Critical Decision Making for Providers
Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay
Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

View the scenario called “Critical Decision Making for Providers” found in the Allied Health Community media (https://lc.gcumedia.com/hlt307v/allied-health-community/home.html).

In a 750‐1,200 word paper, describe the scenario involving Mike, the lab technician, and answer the following questions:

What were the consequences of a failure to report?
What impact did his decision have on patient safety, on the risk for litigation, on the organization’s quality metrics, and on the workload of other hospital departments?
As Mike’s manager, what will you do to address the issue with him and ensure other staff members do not repeat the same mistakes?
A minimum of three academic references from credible sources are required for this assignment.

Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

This assignment uses a grading rubric. Instructors will be using the rubric to grade the assignment; therefore, students should review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the assignment criteria and expectations for successful completion of the assignment

Critical Decision Making for Providers

Introduction

Healthcare providers usually encounter chances for decision making that function to either hinder or improve patient care. When faced with a problem, care providers are required to think critically and objectively asses all actions to make reasonable judgments. As such, it is vital that health care providers have critical thinking and critical decision-making skills to enable them to make logical decisions. The paper explores a scenario involving a care provider in a hospital and the decision he made during a critical situation. Faced with the dilemma of reporting a spill on the floor or ignoring the spill in order to report to his work station on time, Mike made a critical decision that compromised patient safety and impacted the entire organization. Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

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Description of the scenario

The case involves Mike, a lab technician, who is almost late to report to his workstation in the healthcare facility following an accident that caused him to delay to get to work. Upon arriving, Mike discovers that the floor of the main lobby was contaminated with a spill. Mike torn between making a stop and safeguard the spill or to ignore it and directly going to his workstation to avoid being late. Having been severally warned by his supervisor about possible termination for his tendency of reporting late to work, if he stops to ensure the spill is wiped out will certainly clock in late and put him at the risk losing his job. Mike also assumes that it is the responsibility of the housekeeping department to clean the spill and that could be cleaned up by the housekeeping while he clocks in.

Consequences of failure to report

Failure to report the spill so that it could be covered or cleaned led to patient fall in the lobby. Spills on the floors are significant risk factors to falls of both patients and hospital staff. Patient falls in hospitals persists being a serious concern for health care providers and are the most widespread adverse incidences resulting in injury longer lengths of hospital stay, increased treatment costs and liability. Apart from physical injuries, patients are predisposed to mental harms like fear of falling and anxiety (Morris & O’Riordan, 2017). In this scenario, the patient sustained a broken hip following the injury and was hospitalized in the facility. People in hospital settings are in a compromised situation, falls usually result in other complications, including lacerations, internal bleeding or fracture. Therefore, they augment the entire healthcare usage within a hospital increasing costs and negatively affecting patient outcomes The number of days that a patient can stay in a hospital following a fall is approximated to be twelve days ((Morris & O’Riordan, 2017).Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

Impact of Mike’s decision on patient safety, on risk for litigation, on organization’s quality metrics and on the workload of other hospital departments.

Mike’s decisions to overlook the spill compromised patient safety in the hospital. Since the spill was on the floor in the lobby, any patient walking in the area was at the risk of slipping, falling and sustaining injuries, as demonstrated who was admitted in the hospital following an injury she sustained after falling. Patient safety should be a priority in any healthcare facility because patient falls and fall-related injuries can negatively affect both the patient and the healthcare facility. According to Gu et al (2016), patient safety is a key concern taking into account the adverse outcomes connected with falls. Patients who sustain fall-related injuries may be required to stay in the hospital for a longer period and seek rehabilitation care. If Mike had reported the spill, it could have been cleaned up on time and the patient could have fallen and sustained injury.Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

The failure of Mike to report the spillage also negatively affected the organization’s quality metrics. The spill resulted in spill and trip incident, an occurrence that portrayed the facility as incompetent in providing a safe environment for patients. In the scenario, the injured patient was saddened by the incident, stating that she thought that the facility was a secure place with fall prevention programs to avert such incidents.

The hospital also faces the risk of legal action if the aggrieved patient decides to file a lawsuit for the serious injuries she sustained. A lawsuit against the hospital will ruin the image and reputation of the hospital and result in extra expenses that will be incurred in legal fees and compensating the patient. Renkema et al 2014) claim that after an adverse incident, a patient might commence legal action against healthcare professionals to avert similar event from occurring in future, to establish why and the way in which the incident occurred and to obtain monetary compensation for sustained injuries or to hold a healthcare facility or staff responsible for their actions. In addition to compromising patient safety and the hospital’s quality metric, Mike’s decision not to report the spill caused an increase in the workload of other departments, which will be working jointly to provide care to the patients. These departments include medical/surgical, radiology and ancillary services department.Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

Role of a manager in addressing the issue

As Mike’s manager, I will convene a meeting with Mike and other staff and communicate with them on the importance of reporting spills or cleaning up to ensure patient safety in the facility. The utilization of an integrative care management scheme is among the most significant aspects of falls prevention in a hospital. The system takes into account the maximization of appropriate communication among different health care providers, along with a systematic assessment of best practices as well as regular evaluation of mistakes to tell the risk of particular triggering incidents for falls (Gu et al., 2016).

Hospital managers are responsible for ensuring and improving patient safety by altering situations that may cause a fall incident. The majority of slips, trips, and fall incidents are caused by liquid contaminants on the floor (Bell et al, 2011). Grease, water along with other liquids normally make floors slippery and increases the risk of patient and hospital staff and visitors falls. As Mike’s manager, I can develop a housekeeping program to assist ensure the consistency and quality of housekeeping practices. The program should explain ways of immediately contacting the housing department when it is necessary to utilize wet floor barriers and signs and the places in which they are kept and where cleaning products and materials are kept. I would also encourage all staff to clean, cover or report spills right away and to place or hang spill pads in a location where the spill has occurred in order to prevent staff, patients and visitors walking on these surfaces.Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay

Conclusion

Health care providers often find themselves in critical situations that required them to make critical decisions that have positive or negative impacts on patient care and safety. Mike’s decision not to report the spill resulted in a patient falling in the facility, which had an impact on patient safety, on the hospital’s quality metrics and on the workload of other hospital departments. It also put the hospital at the risk of being sued. Managers have the responsibility of encouraging good housekeeping sand encouraging their staff to immediately report or clean spills as well as implementing a fall prevention program.

References

Bell, J., Collins, J., Dalsey, E., & Sublet, V. (2011). Slip, Trip, AND Fall Prevention for Healthcare Workers. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2011-123/pdfs/2011-123.pdf

Gu, Y., Balcean, K., & Ni, Y et al (2016). Review on Prevention of Falls in Hospital Settings. Chinese Nursing Research, 3(1), 7-10.

Morris, R., & O’Riordan, S. (2017). Prevention of falls in Hospital. Clinical Medicine, 17(4), 360-362.

Renkema, E., Broekhuis, M., & Ahaus, K. (2014). Conditions that influence the impact of malpractice litigation risk on physicians’ behavior regarding patient safety. BMC Health Services Research, 14: 38.Critical Decision Making for Providers Essay