Impacts of Adverse Events On Nursing Practice

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Adverse events refer to unintended complications resulting in prolonged hospital stays, disabilities, or death. This is an issue of healthcare management and it indicates patient safety in a particular hospital. Adverse events have significant impacts on nursing practice. Nurses may be legally liable for adverse events that occur on their watch.

According to “The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety”, this is a continuing problem in healthcare services. The incidence and prevalence of adverse events in hospitals have risen dramatically during the past decade. However, “The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety” notes that the amount of information available to nurses concerning how to deal with them is limited. The article emphasizes that nurses need knowledge about the problem and ways of preventing it from happening again. Nurses should also be made familiar with the legal ramifications of these events so they can better handle them on their own accord.

My experience with adverse events on nursing practice is rather vast. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), as a registered nurse, I am expected to provide care and treatment for patients in any situation. I am also responsible for managing the possibility of complications. However, many adverse events occur that are considered preventable. “The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety” suggests that nurses should report any patient safety issues or incidents they encounter and advocate change in hospital processes.

I have experienced some cases wherein adverse events occurred during my shift. One of them was when one patient who developed hypertension suddenly went into cardiac arrest. The patient was also diagnosed with coronary artery disease. He had a history of smoking and drinking. The patient suffered a myocardial infarction (or heart attack) while the nurse on duty was conducting his vital signs assessment. The nurse was not ready on time to provide monitoring and intervention to this patient. The nurse, therefore, failed in managing the care of this patient.

Adverse events can occur at any time and usually occur when nurses are busy with other patients. It is also possible for them to happen when nurses are conducting assessments or changing shifts.

Adverse events also have great impacts on the general organization and structure of a hospital. Some hospitals require nurses to take charge in order to prevent adverse events from happening, especially when the hospital is part of a larger organization (Wu et al., 2020). For example, if the organization has a policy in place to prevent adverse events, then nurses are expected to follow that policy and not violate it.

Nursing care can be very difficult and challenging for any nurse. However, adverse events are extremely worrisome for all nurses as they affect the safety of patients. The reason why so many adverse events occur is because there is no definite system of nursing care that everyone follows nor guidelines on how to handle these instances.

During this Corona Pandemic, there have been major adverse effects where many patients died across the world (Dutta et al., 2021). The problem of adverse events is a major issue to the medical personnel and nurses alike. Adverse events also affect nurses as well. Nurses can be subject to claims for negligence or malpractice if they are not able to respond appropriately and effectively. These adverse effects from the pandemic have also affected my nursing practice. My role as a registered nurse requires me to always be ready for any emergencies that may occur. I have to be prepared for any possible complications that may occur in the patients under my care.

The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety also notes that “nurses must remain vigilant at all times to ensure safety of their patients.” Failure to do so may cause liability in the hospital’s risk management department. This means that nurses are now held accountable. They have to be responsible and accountable for the care they give to their patients. Nurses are now required by law to report incidents or issues they encounter while attending their patients.

References

Dutta, S., Kaur, R. J., Charan, J., Bhardwaj, P., Sharma, P., Ambwani, S., … & Misra, S. (2021). Serious adverse events reported from the COVID-19 vaccines: A descriptive study based on WHO database. medRxiv.

Wu, A. W., Shapiro, J., Harrison, R., Scott, S. D., Connors, C., Kenney, L., & Vanhaecht, K. (2020). The impact of adverse events on clinicians: what’s in a name?. Journal of Patient safety, 16(1), 65-72.