Scripps Mercy Hospital’s risk management plan demonstrates a commitment to ethical and legal responsibilities by emphasizing compliance, patient safety, and ethical conduct. However, based on my experience as a respiratory therapist and my knowledge of effective communication strategies in healthcare, I believe there are areas where the plan could be improved to foster a more inclusive, communicative, and proactive safety culture.
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Meeting Ethical and Legal Responsibilities
The risk management plan fulfills key obligations to stakeholders in several ways:
Ensuring Compliance: Scripps Health maintains adherence to federal and state regulations, reinforcing legal accountability (Scripps Health, n.d.).
Promoting Ethical Conduct: The organization’s non-retaliation policy protects employees who report concerns, fostering transparency and ethical behavior (Scripps Health, n.d.).
Enhancing Patient Safety: Risk mitigation strategies align with ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence, ensuring that patient care remains a priority (Beauchamp & Childress, 2019).
While these elements demonstrate a strong foundation, my experience in ICU, trauma, and emergency settings has shown that effective risk management also requires strong leadership, structured communication, and proactive risk identification.
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Opportunities for Improvement
Strengthening Leadership Development: Over my 18 years at Scripps Mercy Hospital, I have worked under five different managers, but only two fostered a supportive, leadership-building environment. The risk management plan could be improved by implementing leadership training programs that emphasize servant leadership and interprofessional collaboration, ensuring that frontline staff receive the support they need to address patient safety concerns effectively (GCU, 2021).
Enhancing Communication Strategies: In high-risk environments like the ICU and trauma unit, clear and concise communication is essential. My experience has shown that structured communication methods, such as SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation), can significantly improve patient safety and reduce errors. Incorporating standardized communication frameworks into the risk management plan would help ensure that healthcare providers communicate effectively in critical situations (Haig et al., 2006).
Proactive Risk Identification: My background in respiratory care and mechanical ventilation has provided firsthand insight into how early risk identification can prevent adverse outcomes. The risk management plan could be strengthened by expanding real-time reporting mechanisms and integrating AI-driven predictive analytics to identify safety concerns before they escalate (Lee & Yoon, 2020).
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Conclusion
Scripps Mercy Hospital’s risk management plan effectively addresses ethical and legal responsibilities; however, improvements in leadership development, structured communication, and proactive risk identification would further enhance patient safety and employee engagement. By incorporating interprofessional collaboration and leveraging emerging technologies, Scripps Mercy Hospital can create a more resilient and patient-centered healthcare environment.
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References
Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2019). Principles of biomedical ethics (8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Grand Canyon University (GCU). (2021). Interprofessional communication in healthcare: Best practices for patient safety. GCU Press.
Haig, K. M., Sutton, S., & Whittington, J. (2006). SBAR: A shared mental model for improving communication between clinicians. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 32(3), 167-175.
Lee, J., & Yoon, J. (2020). Artificial intelligence in patient safety: Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Medical Systems, 44(4), 1-10.
Scripps Health. (n.d.). Corporate compliance program. Retrieved from https://www.scripps.org
