One of the common Never Events that have attracted considerable attention is patient infection during their hospital stay. Thornlow and Merwin (2009) note that numerous standards and policies have been developed to eliminate or reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission (TJC) introduced measures to address the issue as well. For instance, the Joint Commission underlines the need to ensure a reduced stay of patients in emergency departments for the improvement of access to care (Joint Commission, 2020). However, irrespective of this effort, the problem persists, which is specifically true in large hospitals (Thornlow & Merwin, 2009). Nurses play a central part in the process of improvement due to their key role in the delivery of care.
It has been acknowledged that cross-functional teams can be instrumental in addressing the problem (Health Catalyst Editors, 2019). At that, nurses are at the forefront as they are in close contact with the patient, they provide diverse healthcare services, and they are involved in quality improvement projects (Kroning et al., 2019). Nurses receive training aimed at improving care, and patient infection prevention is one of the areas covered during such programs.
At that, nursing practitioners have to face challenges related to their attempts to improve quality. The lack of resources is one of the most influential barriers preventing nurses from the implementation of various initiatives. Nurses are also overloaded with tasks and subject to significant work-related stress, which has a negative impact on their performance and commitment to quality improvement. These challenges have a larger impact on the overall performance of health-related organizations that often struggle with establishing high standards that are consistent with the ones developed by such entities as CMS or TJC.
References
Health Catalyst Editors. (2019). Emergency department quality improvement: Transforming the delivery of care. Web.
Joint Commission. (2020). Emergency department. Web.
Kroning, M., Yezzo, P., Didomenico, L., & Hesse, H. (2019). Teamwork and rounding for improved infection rates. Nursing, 49(11), 60–63. Web.
Thornlow, D. K., & Merwin, E. (2009). Managing to improve quality: The relationship between accreditation standards, safety practices, and patient outcomes. Health Care Management Review, 34(3), 262–272.