Nurses told to give priority to patients

ALL health workers must ensure patient care is given priority at all times, perioperative nurses were told last week.
This group comprised nurses working in accidents and emergency, intensive care, theatres, surgical wards, gynaecology and obstetrics.
They had gathered in Port Moresby for the sixth conference of the Perioperative Nurses Society (PNS) of PNG.
Organising committee member Eunice Laim said nurses from all over the country had gathered and discussed issues relating to their practice.
She said it was all about educating each other to improve their clinical practice and uplift the standards to provide quality care to the patients.
She said about 70 nurses from all the provincial hospitals were in the nation’s capital for the conference.
Coordinator and a member of the International Perioperative Nurses Federation in Australia Phyllis Davis stressed during her presentation that some hospitals were not really safe.
She told the nurses that to provide quality care for patients, they must treat every patient like their own family members.
“As a health care provider, you must clean up your own backyard before you care for your patients,” Davis said.
“ The benefits of having a checklist is you get to have improved team work, improved safety, capture more near misses, smoother and quicker procedures and improved staff morale,” she said.