Observation of Handover Process in an Intensive Care Unit - Essay Example

Writing a policy critical care admission and discharge criteria affiliation Writing a policy critical care admission and discharge criteria Determine the customers The policy for a critical care admission and discharge is to direct the decisions concerning the appropriate use of the intensive care unit (ICU) services in the circumstance of containing medical care costs and proper management of the flow of patients in the hospital. There is a need to identify the consumers to determine their needs and wants. For instance, this policy is intended to the doctors, emergency department nurses, the ICU staff, and the Nursing Administration. This policy ensures that the intended persons use it when carrying out admissions and discharges in the ICU and what should be considered before carrying out any procedure. Externally, it is also designed for patients attending the health institution to seek medical attention since it ensures that they attended with the appropriate level of care for their ailment. Determine the needs of the customer The policy helps to identify the needs of patients who are the attending a health care institution and if they are likely benefit from the care provided in the ICU. This is done by evaluating the patient’s conditions, and if they are unstable and severely ill, then they are mostly considered for ICU care. The processes of admission can be evaluated through diagnosing or prioritization model. The prioritization model helps to identify those patients that will or will not benefit from the services provided in the ICU. Whereas the diagnosis model applies specific diseases and conditions to determine the suitability of ICU admission. The latter examines the cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and endocrine system for any critical conditions that require the ICU care. Additionally, it looks at any conditions brought about by drug ingestion and drug overdose. Also, the disorders of the gastrointestinal system like severe pancreatitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and fulminant hepatic failure, among others are some of the conditions that are considered for ICU care. Finally, the post-operative patients necessitating extensive nursing care, ventilator support or hemodynamic monitoring are also considered for ICU. The prioritizing model looks at the unstable, critically ill patients requiring monitoring or those who are unstable and have no chances of recovery and considers them for ICU care. In the discharge criteria, the status of the ICU patients is continually revised to find the patient that no longer requires ICU care. This policy also ensures the safety of the nurses and other health practitioners as they carry out their activities. It makes sure nurses are fully equipped to handle health conditions, and they are involved in decision making, among others. Develop product features that respond to the customer’s needs Care transfer is an important part of the management of care in any situation, and it gives responsibilities on individuals, systems, and organizations. Effective and smooth care transfer makes sure that social care and health systems are active in supporting carers, individuals, and their families. Furthermore, it also ensures that resources are used effectively. Sometimes the well-being of a patient might get worse all of a sudden. This may be due to surgery, after leaving critical care, or it may occur at any stage of sickness. Through this policy, the problem the patient is suffering from will be identified and the objectives for treatment activities that will achieve outcomes is established. It will ensure that there is a projected duration to meet the objectives and that a good number of experienced and qualified staff looks after the patients. Therefore, patients will tend to be attended to quickly with the necessary treatment, therapy, or any other interventions. Additionally, this policy ensures that clinical rehabilitation and monitoring for the critically ill patients is available so as to avoid serious problems that can be developed since the patient was not being monitored (Schnell et al., 2013). Therefore, through its framework on how to consider patients admittance and discharge to the ICU and to make sure that the right care is offered to the right patient and at the correct time. This policy through its policies ensures an increase in effectiveness and efficiency, reduces variability and inequalities in service provision, and tackles issues of admission and discharge. Finally, through its management of human resources aspect, this policy ensures nurses job are secured and it makes them to be treasured and respected by the institution. Develop processes that can produce these product features In order to ensure that the needs of the patients are met, numerous procedures should be carried out for the smooth flow of the patient care. First, the nurses, ICU personnel’s, and other relevant parties should be involved in the decision-making process on who to or not to admit and discharge. Secondly, the critical care leaders require operational strategies to manage the operations of the ICU and to inspire the employees. For instance, through collaboration with other staff members they should plan and implement formalized managerial training and critical care leadership programs that are result oriented and evidence based. Management of time is an important procedure, as it will ensure time is used well and for the right purpose and through a time management system then the nurses can be able to understand the non-urgent, urgent, not important, and the important activities. In addition, information management is vital to the success of a policy (Giannini, Garrouste-Orgeas, & Latour, 2014). Therefore, the information about the patient should be managed well and regularly updated to avoid any confusions when it comes to the discharge process. Additionally, management of human resources particularly nursing resources is also important. Through this, shortages of nurses will not be an issue, and the policy requirements will run smoothly, besides human resources, we have expenses and revenues. The critical care leaders should be in collaboration with the finance team to be able to comprehend projections for health plan activities. Concisely, this collaboration will improve the financial health of the department and improve the flow of cash. Handover the subsequent plans to the operational forces The individual who has the responsibility for ensuring that this policy is executed is the ICU Director, who makes sure that the patients being admitted and discharged in the ICU follow the procedures as stipulated in the policy. To implement this policy and ensure that it is functional, the elected ICU Director must be qualified to provide educational, administrative, and clinical directions to the ICU. In addition to this, collaboration should exist between the axillary and nursing staff and the Director should work in collaboration with other Administrators within the institution so that the patient flow and patient care is effective and efficient (Kowitlawakul et al., 2015). References Giannini, A., Garrouste-Orgeas, M., & Latour, J. M. (2014). Whats new in ICU visiting policies: can we continue to keep the doors closed?. Intensive Care Medicine, 40(5 730-733. doi:10.1007/s00134-014-3267-y Kowitlawakul, Y., Leong, B. H., Lua, A., Aroos, R., Jie Jun, W., Koh, N., & ... Mukhopadhyay, A. (2015). Observation of handover process in an intensive care unit (ICU): barriers and quality improvement strategy. International Journal For Quality In Health Care, 27(2), 99-104. doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzv002 Schnell, D., Abadie, S., Toullic, P., Chaize, M., Souppart, V., Poncet, M., & ... Azoulay, E. (2013). Open visitation policies in the ICU: experience from relatives and clinicians. Intensive Care Medicine, 39(10), 1873-1874. doi:10.1007/s00134-013-2956-2 Read More