In this scenario, Mike who is a lab technician faces a dilemma in making a decision on whether to report a health concern that may affect patient safety in healthcare. Mike comes across a spill on the hospital floor that can lead to accidents in the healthcare facility (Allied Health Community, 2019). This decision is affected by the fact that this is not his responsibility as someone else has been employed to ensure cleanliness in the healthcare facility. Mike is also late for work and his supervisor has previously warned him of his lateness habits.
Mike faces a dilemma of whether to report the safety concern to the relevant personnel or ignore the spill that may have a negative effect on patients or healthcare workers in the healthcare facility (Allied Health Community, 2019).
If Mike decides not to report the problem, serious consequences may affect the healthcare facility by causing accidents to patients as well as healthcare workers.
This will affect the achievement of healthcare goals that involve improving the health of patients (Boamah, 2018). Since the main role of healthcare workers is to improve the health of patients, Mike should report this issue to the relevant authorities where necessary action will be taken to prevent accidents. However, ignoring this issue will be going against the nursing ethical principles that prohibit healthcare workers from making decisions that may cause harm to patients (Boamah, 2018). Although this is not Mike’s responsibility, he has an obligation of ensuring that all patients are safe from any harm at the healthcare facility.
Research has indicated a large number of patients to acquire diseases as well as injuries in healthcare facilities while seeking healthcare services which is a major concern for healthcare facilities (Boamah, 2018).
This means that healthcare facilities in collaboration with healthcare workers should implement effective interventions to prevent these cases. If a healthcare worker falls due to the spill, this means that his/her performance will be negatively affected as he/she will be unable to function effectively to improve patient outcomes negatively affecting the achievement of healthcare goals (Boamah, 2018). This is worsened by the current nursing shortage affecting healthcare facilities where if one healthcare worker receives a sick leave, the performance of the healthcare facility is negatively affected.
Impact of His Decision on Patient Safety, On the Risk for Litigation, On the Organization’s Quality Metrics, And On the Workload of Other Hospital Departments
Mike’s decision affects patient safety, the risk for litigation, the organization’s quality metrics, and the workload of other departments. If Mike reports the spill to the appropriate authorities, proper action will be taken to insure that it is addressed improving patient safety in the facility (Murray, 2017). This is important in enhancing patient outcomes as well as the achievement of healthcare goals. However, if Mike does not report this spillage, this will compromise patient safety as this will be a risk factor since patients can be injured negatively affecting their health (Murray, 2017). Patient safety is not a responsibility of the healthcare facility only rather healthcare workers are required to ensure safety in their departments as well as other areas that are a risk to patients and healthcare workers.
Since the achievement of healthcare goals is a combination of the performance of all the departments, a failure in one department may affect the overall performance of the healthcare facility (Murray, 2017). Mike’s decision has also an impact on the risk of litigation that involves implementing preventive interventions to prevent any risk to patients that may negatively affect their health. Failing to report this spill will increase the risk factors that may affect patient safety as patients may suffer injuries due to this spill (Tasneem, Alison, & Tracey, 2018). However, if Mike reports the spill, correct measures will be ensured to minimize the risk associated with the spill.
Mike’s decisions also impact quality metrics which are elements implemented by healthcare organizations to ensure the delivery of quality healthcare services. Patient safety impacts the delivery of quality healthcare services and patient outcomes (Tasneem, Alison, & Tracey, 2018). If Mike does not report the spill, this will affect the quality of healthcare services provided to patients negatively affecting patient outcomes. Mike’s decision will also impact the workload of other hospital departments since not reporting the spill may lead to accidents in the healthcare facility (Tasneem, Alison, & Tracey, 2018). This will increase the workload of the emergency department and other departments that are responsible for providing healthcare services to injured patients. If the spill causes an accident to healthcare workers, this means that they will receive sick leave leaving departments having a few workers increasing their workload (Tasneem, Alison, & Tracey, 2018).
Addressing Mike’s Issue from a Managers’ Perspective and Ensuring That Other Staff Members Do Not Report the Same Mistake
One effective way that a manager can address Mike’s issue is educating healthcare workers on the importance of ensuring safety in the healthcare facility, as this is the responsibility of all healthcare workers (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). This is because a risk factor in the hospital may also affect healthcare workers. Risk factors affecting patient safety also impact the performance of the healthcare facility in achieving its healthcare goals. Since Mike has a problem with lateness where he has received a warning, there are options that Mike would have implemented to ensure that the spill is cleaned (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017).
One of these includes making a phone call to appropriate personnel or reporting to work first and then returning to ensure that the spill is cleaned. The main role of healthcare workers is ensuring that patients improve their health status which means that Mike can address the issue then continue to work and explain this to his supervisor (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). The manager can also emphasize on the importance of keeping time and reporting to work early. This would have enabled Mike to take proper action to ensure that the spill is cleaned and still report to work on time (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017).
Allied Health Community. (2019). Scenarios. Mike, Lab Technician. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/hlt307v/allied-health-community/riskManagement.html
Boamah, S. (2018). Linking Nurses’ Clinical Leadership to Patient Care Quality: The Role of Transformational Leadership and Workplace Empowerment. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 50(1), 9-19. Murray, E. J. (2017). Nursing leadership and management for patient safety and quality care. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.
Salmond, S. W., & Echevarria, M. (2017). Healthcare Transformation and Changing Roles for Nursing. Orthopedic nursing, 36(1), 12–25.
Tasneem, I., Alison, M. H., & Tracey, K. B. (2018). Nurse Manager Risk Information Management for Decision-Making: A Qualitative Analysis. Collegian, 25(4), 401-407
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