The Nexus Between Nursing And Patient Safety

The aim of this unique book is to discuss the “nexus” or vital connection between nursing and prevention of harm to patients. The meaning of “nexus” is connection and connotes a most central or most important point in time or place. Now, is the most important time to highlight how nurses as leaders affect patient safety every minute of every day in the current nursing practice environment. 

The contemporary safety literature messages nursing adherence to principles of patient safety is required to achieve sustainable and safer healthcare systems; meaning nurses should detect and prevent errors. This message is not helpful to nurses as they strive to lead, understand what patient safety is and how to implement safety strategies in the practice environment. The book will address this gap by providing nurses an understanding of patient safety and application of its concepts to clinical nursing practice. The book is structured as four parts: Part I provides foundations of patient safety; Part II describes nursing’s role in patient safety; Part III illustrates patient safety at the frontline; and Part IV explains resilience, healing and moving forward. Practical case study examples with implementation strategies (how to) will be provided that highlight key safety practices inherent to nursing that prevent patient harm including effective monitoring, leadership, communication, identification of near misses, and learning from error along with cultural and organizational factors that promote and maintain safety activities by nursing.

Nurses produce safety by providing a strong layer of defence between error and patient harm. The discipline of nursing is the cornerstone of safety in the complex place of healthcare. The intended audience is front line nursing staff; nurse leaders; nurses working in quality, patient safety and risk management; advance practice nurses and nurse educators. The professional nurse who reads this book will read with the desire to learn more about the connection of nursing, nursing practice and patient safety.

YNTHIA A. OSTER, PHD, MBA, APRN, ACNS-BC, CNS-BC, ANP, FAA
Cynthia A. Oster is the Enterprise Nurse Scientist – Research Program Manager for the Mountain Region of CommonSpirit Health® in Centennial, Colorado following four years of service as the Patient Safety Nurse Scientist at Emory Healthcare and adjunct Assistant Professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to her service at Emory, Oster was a nurse scientist for Centura Health and a clinical nurse specialist for critical care and cardiovascular services at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colorado for more than a decade. She has held research, clinical, educational, and administrative positions throughout her more than 40-year career. Oster received her BSN from the University of Iowa, her MSN from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and her PhD from the University of Colorado College of Nursing. In addition, she earned an ANP certificate from Beth ElCollege of Nursing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and an MBA from the University of Colorado-Denver. She holds Clinical Nurse Specialist-Core and Adult Clinical Nurse Specialist certification from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. In 2017, she became a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She mentors clinical nurses and advanced practice nurses to develop clinical practice wisdom through application of high reliability principles, evidence-based practice, and the conduct of research. Oster has presented at national and international meetings and has published in the areas of high reliability, evidence-based practice, alarm fatigue, and peer review. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Nurses Association, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, the American College of Healthcare Executives, and Beta Gamma Sigma.

JANE S. BRAATEN, PHD, APRN, CNS, ANP, CPPS, CPHQ
Jane S. Braaten is a Director of Quality & Patient Safety Officer and nurse scientist at Advent Health Parker, in Parker, Colorado She has spent her career in improving outcomes in acute care. She has held positions as Director of cardiology services, cardiac and intensive care Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cardiac Nurse Practitioner, and manager/charge RN/staff RN of intensive care and telemetry units. Braaten obtained her BSN from the Indiana University School of Nursing and holds the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and certificates of clinical nurse specialist and adult nurse practitioner from the University of Colorado College of Nursing. She also is a certified professional in patient safety (CPPS) and a certified professional in healthcare quality (CPHQ). She has presented at national meetings and has published in the areas of hospital system barriers to rapid response team activation, quality improvement in telemetry, end-of-life care in the intensive care unit, alarm safety, culture of safety and just culture, leadership, and high reliability organizations and healthcare. Dr. Braaten serves as a dedicated mentor with a mission to position and empower the frontline nurse as a leader of patient safety for patients.