Assessment of Practice Environment

1. What type of patients do you take care of in the unit?

The hospital provides services to patients who require primary care, emergency care, specialty care, urgent care, hospice care, long-term care, and mental healthcare.

• What is the average daily census of the unit?

The average daily census of the unit is 16 patient per day.

• What care delivery model do the nurses on the unit use to care for patients?

The delivery model used in the unit is team nursing where different nurses collaborate to provide efficient and all-round care services.

• What is the staffing mix on the unit?

The staffing ix in the unit comprises of attending physicians, Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, residents, specialists, aides,

How many RNs, LPNs, aides?

 The hospital has a total of 15 registered nurses, 7 Licensed Practitioners, and 35 aides.

• How many practices errors are reported?

Some of the error reported include:

• Medication errors
• Hospital acquired infections
• Inadequate follow-up treatment
• Delay in treatment
• Mistakes during diagnosis.
• Who is responsible for reporting practice errors?

Medical errors are supposed to be reported by the care providers like the nurses in charge.

• What are the top three practice errors reported on your unit?

Top three practice errors reported are errors in medication, delays in treatment, and inadequate follow up in treatment.

• What errors are identified?

 The common errors reflect that the care providers are not able to provide the right medication which can cause delays in treatment.

 What is done to correct the error?

These problems can be corrected by the hospital administration by emphasizing on mandatory computerized documentation and monitoring to prevent errors.

• Where is the policy and procedure manual on your unit?

The policy and procedure manual in the unit can be centrally found in the hospital website, portal, and central administration.

1. How easy is it for you to access the policy and procedure manual?

The policies and procedure manual is available to all unit workers by accessing the hospital manual at their own convenience through emails, contracts or printed in paper form.

1. How often are policies and procedures updated in your organization?

The policies and procedures in the unit are updated after every year.

1. Who is responsible for updating policies and procedures?

Healthcare policies and procedures regularly get updates from the federal government. The human resource in the organization is responsible for making the necessary updates.

1. How much input do staff nurses have related to creating or revising policy and procedure?

The health unit makes sure to include the employees in the development of policies and procedures.

1. What are the quality initiatives in place on the unit at present?

Some of the quality initiatives in the unit include:

• Reducing incidences of readmissions
• Improving electronic medical documentation
• Decreasing errors in medication administration
• Reducing numbers adverse events related to medication.
• How well is the unit doing related to the quality initiatives?

The unit is still struggling to improve areas of error related to medication, although most of the other initiatives have been accomplished.

1. How are the results of quality initiatives communicate to staff?

The results indicate that staff members require proper and efficient methods or procedures to help them allocate medicine accurately to the patients.