Introduction
It has been reported that safe hospital environment is regarded as one of the main factors where proper attention is given for safety and comfort of both patients and medical staffs who are involved in providing care (Lee & Scott, 2018). A proper healthcare environment can be maintained by implementing infection safety mode, compliance by the health workers, ensuring patient hygiene and increasing the protective and therapeutic regime of medical service (Vermeil et al., 2019). The following paper will discuss about hospital environment and its impact upon patient safety.
Hospital Environment And Patient Safety
It has been stated that the hospital environment has various elements which impacts the patient safety. The patient if admitted to a poor environment suffers from psychological and physical illness and it impacts the patient’s condition by increasing the healthcare cost. Proper and plan work of the healthcare professionals helps the patient to quickly adapt themselves to the hospital environment and cope up with the challenges (Liu et al., 2018). According to Florence Nightingale, patient environment play an essential role in improving the health condition.
The environmental safety measures need to be implemented within the healthcare organization which will help in reflecting a level of competent health care which will address the patient safety issue. The internal factors which will help in improving the hospital safety includes proper waste management which will help in promoting high quality of healthcare and save environment by reducing the risk of developing infectious disease and eliminating the radioactive waste from the healthcare organization will prevent the chance of developing adverse health outcomes (Govender et al., 2018). The other environmental safety issues which need to be addressed within the healthcare organization include proper noise control which will help in reducing the stress among the patient and thereby maintaining the vital signs. The other factor which needs to be considered in this case includes infectious control by implementing proper standard precaution and enhancing hand hygiene safety, radiation safety and ensuring proper building safety in order to address the patient in case of smoke and fire alarm and lowering the chance of developing and wanted incidence through effective emergency preparedness (Chand et al., 2020).
Evidence
Brukakk et al., (2021) performed the study for determining the hospital work environment and its relationship with the patient safety climate. The study highlighted that occupational worker including the safety climate are considered to be the key determinants of health care organization which helps in lowering patient harm and an effective healthcare organization environment helps in supporting the employees in order to maximize the patient care and reduce the chance of developing patient dissatisfaction. The results of the study highlighted that the positive changes within the healthcare organization after implementing innovative and proper teamwork increases the patient safety and hence innovative technologies need to be implemented within the healthcare organization for lowering the stress among the health care professionals in addressing the need of the patient. Sloane et al., (2019) stated that hospitals with better nursing resources improve the patient outcome by addressing the need of the patient in real-time and it also helps in preventing the chance of developing burnout among the nurses. The result of the study highlighted that the working environment for nurses can be improved by addressing the nurse and patient ratio, understanding the factors which need to be addressed by the hospital management and implementing innovative technologies in order to improve the condition and address the patient in real time.
Environment In Paediatric Ward And Older Adult Unit- Similarity And Differences
It can be stated that one of the primary differences between the paediatric ward with other includes the intensity of sound, light and use of different types of colours and charts in the patient room which will help in diverting their mind and comforting the children within the hospital ward. Similarly, within the older adults ward proper occupational safety needs to be maintained such as implementation of proper railings in the bed, Involving the older adult within the dietary intervention will help in delivering a sense of empowerment among the older adult and changing the state of mind enhances the patient safety (Graban & Toussaint, 2018). In elderly friendly hospital ward, it is the responsibility of the nurses to advocate on the behalf of the older adult and provide the right information to the elderly population in order to empower the individual and reducing the chance of discrimination which is often faced by the elderly population. Implementation of proper cultural practice needs to be done within the hospital facilities in order to provide proper care to the older adult. risk of injury is found to be higher among both older adults and within the paediatric ward where hospital infrastructure such as ramps and lifts must be present in order to provide proper patient care and prevent the chance of developing injuries. Cultural care and mindfulness therapy must be present within the healthcare organization for the older adult and in case of paediatric ward use of various kinds of smileys needs to be done by the healthcare professional in order to lower the stress and empower the patient to overcome their challenges. Implementation of proper hand hygiene safety must be implemented for all the wards within the healthcare organization which will help in improving the patient safety by preventing the chance of cross contamination of infection and lowering the length of hospital stay. The lights and sound of the patient ward must be kept within the normal range which will help in reducing the stress and improving patient safety (Farokhzadian et al., 2018).
Conclusion
The above paper discussed about hospital environment and patient safety. A proper healthcare environment can be maintained by implementing infection safety mode, compliance by the health workers, ensuring patient hygiene. Lastly, the study highlighted about the difference of hospital ward between older adult and paediatric ward.
References
Brubakk, K., Svendsen, M. V., Deilkås, E. T., Hofoss, D., Barach, P., & Tjomsland, O. (2021). Hospital work environments affect the patient safety climate: A longitudinal follow-up using a logistic regression analysis model. PloS one, 16(10), e0258471. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258471
Chand, S., Shastry, C. S., Hiremath, S., Joel, J. J., Bhat, C. K., & Mateti, U. V. (2020). Water, sanitation, hygiene and biomedical waste disposal in the healthcare system: A review. Biomedicine, 40(1), 14-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51248/.v40i1.92
Farokhzadian, J., Dehghan Nayeri, N., & Borhani, F. (2018). The long way ahead to achieve an effective patient safety culture: challenges perceived by nurses. BMC health services research, 18(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3467-1
Govender, R. D., Olaifa, A., & Ross, A. J. (2018). Knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare workers about healthcare waste management at a district hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. South African Family Practice, 60(5), 137-145. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-11da2c981c
Graban, M., & Toussaint, J. (2018). Lean hospitals: improving quality, patient safety, and employee engagement. Productivity Press.
Lee, S. E., & Scott, L. D. (2018). Hospital nurses’ work environment characteristics and patient safety outcomes: A literature review. Western journal of nursing research, 40(1), 121-145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945916666071
Liu, X., Zheng, J., Liu, K., Baggs, J. G., Liu, J., Wu, Y., & You, L. (2018). Hospital nursing organizational factors, nursing care left undone, and nurse burnout as predictors of patient safety: A structural equation modeling analysis. International journal of nursing studies, 86, 82-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.05.005
Vermeil, T., Peters, A., Kilpatrick, C., Pires, D., Allegranzi, B., & Pittet, D. (2019). Hand hygiene in hospitals: anatomy of a revolution. Journal of Hospital Infection, 101(4), 383-392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2018.09.003
