N104: Essentials of Nursing Care - Health Safety

N104: Essentials of Nursing Care – Health Safety Study Guide During the analysis of the data, the nurse and patient should collaborate to determine the environmental safety risks and priorities for care. Priorities should be based on Maslow's hierarchy with physical and safety needs being set as highest priority. Specific diagnoses related to the environmental concerns might be: • Aspiration, risk for • Body temperature, risk for imbalanced • Confusion, acute or chronic • Falls, risk for • Health behavior, risk prone • Hyperthermia • Hypothermia • Injury, risk for • Mobility, impaired • Poisoning, risk for • Sensory perception, disturbed (visual, tactile, or auditory) • Suffocation, risk for • Suicide, risk for • Thermoregulation, impaired • Trauma, risk for Planning During the planning phase, the nurse must take into consideration all aspects of the assessment and analysis that might affect the patient's safety. When a safety risk is identified, the major goal will often be that the patient will not experience environmental injuries. During this phase, the nurse will determine the learning needs of the patient and family, and plan for providing the required education. Intervention Ethically and legally, the nurse must ensure that the patient's environment in the healthcare setting is safe and free from the risks. The nurse might plan to implement the following interventions related to environmental risks: • Monitor bath water to prevent burns • Keep cords out of the reach of small children • Keep the patient's immediate environment uncluttered to prevent falls • Teach the patient about using the call light for help getting into and out of bed • Use the side rails and bed alarms as appropriate • Keep the bed in the low position when a staff member is not actively providing a treatment to the patient in bed • Minimize noise in the patient’s environment • Follow facility policies and procedures involving the protections of patient, staff, and visitors for patients undergoing radiation treatment

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