Introduction
The teamwork experience is critical for a person becoming a nursing specialist or continuing to hone their professional skills in this medical field. Reflection on recent new experiences is also crucial, as it is the process that completes the development of new knowledge in the individual. In nursing, every piece of knowledge is vital since a specialist’s expertise defines patient safety and outcomes. The reflective essay will analyze a specific episode of personal teamwork experience in healthcare, namely team behavior, using Quality and Safety Education in Nursing (QSEN) competencies.
Scenario
There was one case at the Health Facility where I currently work where my team was assigned to care for several patients who had been operated on for bullet wounds. Due to the specificity of how patients received their injuries, each had a high chance of getting a surgical site infection. One of our primary tasks during the care delivery process was preventing this complication’s development. Each of us treated the situation with exceptional professionalism, responsibility, and attention. It allowed us to ensure great patient safety and avoid developing surgical site infections in several moderately and heavily wounded people.
Comparison to QSEN Competencies
It was the first time for the vast majority of our team to address such a complicated case as caring for several recently operated patients with bullet wounds. Our first coordinated action was to improve knowledge and strengthen interdisciplinary and inter-professional communication and collaboration with surgeons and physicists. It allowed us to develop a preliminary plan for patient care. I believe that we have successfully demonstrated QSEN competencies related to informatics, teamwork, and collaboration. During our research, we found that instructing patients at risk of surgical site infection reduces the chance of developing a complication. My colleagues and I also educated our ones, thereby adhering to patient-centered care competency. It is a skill and a duty to “recognize the patient or designee as the source of control and full partner in providing compassionate and coordinated care based on respect for patient’s preferences, values, and needs” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012, p. 4). Retrospectively, it is where my team put the evidence-proven technique into practice.
There is only one competence at which we have failed, and it is quality improvement. Healthcare professionals with this competency “use data to monitor the outcomes of care processes and use improvement methods to design and test changes to continuously improve the quality and safety of healthcare systems” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2012, p. 4). It was a complex case for us and the first of its kind, so we hesitated to try our hypotheses during the care process. We decided to follow existing guidelines, evidence-based practices, and advice from other experts. Eventually, our efforts have contributed to the safe healing of patients. Therefore, we also proved that we possess the competency of safety.
Conclusion
We have successfully improved patient safety by using evidence-based practice, the knowledge and support of other professionals, a patient-centered care approach, and a research database. It is worth mentioning that we adopted the information-seeking behavior when preparing the care plan for patients and instructed them to avoid surgical site infections while executing it. According to Lin et al. (2018), these are signs that medical workers are developing adherence to practical clinical guidelines or already have a complete understanding of them. Therefore, this case showed that my team and I are qualified nursing professionals.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2012). Graduate-level QSEN competencies: Knowledge, skills and attitudes, September 24, 2012. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Web.
Lin, F., Gillespie, B. M., Chaboyer, W., Li, Y., Whitelock, K., Morley, N., Morrissey, S., O’Callaghan F., & Marshall, A. P. (2019). Preventing surgical site infections: Facilitators and barriers to nurses’ adherence to clinical practice guidelines — a qualitative study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 28(9-10), 1643-1652. Web.