Question 1:

Medication safety is a key factor in patient safety. Explain major safety issues associated with medication management, explain environmental stressors in medication safety, prevention strategies, reporting requirements and monitoring strategies.

Question 2:

Risk Management metrics are key to developing a risk management strategy. Explain the specific steps in developing a successful performance improvement plan using key metrics; your answer must include bench marking, plan, do, check, act, and the validation of data process.

Question 3:

The Risk Management Program is designed to protect the human and financial assets of an organization against the adverse effects of accidental losses, effectively managing losses that may occur, and to enhance continuous improvement of the patient care services in a safe healthcare environment. Explain the scope, program elements and objectives of an effective Risk Management Program Plan.

Patient Safety is a health care discipline that emerged with the evolving complexity in health care systems and the resulting rise of patient harm in health care facilities. It aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors and harm that occur to patients during provision of health care. The occurrence of adverse events due to unsafe care is likely one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world.

Patient safety is fundamental to delivering quality essential health services. Indeed, there is a clear consensus that quality health services across the world should be effective, safe and people-centred. In addition, to realize the benefits of quality health care, health services must be timely, equitable, integrated and efficient.   

To ensure successful implementation of patient safety strategies; clear policies, leadership capacity, data to drive safety improvements, skilled health care professionals and effective involvement of patients in their care, are all needed.

Safety of patients during the provision of health services that are safe and of high quality is a prerequisite for strengthening health care systems and making progress towards effective universal health coverage (UHC) under Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote health and well-being for all at all ages)

Step-by-step explanation

Below are some of the patient safety situations causing most concern:

Medication errors are a leading cause of injury and avoidable harm in health care systems.

Health care-associated infections.

 Unsafe surgical care procedures cause complications in up to 25% of patients.

Unsafe injections practices in health care settings can transmit infections, including HIV and hepatitis B and C, and pose direct danger to patients and health care workers.

Diagnostic errors occur in about 5% of adults in outpatient care settings, more than half of which have the potential to cause severe harm.

Unsafe transfusion practices expose patients to the risk of adverse transfusion reactions and the transmission of infections 

Sepsis is frequently not diagnosed early enough to save a patient's life.

Venous thromboembolism (blood clots) is one of the most common and preventable causes of patient harm.

By combining the aspects of coaching, feedback and goal setting, employees are presented a concrete roadmap of performance initiatives that they want to achieve, along with developmental training on how they can succeed throughout their role. There are steps in developing a successful performance improvement plan:

a)      Gather, analyze and interpret: It is important for managers first to gather, analyze, and interpret the performance data of each employee.

b)      Set the Objectives: As an effective coach, managers need to clearly state the expectations of the employee from the beginning.

c)      Open the Floor: Being an effective leader for your employees requires both encouragement and empowerment. During one-on-one meetings, employees are likely to have a lot of input, questions, and feedback.

d)     Document Progress: Once objectives have been set, sit down with your employee to document an action plan.

e)      Monitor and Follow-up: Coaching is not one time-evaluation, but an ongoing process. Set a date and time for the next follow-up meeting with your employee. 

The objectives of an effective Risk Management Program Plan might include:

i)                    Identify potential problems before they occur so that risk-handling activities may be planned and invoked as needed across the life of the product or project to mitigate adverse impacts on achieving objectives.

ii)                  Analysing and managing all risks to avoid potential losses.

iii)                Meet any externally imposed obligations.

iv)                Propose and coordinate the roll-out of action plans designed to reduce or change the profile of risks.

v)                  Enable smooth coordination and communication in the organisation.

vi)                Before any launch, analyze new investment processes from the perspective of financial and operational risks. Set limits for these new investment processes.