The safety of the patient is directly related to the risk of the patient getting hurt. The term risk means a certain probability of possible damage. The degree of risk is determined by a combination of the likelihood and the amount or size of the damage. When determining the risk, a cumulative effect is possible to occur. The aim of healthcare providers, including nurses, is to decrease the level of risk to a minimum, ensuring the patient’s safety.
In my personal experience, there were various cases when the patient’s safety was involved. One of the most frequently occurring cases is the patient’s risk of falls from bed or during an attempt to stand. Falls pose a high risk, especially for the elderly and sick. They often make serious changes in a person’s life, ranging from wounds and fractures affecting the limitation of the range of motion due to the loss of confidence in their mobility, up to the inability to carry independent life (Kim et al., 2019). Timely assessment of individual risk factors, systematic recording of falls and injuries, information and advice, as well as joint planning with patients and their families to promote safe mobility, reduce the risk of falls and their consequences.
When such cases occurred, our team of nurses operated very quickly to eliminate the risk, increasing the patient’s safety. Collaborative attempts were made to set the hospital bed low and check the possibility of installing restraints on the patient’s bed. An important healthcare issue in providing the patient’s safety is the quick response of each healthcare provider. Moreover, the communication skills of the hospital workers play a crucial role in the effective elimination of risks associated with patient’s safety.
References
Kim, J., Kim, S., Park, J., & Lee, E. (2019). Multilevel factors influencing falls of patients in hospital: The impact of nurse staffing. Journal of nursing management, 27(5), 1011-1019.