The importance of patient safety essays

The importance of patient safety essays Patient safety is such an important part of our health care system and it helps define quality health care. Keeping our patients safe is a challenging issue because errors and mistakes can and do happen. Error occurs when a planned sequence of mental and physical activities fail to achieve the intended outcome and when this failure cannot be attributed to some chance intervention or occurrence (Ballard, 2003). According to the Institute of Medicine, medical error resulted in as many as 98,000 preventable deaths per year; twice the rate of traffic fatalities and the estimated cost in the US could be almost 29 billion dollars (Wells, 2001). Someone has to ensure operational systems and methods are taken to help reduce the likelihood that errors occur, but who is responsible for taking these proper measurers? Is it society, patients themselves, physicians, nurses, nursing professors, administrators, researchers, physicians, or professional associations? In the long run, all of thes e entities are responsible for making sure the patient has the safest possible outcome. This is a nationwide and worldwide issue that will never be completely resolved because error is always prone to happen. As nurses we need to make sure we are taking all appropriate actions to limit the amount of mistakes that will put our patients at risk. Nursing definitely plays a huge part in patient safety. Nurses are directly in the core of patient care and can be caught in the middle of either witnessing medical error or being liable for a situation. Harming individuals who seek care and compassion is the last thing nurses intend to happen. The nursing shortage can take some responsibility for endangering the quality of care. When nurses are spread too thin, patients do not receive the adequate care they need and dangers are more likely to arise. In most health care settings, nursing care is more utilized than medical care is. This emphasiz...

Learn Your Options If Youre Kicked out of College

Learn Your Options If You're Kicked out of College Being kicked out of college happens more often than many people think. Students are dismissed for many reasons, including cheating, plagiarism, poor grades, addictions, and inappropriate behavior. What should you do if you find yourself holding a dismissal letter? Know the Reason(s) for Your Dismissal Chances are your letter of dismissal was sent after a long series of negative interactions with professors,  staff, or other students,  so you probably have a pretty good idea of what went wrong. However, its still important to be sure your assumptions are correct. Were you kicked out of college because you failed your classes? Because of your behavior? Be clear about the reasons for your dismissal so youll know what your options are in the future. Its easier to ask questions and make sure you understand the reasons now than it will be one, two, or even five years in the future. Know What, If Any, Conditions There Are for Your Return First and foremost, confirm if youll be allowed back at the institution. And if you will be permitted to return, be clear about what youll need to do to be eligible to enroll again. Sometimes colleges need letters or reports from doctors or therapists to avoid the possibility of the same issues arising for the second time. Figure out What Went Wrong Did you not go to class? Act in a way that you regret now? Spend too much time on the party scene? Beyond awareness of the actions that resulted in your dismissal, its important to know what caused those actions and why you made the choices you did. Really understanding what led up to and resulted in being kicked out is perhaps the most important step you can take toward learning from the experience. Make Productive Use of Your Time Afterward Being kicked out of college is a serious black mark on your record. How can you turn a negative into a positive? Start by learning from your mistakes and bettering yourself and your situation. Get a job to show youre responsible; take a class at another school to show you can handle the workload; get counseling to show you no longer will make unhealthy choices with drugs and alcohol. Doing something productive with your time will help indicate to prospective employers or colleges that being kicked out of college was an unusual speed bump in your life, not your normal pattern. Move On Being kicked out of college can be hard on your pride, but know that people make mistakes of all kinds  and that the strongest people learn from them. Acknowledge what you did wrong, pick yourself up, and move on. Being extra harsh on yourself can sometimes keep you stuck in the mistake. Focus on whats next in your life and what you can do to get there.