Standards of Care
Standards of care, also called standards of practice in nursing represent specific guidelines that define what nurses should and shouldn’t do. These standards describe the level of competence of nursing care and measure excellence level in this sphere. They were developed so as to define the care quality level that patients should receive. SOC form the basis for this profession and provide a guide to skills, knowledge, attitudes and judgment that are required to work safely and effectively.
Standards of practice govern the licensee’s practice in all its aspects and apply to any registered nurse that practices in all the kinds of settings. They are developed in relation to nursing practices governed by the law and are considered the baseline for nursing care of high quality. The SOC accepted on the national level where developed by the American Nursing Association and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (McMahon & Associates, n.d.). These standards have to be met by every representative of the profession – from newly graduated person to experienced people.
Those who fail to meet the generally accepted standards of care can be found negligent and often it results in legal actions taken against nurse. In the event nurse fails to keep to the SOC, she is accused of malpractice (Cook & Sportsman, 1998). The most frequent instances of such SOC violation is failure to protect patients from harm, or inappropriately administered medication, as well as failure to properly monitor medical equipment, which later results in harm to the patient. Among the other violations often observed in the nursing practice there are instances when a nurse failed to recognize and report important changes in the condition of patients, which generally endangers his state.
In my life I have encountered some instance of the SOC violation, but mainly they didn’t cause significant harm to the patient. I want to describe one of them which happened to my friend. He was lying in bed after successful operation and wanted to read a magazine before going to sleep. He thought he was strong enough to reach to the table with magazines, but still decided to call a nurse to hand it to him. Unfortunately, the nurse that came to him was irritated and tired and when she understood that there was nothing important, she got angry and refused to help him. So, he decided that there will be nothing bad if he took the paper himself. As it turned out to be, he was still too weak and fell off the bed when trying to stand up, which resulted in his hand injury.
I am sure that in the above described situation the nurse should have done what was asked from her, as it wasn’t too hard and it was clearly a violation of professional ethics to transfer her personal problems on the patient. I think that following the standards of care is extremely important for the healthcare industry, as in here lives of people depend on the way these standards are met. If in the case I described the nurse acted in the right way, my friend wouldn’t have injured his arm and would have been discharged a week earlier from the hospital. I think that only if the SOC is properly practiced, can healthcare system function properly and at proper level of quality.
References
McMahon & Associates. (n.d.). Nursing Standards of Practice. Retrieved from http://www.hgexperts.com/article.asp?id=6237
Cook, D. & Sportsman, S. (1998). DSHS Nursing Standards of Care and Nursing Standards of Professional Performance. DSHS Nurse Practice Organization.
