Introduction
Clinical governance was implemented in the United Kingdom in the late 1990s as a direct response to a string of high-profile healthcare scandals that exposed significant shortcomings in the quality and safety of healthcare delivery. Because of the media’s exposure, these scandals came to light. Its goals were to build a systematic approach to managing clinical risk, promote a culture of outstanding patient care, and ensure that healthcare organisations were accountable for the treatment they delivered (Brown et al., 2022). These goals were intended to improve the quality and safety of healthcare. Since it was first implemented, clinical governance has effectively enhanced the quality and safety of healthcare delivery. It has decreased the frequency of unfortunate occurrences, improved patient outcomes, and increased patient contentment with the care they receive. Additionally, clinical governance has assisted in enhancing the quality of clinical decision-making, promoting the utilisation of evidence-based practice, and encouraging ongoing quality enhancement.
However, physicians, patients, managers, and governing bodies must consistently commit to and support clinical governance to remain effective. To ensure that clinical governance systems are relevant and practical, clinicians must be involved in their creation and execution (Brown et al., 2022). Patients should have a voice in healthcare decisions and be provided with details regarding the quality and safety of the treatments they will receive. For doctors to offer high-quality treatment, managers must give them the resources and support they need, and regulatory bodies must hold healthcare institutions to account for the quality of their services.
Healthcare delivery is held to a higher standard of responsibility when clinical governance is in place. It is a crucial part of the healthcare system since it helps doctors, administrators, and policymakers give patients the best possible care. This article will use a case study from a clinical placement to discuss the significance of clinical governance in nursing care. There will also be talk about the positive effects of safety culture on patients and employees and how the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS) help nurses meet governance requirements.
This paper will also address the impact of clinical governance on nursing care and the significance of meeting NSQHS benchmarks for positive patient outcomes. The paper will also examine how effective leadership and a safety-first culture affect employee morale, patient outcomes, and resource allocation. The overarching goal of this essay is to show how clinical governance affects the quality and safety of nursing care and healthcare services as a whole.
Clinical Governance Influences on Nursing Care
Safe, effective, and continuously improving patient care is the goal of clinical governance, a framework of accountability, monitoring, and quality improvement processes (Queensland Government, 2021). Clinical governance affects nursing care by fostering a culture of safety and continuous improvement, fostering a collaborative and coordinated approach to patient care, and ensuring that nurses possess the necessary knowledge and skills.
Ensuring nurses have the information and skills necessary to provide safe and effective care is one-way clinical governance affect nursing. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s (2015) Clinical Governance Standard includes provisions for regularly assessing and updating the qualifications of nurses and midwives. This makes it so nurses may deliver treatment founded on scientific data and current best practices.
Improving patient outcomes is a top priority for healthcare companies, and clinical governance helps foster a safety culture. Patient satisfaction with nursing care was positively connected with a culture of safety in the healthcare organisation, according to research by Karaca and Durna (2019). This demonstrates the significance of clinical governance in establishing a norm of putting the patient’s safety first and holding all staff members accountable for maintaining it. Clinical governance has consequences for nursing staffing numbers and enhancing patient outcomes. Staffing must be adequate to satisfy patients’ demands, and nurses must be energised and energised, according to the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (2017). This is vital for guaranteeing patient safety and nurses’ ability to provide high-quality treatment.
Finally, clinical governance guarantees that doctors work together to provide excellent patient treatment. Goh and Loh (2019) stress the value of teamwork among medical staff in providing excellent patient treatment. Effective collaboration between healthcare professionals, quick and straightforward communication, and a unified approach to patient care across venues and providers are all made more accessible by clinical governance.
My clinical placement experience will be used to demonstrate why clinical governance is so vital to nursing practice. During my rotation, I saw that nurses were forced to adhere to regulations whenever they gave patients any medication strictly. Medication, dosage, and delivery method were all administered adequately to patients thanks to the processes in place. Nurses were also tasked with recording medicine administration in each patient’s chart. These notes ensured that the correct medication was given to the right patient at the right time and that the patient’s reaction to the medication was recorded accurately. This degree of responsibility guaranteed that all patients received effective and up-to-code care.
The Role of the NSQH Standards in Achieving Clinical Governance
Clinical governance in healthcare relies heavily on the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. The Clinical Governance Standard of the NSQHS Standards was developed to provide efficient clinical governance inside healthcare institutions, as stated by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2017). This guideline details what must be done to develop clinical governance structures that encourage ongoing progress toward providing safe and effective treatment.
The NSQHS Standards help advance clinical governance goals by encouraging a focus on patient safety and healthcare provider excellence. As the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2021) states, clinical governance that emphasises patient safety is essential. Fostering an environment where accidents are reported, investigated, and learned from so that preventative measures can be implemented is central to the NSQHS Standards’ vision of a culture of safety and quality.
The NSQHS Standards’ Clinical Governance Standard emphasises healthcare organisations having strong leadership, governance, and culture. Effective leadership and governance structures are essential for ensuring the provision of safe, effective, and high-quality healthcare (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2017). Clinical governance arrangements must be monitored, evaluated, and shown to be continuously improving for healthcare organisations to meet the criterion.
The Effect of Clinical Governance and Leadership on Organizational Culture, Safety, Patient Outcomes and Staffing
Leadership and clinical governance are pivotal in shaping healthcare organisations’ cultures, impacting patient care, productivity, and satisfaction. Patients’ rights to get care that is both safe and of high quality is a top priority for the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) (ACSQHC, 2017). Effective leadership, a strong safety culture, and a dedication to constant development are all stressed in the ACSQHC’s Clinical Governance Standard. Collaborative governance has been shown to benefit the integration of healthcare and nursing (Chang et al., 2021). In collaborative governance, healthcare providers make decisions collectively, intending to improve patient care. Better patient outcomes and happier doctors and nurses are possible results of this strategy.
According to a Korean study (Choi & Kim, 2019), structural empowerment and professional governance also benefit nurses’ independence and job satisfaction. The term “structural empowerment” describes nurses’ increasing agency in the workplace. In nursing, “professional governance” describes nurses’ participation in policymaking. Healthcare organisations could boost nurse job satisfaction and retention by including them in decision-making and giving them the tools they need to do their jobs well.
Nursing care is essential to patient satisfaction, another critical indicator of healthcare quality. A recent study in Turkey found that when nurses provided emotional support, patient education, and respect for patients’ rights, patient satisfaction with the quality of nursing care increased dramatically (Karaca & Durna, 2019). This data demonstrates that a culture that values the needs of each patient can increase the proportion of satisfied patients.
Patient safety, outcomes, and staffing are all directly impacted by the culture of healthcare organisations, which is, in turn, influenced by clinical governance and leadership. Nursing staff morale and turnover can benefit from collaborative governance, structural empowerment, and professional governance. Increased levels of patient satisfaction are also possible due to a strong safety culture emphasising patient-centred care. It offers more reason for healthcare firms to have strong leadership and a dedication to constant development, according to these results.
During my time in a clinical setting, I saw firsthand how clinical governance and leadership affected staffing. Staffing numbers reflected the healthcare provider’s dedication to patient safety and quality. The ratio of caregivers to patients was correct, allowing for proficient and successful treatment. Staff employees were encouraged to raise problems and provide input, and the leadership team made themselves available. Because of this, workers became more invested in their work and dedicated to providing excellent care.
Conclusion
This essay has discussed clinical governance and its value in healthcare delivery. It has covered how clinical governance impacts nursing care, how the NSQH standards contribute to positive patient outcomes, and how clinical governance and leadership impact things like culture, safety, outcomes, and organisational staffing. Patient safety culture measurement from the perspective of staff members and the role of responsibility in driving quality and safety improvements have been brought to light.
Clinical governance is essential for boosting care quality, reducing adverse events, and protecting patients. Consequently, healthcare providers must prioritise clinical governance and allocate resources to create a solid infrastructure that facilitates implementation. Healthcare professionals will be better able to respond to patient’s needs and offer high-quality, safe, and effective care if this is done. Patient outcomes and the quality of care are two areas that can be significantly improved by good clinical governance. Therefore, healthcare organisations and providers must incorporate clinical governance into daily practice to offer safe, high-quality, and effective treatment.
References
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2015). Clinical governance for nurses and midwives. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/41BUhEe
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2017). Clinical governance standard: Governance, leadership and culture. Action 1.6. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3V4hegJ
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2021). About patient safety culture. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3V6POaj
Brown, P., Prest, B., Miles, P., & Rossi, V. (2022). The development of national safety and quality digital mental health standards. Australasian Psychiatry, 30(2), 154–157.
Chang, B., Yang, Y., Buitrago Leon, G. A., & Lu, Y. (2021, November). Effect of collaborative governance on medical and nursing service combination: an evaluation based on Delphi and entropy method. In Healthcare (Vol. 9, No. 11, p. 1456). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.
Choi, S., & Kim, M. (2019). Effects of Structural Empowerment and Professional Governance on Autonomy and job satisfaction of Korean Nurses. Journal of nursing management, 27(8), 1664-1672.
Goh, J., & Loh, E. (2019). Health Systems and Policy. Textbook of Medical Administration and Leadership, 63-70.
Karaca, A., & Durna, Z. (2019). Patient satisfaction with the quality of nursing care. Nursing Open, 6(2), 535-545.
National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. (2017). Clinical Governance Standard. https://bit.ly/44cP4oa
Queensland Government. (2021). Clinical governance. https://bit.ly/3oJBIPK
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