Business and Bedside: Patient Safety

 

My name is Ravi Batra and I have decided to join the world of bloggers (this is my first official blog)! Having been a nurse for 8 years, I feel like I not only have a lot to share…but the topics are endless! In addition to still working as a bedside nurse in Critical Care…I’ve recently broadened my resume to include clinical consulting. I work for COR Consultants-a boutique consulting firm that offers a nurse’s perspective on clinical optimization, strategy, and training! My bosses are amazing (ok one of them wrote this when she was proofreading). This new role has shifted my focus a bit and opened my eyes to the business side of healthcare. So with this in mind…my blogs will focus on the two sided coin that is healthcare…business and bedside!!

The first topic I will dive into is: PATIENT SAFETY.

When I’m at the bedside, I am constantly double-checking orders, critically thinking through what is going on with the patient and their plan of care. If a medication or a test doesn’t make sense to me, I ask questions and ensure that the patient is safe and working towards meeting their care plan goals. These acts become second nature for most nurses and it is all rooted in keeping our patients safe! A term I remember hearing years ago is “The Sharp End”…meaning bedside nurses are the ones touching the patient, carrying out the policies and procedures so we are the ones most likely to cause harm. The business side of healthcare is focused on avoiding harm and improving patient outcomes as well! The key is getting the two to collaborate and communicate to be certain safety is front of mind in every policy and protocol that is developed. 

As a consultant, I’ve been taught to do the same on all the projects that we’ve worked on. As we are strategizing on process improvement or how to utilize technology to create better patient outcomes, we are also thinking about how end-users are impacted and discussing patient safety on the most granular level. Does it make sense financially? Does it make sense from a workflow perspective? Will the patients be safe and protected?

Some businesses get a bad reputation for trying to sacrifice patient safety for dollars, and it all comes down to financial ROI (another term I have been exposed to quite often). I have had the opportunity to work with healthcare organizations and health tech companies and am happy to report that in my experience this is not the case! I have also witnessed firsthand how the principals at COR Consultants advocate for the patients in all decisions throughout the project timeline. On some projects, we were the only nurses at the table and we had to speak up to educate others on how a part of the product could be detrimental to patient safety. This would generate a lot of discussion (which was amazing to see) and our messages were always well received by leadership. Seeing our contribution to patient safety made it feel meaningful for me…I am proud to be on this consulting journey and to be using my nursing knowledge in a new way, impacting patient outcomes, and advocating for my profession!

If interested in more information about about COR Consultants go to https://corconsultants.com/