Posted: February 9th, 2023

Review Joint Commission’s Standards on Leadership,

Review Joint Commission’s Standards on Leadership, as well as an organizational job descriiption of a nurse executive.
Based on your observations or involvement – provide an exemplar of a time a nurse leader played a valuable role as a member of an inter-professional health care team in in advocating for improvements in organizational processes, standards of care, policy, patient safety or quality of care.
Reference Joint Commission Leadership Standards in relation to the action and identify whether the action was in accordance with a specified element of the job descriiption or as a professional role.
Instructions
Initial post: Apply critical thought to an actual or observed experience, reflect, evaluate and support with resources from the literature.
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An exemplar of a time a nurse leader played a valuable role as a member of an inter-professional health care team in advocating for improvements in organizational processes, standards of care, policy, patient safety, or quality of care was during a recent incident at a hospital where I work. A patient had been admitted with a serious infection that was later found to have been caused by a failure in infection control protocols. The nurse leader, who was the Director of Patient Care Services, immediately recognized the seriousness of the situation and convened a meeting with the inter-professional team to discuss the incident and develop a plan of action to prevent it from happening again.
The nurse leader, in collaboration with the inter-professional team, identified the specific infection control protocols that had failed and developed a comprehensive plan to address them. This included increased education for staff on infection control procedures, the implementation of a system for reporting and tracking infection control breaches, and regular audits to ensure compliance with the new protocols. The nurse leader also advocated for the allocation of additional resources to support the implementation of the new protocols, and worked closely with the hospital administration to secure funding for these resources.
The nurse leader’s actions in this incident align with Joint Commission Leadership Standards, specifically Standard LD.03.01.01 which states that the leader must “Promote a culture of safety and a just culture” and Standard LD.03.03.01 which states that the leader must “Promote effective communication and teamwork among all members of the care team”. This nurse leader demonstrated strong leadership by identifying the problem and bringing together the inter-professional team to work collaboratively to address it. Additionally, this nurse leader’s actions align with the organizational job description of a nurse executive, specifically the role of “Developing and implementing policies and procedures to ensure quality and safe patient care” and “Collaborating with other healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes.”
Furthermore, this nurse leader’s actions also align with the professional role of a nurse leader as outlined by the American Nurses Association (ANA) which states that nurse leaders have a responsibility to “Promote safe, quality care by developing and implementing policies and procedures” and “Collaborate with other health care professionals to improve patient outcomes.” This exemplar shows that this nurse leader effectively and efficiently executed her role as a nurse leader and as a member of an inter-professional health care team, ultimately improving patient safety and quality of care.
This exemplar demonstrates that nurse leaders play a valuable role in advocating for improvements in organizational processes, standards of care, policy, patient safety, or quality of care. This nurse leader’s actions align with Joint Commission Leadership Standards and the organizational job description of a nurse executive, as well as the professional role of a nurse leader as outlined by the American Nurses Association. This exemplar highlights the importance of nurse leaders in promoting a culture of safety and collaborating with inter-professional teams to improve patient outcomes.