Staff Development the Situation Described Is Entirely

Staff Development

The situation described is entirely unacceptable. Hospital-acquired infections are already a tremendous problem in contemporary clinical care facilities and are responsible for as many as 100,000 patient deaths annually, in addition to adding billions of dollars to the national cost of healthcare unnecessarily (Reid, 2009). In this situation, all health care providers have an obligation to intervene and to do whatever is necessary to protect patients from harm caused by the negligence of health care workers. The ethical obligation to intervene effectively in this scenario arises as a function of the fundamental obligation of health care workers to protect the health and safety of patients and derives from concepts of patients' rights, and more broadly, from altruism and respect for the basic obligations of health care workers to patients and to their employing organizations (Beauchamp & Childress, 2009).

From a staff-development problem, this scenario actually represents more of an issue of the duty to protect patients and to report violations of protocols than it represents an issue of substantive training. That is because it is inconceivable that an experienced professional nurse, especially a nurse who sometimes fulfills the responsibility of Charge Nurse, is unaware of the importance of antiseptic protocol. As Director of Staff Development, I would recognize that this is an issue of lackadaisical attitude toward compliance and not an issue that will be solves by simply providing any additional training in the importance of maintaining antisepsis. Unfortunately, experienced health care workers sometimes stop taking fundamental concerns as seriously as they must because they fall into routines of practice for their own convenience (Reid, 2009; Tong, 2007).

I have encountered similar situations and I reported them to my supervisor because I wanted to protect the health of my patients. In the capacity of Staff Development Director, I would take the following steps: First, I would contact the supervisor of the nurse involved and instruct the supervisor to address the situation immediately with that nurse by indicating in no uncertain terms that violations of basic antiseptic protocols will not be tolerated. Second, I would request that a formal notation be entered into that employee's personnel record detailing that discussion because this is not an area where there is any room for a free pass on the first violation. Third, I would immediately arrange for a staff training program to address the issue of lackadaisical protocol compliance, job burnout, and the absolute obligation of all staff members to report any observed violation of basic antiseptic (or other fundamental) protocol to the appropriate supervisor immediately and without regard for personal relationships. Direct intervention between coworkers would be optimal but since that may not always be practical, immediate anonymous reporting is a must. Fourth, I would design that staff training program around the issues of how to resist burnout and complacency and the importance of reporting violations. Fifth, I would conduct a session with supervisors to make sure that they understand and are prepared to take appropriate action in any such cases of reports of noncompliance.