Patient centered care involves a multi-dimensional approach that not only involves care for the patient but a holistic approach. This includes patient and family care/involvement, values, physical/emotional comfort, information and communication. As a nurse it is about being considerate of outside factors that affect the patient and not just what they see from the patient during their hospital stay. You need to understand and incorporate who they are into their care. There might be some patients who prefer a non-pharmacological approach and sometimes due to a higher authority they never question the meds the doctor orders even if it doesn’t fit their lifestyle. We must advocate our patients a truly create a good relationship and rapport and remind them they have options.

The main focus of the safety competency involves all members in a healthcare facility to ensure no harm is being done to the patient. There are many safety measurements and protocols in place to continuously check whether an intervention is being done on the right patient or if the intervention is safe for the patient. For example, during medication pass, currently there are numerous safety checks to ensure the six rights for a medication is being followed. These six rights are the right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, right route, and right documentation. That is why in the hospital, nurses are continuously checking the order on the MAR, the dose prescribed, if it is expired, etc. The protocols placed are usually due to previous medication errors over the years or decades, and constant reviewing to ensure these errors are not occurring anymore.

Quality improvement is similar to evidence-based practice, where things in the medical field change to improve patient outcomes. However, quality improvement has changes more consistently as it not only involves nursing practice but also other areas more specific to that hospital or unit. Such as having a color-coordinated whiteboard outside of each patient’s room, giving updates and small pieces of information to the staff that can enhance the patient’s care. This can be tweaked or changed until there is significant progress seen overall, and what works for the staff on that unit, making work much more efficient.

Informatics competency is the use of technology to communicate properly with other team members, gather information from a common tool, be able to effectively document to support patient care. Having technology in the hospitals has also created a lot of time efficiently as information is easier to access as well as clear documentation compared to handwriting everything and not being able to distinguish the correct medication for example. Informatics also creates easier access to locate the right information per hospital policy on a skill. For example, if a nurse needs a refresher or the correct information on temperature regulation in an infant after their temperature has dropped, the hospital has a page where they are able to find information on the correct policies and steps to take. This helps ensure standard care among all patients.