home oxygen can be a high-risk treatment for patient burns, catching on fire and explosion’s when used around and with fire containing products such as cigarettes and candles. It is recommended that the provider asses the patient uses oxygen in a safe manor (The Joint Commission,2021). Technology and the benefits to Nursing In the article How Technology Has Changed the Role of Nursing it is stated that technology plays a huge role in the delivery clinical care to patients. The use of electrical medical record has taken away the need for paper records and aids in unifying a patient’s medical treatment across different modalities. The electrical health records allow the practitioner to see the patients past and current medication prescriptions. Th Electrical medical records help prevent over prescribing medications and or allowing the use of medications that are contraindicated with each other. The electrical medical records have helped me to establish the patients often vital medications on admission so that they can receive their medication in a timely manner. The Electrical medical record also lets me know what the patient taking at home if they don’t know or if they are lying to me about if they have an opioid script. The electrical medical record helps me to be a better health care practitioner (Bailey,2021). Reference: Bailey, Steve,(2021,April,29) ‘How Technology Has Changed the Role of Nursing. Retrieved:June,10,2021 https://nursejournal.org/articles/technology-changing-nursing-roles/ The Joint Commission ‘National Patient Safety Goals Effective January 2021 for the Home Care Program’. Retrieved: June,10,2021 https://www.jointcommission.org/-/media/tjc/documents/standards/national-patient-safety-goals/2021/npsg_chapter_ome_jan2021.pdf
Discussion post 2: With the aging population, technology in healthcare continues to shift to home care as more people with disabilities would like to live independently at home. However, safety is the priority in any healthcare setting, especially regarding home care. Thus, the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) objective is to improve patient protection and safety. The goals emphasize challenges in health care safety and how to resolve them(Simplified-2021-ome-npsg-goals-final-11420, 2020). To ensure safety, NPSG recommends five safety measures.Patient correct identification (NPSG.01.01.01) is the first safety measure in any medical setting using at least two patient identifiers such as the name and the date of birth or patient’s MRN number. This process ensures that patients are getting proper treatment, medicine, and procedure.Safe use of Medication (NPSG.03.06.01) Medication reconciliation needs to be done correctly for any doctor’s visit, from the medication at home, during the hospital stay, and at discharge. Information needs to be accurate and passed along efficiently. Patients need to know the changes, the following doses, the interactions, and the side effects of medications. Especially give them written information because many are forgetful. Reinforce to keep a record of all medications they are on, doses, routes, frequency.The prevention of infection (NPSG.07.01.01) I particularly important. Education the most by using the hand cleaning guidelines from the world health organization (WHO) and the center for disease control (CDC) to meet the standards. Use and establish the goals for hand-cleaning.Fall prevention on patients (NPSG.09.02.01) decreases injuries by identifying the patients at risk first and implementing measures to stop the fall from happening. For instance, to prevent the patient from falling by avoiding clutter. Also, make sure to put the bell within reach and keep alarms on. In addition, identify medication that causes unsteadiness, weakness, and disorientation. In addition, in some health care settings, using scale-like Hester Davis to categorize the level of risk and take proper measures according to established policies.Patient safety risk identification (NPSG.15.02.01) reveals any risk for a patient getting supplemental oxygen at home like fire, reinforcing the risks and education on using oxygen safely.Technology and HomecareTechnology is essential to home care because it facilitates the role of home health care within the general health care system and supports community-based autonomy for people. Different types of technologies are available, the passive and the active. For passive, there are censors; passive technologies are, for example, cameras, sensors, or other devices rooted in the residential structure that allow a person to monitor without needing an additional person to manage them. Also, passive telemonitoring technologies include bed sensors that capture restlessness, sleep disruptions, pulse, and respiration during sleep. On the other hand, an active monitoring system includes home telemonitoring devices. These devices can capture vital signs, weight, or symptoms and report them to a remote provider or a home health agency (Innovations in Technology – the Future of Home Health Care – Ncbi Bookshelf, n.d.). Active technologies include devices that can detect falls and that people can wear. They also include personal emergency response systems that a person can also wear. That allows the person to press a button to call for help when he or she falls and Telehealth(Innovations in Technology – the Future of Home Health Care – Ncbi Bookshelf, n.d.). All these methods can decrease unnecessary hospital visits, hospital readmission, reduce the cost of medical bills, and improve quality of life and independence at home. Technology is helpful to the team of caregivers like nurses by establishing important links that simplify communication, coordination and improved collaboration with remote patient monitoring. A shift to homecare will decrease patient injuries and fatalities, which means nurses will be more efficient by receiving quick alerts before situations escalate. In addition, it means more time spent caring for a patient than monitoring. Technology is a great help concerning nursing burnout and the aging nursing population (How Technology Will Impact Home Health Care, n.d.). ReferencesHow technology will impact home health care. (n.d.). HomeCare Magazine. https://www.homecaremag.com/aging-place-features/january-2016/how-technology-will-impact-home-health-careInnovations in technology – the future of home health care – ncbi bookshelf. (n.d.). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK315926/Simplified-2021-ome-npsg-goals-final-11420 [PDF]. (2020). https://www.jointcommission.org/-/media/tjc/documents/standards/national-patient-safety-goals/2021/simplified-2021-ome-npsg-goals-final-11420.pdf
