Final answer:
To deliver safe care, nurses must understand how to perform procedures correctly, their purpose, and their impact on patients. Thoroughly reviewing procedural details with the healthcare team ensures patient safety. Legal accountability also plays a role in maintaining high standards of care.
Step-by-step explanation:
In order to deliver the safest possible care, a nurse needs to understand multiple key factors. These include:
- How to perform the procedure correctly, which ensures that the nurse can execute the tasks without causing harm.
- Why the procedure is being performed, to comprehend its purpose and its importance in the patient's overall care plan.
- How the procedure will affect the patient, which includes anticipating and managing potential side effects or complications.
Other aspects such as equipment needed and the cost of performing the procedure are also relevant, but the primary objective is to ensure patient safety and care quality.
In practice, during procedures, a nurse reviews items aloud with the team, confirming the details like the name of the procedure, counts of needles and sponges, specimen labeling, and any equipment issues. Reviewing such details helps to prevent errors and ensures a higher standard of patient care.
Legal Accountability in Healthcare
Discussion around responsibility for patient safety also touches upon the liabilities of hospitals, health-care workers, and equipment manufacturers. Should an incident occur, determining whether protocols were correctly followed or if equipment was defective is crucial for legal and ethical resolution as well as for improving future patient care.