Noella Elias
Discussion 5
Establishing a culture of safety in health care is essential to the security and well-being of your
patients, staff, and organization. Effective nurse leaders embrace safety protocols that ensure
their organization delivers a secure, protective environment that prioritizes patients and
caregivers (ANA, 2023).
Some of the factors that include changing the culture of a team to prioritize safety
include the following:
Establish Effective Communication Protocols
Stay current on New procedures and Equipment
Understand and Follow Regulatory Safety Guidelines
Utilize Evidence-Based Practice
Be Diligent and Proactive
Think Like a Safety Professional
Initiate a Workplace Safety Response Team
Manage Workloads and Staff Burnout
Implement Safety Protocols
During my research I came across a 2019 survey that was conducted amongst cultural change in
one of Sydney Australia’s hospitals. A survey was sent to hospital staff which examined a
supportive workplace culture can mitigate the negative effects allowing for a smooth transition
during hospital organization culture change. As it found that teamwork culture influence staff
attitudes in feeling informed and ready for change which in the end helps to reduce staff burnout.
It also found that Communication was a key concept in initiating the cultural change.
In order to mitigate safety as a paramount concern amongst a hospitals transitions to a culture of
safety it is very important to identify and mitigate potential errors in the protocol before they
harm patients. By having systems in place a hospital experiences fewer adverse events as patient
outcomes are improved. By doing this the hospitals and the patients both are less likely to
experience complications, readmissions, or prolonged hospital stays due to preventable issues
(NIH, 2023).
According, to the NIH Hospital organizational change: The importance of teamwork culture,
communication, and change readiness. This article identifies challenges to changing the culture
of a team in an organization or hospital an exploratory path model by which teamwork culture
influences staff attitudes in feeling informed and ready for change, and which are ultimately
related to reduced staff burnout. It also examines different types of change communication,
identifying the channels that were perceived as most useful for communicating organizational
change (NIH, 2023).
In hospital organizational change we must understand that change is often
met with resistance - as the current process is comfortable and what staff is
used to. Changing a organizations culture might be met with resistance.
Therefore, it is vital that a supportive organizational culture ensures that the staff in
departments every employee feels valued appreciated, included in and informed about the
potential changes occurring in the workplace. With this change as any change there are notable
challenges the organization or hospital must face in order to institute the cultural change. For an
organization or hospital to enhance the safety culture in health care there is an association with a
lower incidence of missed nursing care and adverse events. Safety culture can also contribute to
the quality of care as evidence based practice provides quality assurance.
Some of the challenges include:
1. Changing the Culture
2. Magnitude and complexity of the change
3. Effective Communication
4. Insufficient resources, including staffing, technology, and training,
5. Leadership commitment to change
6. Individual factors
7. Resistance to change
8. Time pressures
9. Continuous Education
In addressing safety challenges across the lifespan related to inpatient care look at
n Preventing Falls/Pressure Ulcers
n Client-Inherent Accidents (Seizures)
n Procedure-related accidents (surgery, chest tube & catheter insertions, med/IV errors)
n Equipment-related Accidents (electrical hazards, fires from faulty equipment)
n Preventing Nosocomial Infections
n Preventing Medication Errors
n Recognizing changes in client condition (ANA, 2023).
Resources
ANA Safety strategies every Nurse Leader needs to know [Link]
hub/resources/nursing-leadership/safety-in-nursing/. Last reviewed September, 12 2023. Last
accessed February 4, 2025.
NIH Hospital organizational change: The importance of teamwork culture, communication,
and change readiness.
[Link] Last reviewed February 9, 2023. Last
accessed February 4, 2025.
NIH Enhancing Patient Safety Culture in Hospitals
[Link] Last reviewed December 17, 2023. Last
accessed February 4, 2025.