Disease Care Speak Ups - Essay Example

Lack of speak ups by hospitalized patients ailing from acute diseases continues to cause noteworthy harm notwithstanding the implementation of safety strategies such as early warning scores (Rainey et al., 2015). It is worth noting that it is not only the role of the physicians, nurses, or technicians to ensure safe care, but also the patient and their families ought to participate to provide the care they receive is reliable. It is possible if patients and their families speak up about changes in conditions and the care they receive. This paper will analyse and evaluate a brochure on diabetes care speak ups, criticize where necessary, and recommend what should be added or omitted from the brochure.

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Diabetes: Five Ways to be Active in your Care at the Hospital

This is a patient speak up brochure by the joint commission that targets the diabetes patients and their advocates to ensure that they are well informed and involved in their healthcare through speaking up.

Summary

The brochure provides five things or precautions the diabetes patient should take to ensure that he or she is given safe care while in the hospital. It has outlined that the patient should be rapid to find out from the healthcare team how his or her diabetes will be managed (“The Joint Commission, n.d). It further recommends that the patient remind the caregivers that they have diabetes, always wear the diabetic ID, inquire of any changes that might be made from the current care plan, and know-how often the blood sugar will be checked. If the patient thinks they are having high blood pressure symptoms, they should inform the care nurse immediately.

The brochure recommends diabetic patients to make inquiries about the medicines, especially in cases where they encountered reactions in the past. Moreover, patients should get information on drugs they should stop taking after a hospital stay, ask information about the medicines they are given and why, measures to consider if the medicines are taken following the time allocated such as insulin which should be taken after or during a meal and if the blood sugar will be affected in case of any surgeries (“The Joint Commission, n.d).

Diabetic patients should be quick to inquire about what will happen with their diets, especially regarding the foods they like (“The Joint Commission, n.d). It is recommended to know how blood sugar will be managed if the patient cannot eat when the patient can eat normal meals if foods will be adjusted to help the patient achieve targeted blood sugars, and what to do if the meals are not on time.

Last but not least, the patient is directed to determine what will happen once they go home by ensuring they clearly understand the doctor's instructions and know about the follow-up care. The patient should be trained on how to treat high blood sugar signs and symptoms, which signs should make them call the doctor, and how to take self-give insulin at home (“The Joint Commission, n.d).

The patient is also advised to avoid getting infections due to their higher risk levels. The diabetic patients should ensure that the medics attending them wash their hands, wear gloves, and not have any cuts or bruises that have not healed (“The Joint Commission, n.d). Sick relatives should not visit the patient until they are well.

Evaluation

The topic was selected because it is vital in addressing and preventing medical errors and adverse occurences that could have been prevented if the diabetic patients were informed on things to speak up concerning their safe care. This article applies to diabetic patients and their advocates or family members. However, the information could also be useful in providing a hint to patients with other acute illnesses on how and when to speak up concerning their care safety.

The information in the brochure was presented very clearly for any patient or advocate to grasp. The data is short, precise, and presented in point form, and thus the patient can quickly identify the information with no struggle. The fact that the pictures were involved makes it simpler for the client to understand the brochure's data, especially in cases where the patients cannot read.

These guidelines are beneficial for diabetic patient care and safety, especially on blood sugar management matters. Provision of instructions such as how and when to take the medication while at home and how to manage the diet is vital for any patients since they prevent medical errors (Rainey et al., 2015). The information helps the patients to know about their rights and most importantly to keep the medics on their toes especially on matters of hygiene such as wearing of gloves, cuts, and washing of hands which if not well exercised might cause infection to the patients which can only worsen their health situation. The information provided will be beneficial in patient safety since doctors will be very keen following the patient's speak ups; thus, there will reduce cases of hospital-related infections and medical errors.

Nonetheless, as much as these guidelines help prevent medical errors and improve care for diabetic patients, there is a lack of appropriateness and effectiveness of these strategies since they transfer responsibility for safety to the already deprived patient or families. Questions like why should a patient remind a medic to wear gloves or wash their hands makes one doubt the credibility and professionalism exhibited in the hospital. Additionally, some patients will shy off from speaking up over such matters because of fear of igniting the medic's reaction. In contrast, some physicians would not take such reminders, somewhat leading to inadequate response to such concerns. According to Fisher's research team, at least 30.5% of patients did not always comfortable raising concerns (Cheney, 2019).

Conclusion

Patient speak ups concerning their care safety are essential. It helps the patients know when and how to use medication, the proper diets to take, and how to manage their conditions. Therefore, patients should not shy away from questioning the doctors concerning their care if it’s at risk. Also, even though patients have stable mental health, they should be allocated family members or instead advocates since they will be more comfortable raising the concerns when the family members are in the room.

References

Cheney, C. (2019, March 21). How to Encourage Hospital Patients to Speak Up about Concerns. Health Leaders. https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/clinical-care/how-encourage-hospital-patients-speak-about-concerns

The Joint Commission. (N.d). Speak Up Disease Care: Diabetes- Five Ways to Be Active in Your Care at the Hospital. The Joint Commission. https://www.jointcommission.org/-/media/tjc/documents/resources/speak-up/diabetes_brochure-5-15-2020.pdf?db=web&hash=B3D94D3FC5DB3773526FACA3925EA751

Rainey, H., Ehrich, K., Mackintosh, N., & Sandall, J. (2015). The role of patients and relatives in 'speaking up' about their safety–a qualitative study of acute illness. Health Expectations, 18(3), 392-405.