While a modern hospital may not have much in common with the locations where Florence Nightingale practiced, the mission remains the same: provide the highest quality of care in an environment focused on patient health and safety.
What can today’s nurses do to support this goal? Here are three ways staff nurses and nurse leaders can enhance hospital patient safety.
To be a nurse is to be a selfless caregiver. From the moment a nurse walks into a hospital or clinic, their main priority is protecting the health and safety of their patients.
While ensuring the health and safety of patients is essential, nurses can’t ignore the importance of their own health and safety. Nurses not only experience the challenges of professionals who are on their feet all day (such as muscle strain and fatigue) but they also face a unique set of risks not usually found outside a hospital or clinic.
To reduce health risks, injury and illness, pay attention to these four safety issues that affect staff nurses.
The emergency department is without question the most dangerous place in the hospital for nurses. Combative patients, upset families and personal confrontations that spill into the emergency room can make the ED environment volatile at times. While you’re treating the AMI patient or juggling an influx of patients from a multi-car accident, the last thing you should be concerned about is your personal safety. That’s why we put together these tips to help your hospital advance nursing staff safety in the emergency department.
