Question 1
Facility protocols refer to the plans and procedures in place to address specific issues that health care Institutions face. Nurses must understand their role in relation to the development and implementation of facility protocols. Discuss any health care facility protocol regarding reporting incidents, disaster planning and emergency response, and security plans.
Response 1
Protocols recognize the least expectations for the public health programs and services. In developing programs and services in excess of minimum requirements, where required to address local needs authorized by the boards of health. The accountability for the implementation of the standards that includes those protocols that are incorporated into the standards is under the boards of health. Its purpose is to provide prevention and reduction of some adverse health outcomes that arise from the health hazards. These health hazards are coming from the environment that are associated with facilities in providing direction to the boards of health that includes the assessment, surveillance, inspection and management.
The health care facility protocol has its operational roles and responsibilities: Surveillance and inspection, management and response, and reporting. Under surveillance and inspection are the inventory of the facilities and the assessment and inspection of facilities. The inventories of all the facilities in the health unit should be maintained under the authority of Health Protection and Promotion Act or HPPA and other facilities that are not regulated under HPPA. In the risk assessment and inspection, inspection has a regular schedule to determine compliance with the regulations applicable and additional inspection to investigate the non-compliance with the HPPA. In management and response, a 24/7 on-call and response policy is available. An on-call system for receiving and responding to the reports of some potential health hazards associated with facilities in the health unit. In addition, the enforcement actions and procedures are address to the non-compliance with the HPPA non-compliance with the HPPA; related regulations and actions identified and pose some risks to human health. In reporting, the recording of all the inspections data is needed to facilitate the jurisdiction and information. Practical guidelines for infection control in health care facilities includes infection control program, infection control practices, environmental management practices, care of health care workers, and infection control precautions for selected situations.
Question 2
Resources, which include people, money, supplies, and technology, are limited in every health care facility. What facility protocols will influence a nurse manager’s budgeting of resources? What type of facility protocols will guide your room assignment of patients as well as interpretation for non-English speaking patients being a charge nurse?
Response 2
The facility protocols that influence nurses in budgeting resources, guide room assignment of the patient, and the interpretation for non-English speaking patients is to have developing compliance program guidance for nursing facilities and a safe nurse staffing. In the compliance program guidance for nursing facilities, it consists of elements that the Office of Inspector General or OIG determined the effectiveness of the compliance program. These are the written policies, standards, and procedures of conduct, designation of officers and committee to conduct training and education, development if effective lines of communication, enforce standards through disciplinary guidelines, conduct internal monitoring and auditing, and respond promptly to detected offenses and corrective. The elements are necessary on how nursing facilities can be established in the internal controls. In a safe nursing staffing, it considers performance with combination of staff being available, competent, productive, and responsive.
Reference
Ontario Public Health Standards. (2008). Risk Assessment and Inspection of Facilities Protocol.
Retrieved from http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/publichealth/oph_standards/docs/risk_assessment.pdf.
Reiling, o., Hughes, R. G., & Murphy, M. R. (n.d.). NCBI: The Impact of Facility Design on
Patient Safety. Bethesda MD, USA.
WPRO-WHO. (2004). Practical Guidelines for Infection Control in Health Care Facilities.
