As for any healthcare professional, the role of a DNP-prepared nursing practitioner is to keep patients safe and provide high-quality healthcare delivery. Therefore, DNP-prepared nurses need to address quality and safety measures throughout their working practice. The purpose of this paper is to consider and analyze my experience with quality and safety in my nursing practice and then reflect on that experience to define ways to support the corresponding measures. Such a reflection is a perfect method to investigate my nursing activity from the viewpoints of quality and safety because the errors in the field are prominent and can directly influence patient outcomes.
My current nursing practice takes place within a major healthcare organization, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. One of the organization’s primary goals is supporting quality and safety as its mission is associated with improving health and healthcare worldwide while providing the best level of care possible. My future role as a DNP in the organization is significant as I will be responsible for preparing nursing practitioners for advanced nursing practice.
Many healthcare practitioners, especially nurses, rely on DNP-prepared nurses’ leadership and clinical practice. Therefore, I can support quality and safety measures in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement by properly educating young nursing practitioners. If I can adequately mentor other people who are to be future healthcare professionals and, potentially, my colleagues, then I can positively impact the healthcare quality and patients’ safety.
My previous experience with healthcare quality and safety measures is associated with research in the corresponding field. I assessed various quality improvement projects present in the recent studies and academic papers, and there seems to be a gap in the current knowledge. For instance, Barkell & Snyder (2021) have identified particular themes in the scientific field. The authors report a need for additional research and quality efforts to promote improvement in patient safety (Barkell & Snyder, 2021). Therefore, as a future DNP-prepared nurse, I could contribute to the current knowledge by conducting my own research on the methods of improving quality and safety measures in the healthcare system worldwide.
Moreover, my overall role as a nursing practitioner will be crucial because of the demands of today’s healthcare system. According to Ricciardi (2018), that system is rapidly evolving nowadays, and the need for qualified healthcare professionals rises because of the increasing complexity of patient care. The researcher further states that the levels of nurses’ education and qualification are strongly associated with the quality of care (Ricciardi, 2018). The significance of the nursing role is explained by the correlated responsibilities, including examining patients, diagnosing illnesses, prescribing medications, and providing treatment (Ricciardi, 2018). The part of a DNP-prepared nurse is even more critical as they must understand the significance of the nursing role and help other nurses do the same.
Overall, the significance of the role of a DNP-prepared nurse on the counts of quality and safety is evident because the corresponding mistakes are critical and might negatively affect the patients’ health and lives. I perform my nursing practice in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. I can fulfill my role there as the organization values quality and safety and aims to improve those measures within the healthcare system worldwide. I also want to contribute to scientific research regarding quality and safety to promote the improvement of these measures. Furthermore, my future role as a DNP-prepared nurse is highly significant since I will be responsible for effective nursing practice within the entire healthcare organization.
References
Barkell, N. P., & Snyder, S. S. (2021). Just culture in healthcare: An integrative review. Nursing Forum, 56(1), 103–111. Web.
Ricciardi, R. (2018). The next frontier for nurses. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 33(1), 1–4. Web.