| Peer-Reviewed

An Exploration to the Relationship between Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role and Patient Safety

Received: 7 October 2021    Accepted: 19 November 2021    Published: 2 December 2021
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

To care for more patients safely and cost effectively, many health care facilities and organizations are creating positions for and utilizing a large number of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). The role of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) is critical for their success or failure. UAP play important role in compromising the safety which is the product of individuals' proper role, values, attitudes, and competencies. Aim: This study aimed to explore the relationship between UAP role and patient safety. Method: Descriptive, correlational design was conducted at Menoufia University Hospital (MUH) and National Liver Institute (LI) at inpatient units where the UAP work in. Purposeful equal samples of (73) UAP and (73) patients were recruited from mentioned hospitals. Data was collected by researcher self-administered questionnaire and observation checklist. Results: The highest percentage (80.0.8%) of UAP were done improper role completely. The highest mean score (18.0±2.1) of patient safety was noticed in adverse events parameter. Followed by mean score of admission and safety information parameter (12.7±2.2) and the lowest mean score was present in pain control of patient safety parameter (3.5±1.8). More than three quarter (88.9%) of patients in (MUH) felt no safety regarding the care provided by UAP compared to (LI) were (73.0%). There was statistically significance correlation between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and patient safety. Conclusion: Study concluded that there was statistically significance correlation between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and patient safety, this can explain the relationship between improper role of UAP and the patients experiences no safety of care provided to them by UAP. Recommendations: Develop written job descriptions; developed educational standards, role definitions, and scopes of practice for UAP; hold unit specific training program; proper delegation; good supervision; and further research should be used to inform the development of regulations for educational preparation and utilization of these providers beside the factors that contribute to patients feeling unsafe in the healthcare setting.

Published in American Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15
Page(s) 105-112
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Patient, Role, Safety, Unlicensed Assistive Personnel

References
[1] Webster, Kathleen. Northern kentucky university. pro Quest dissertations publishing, 1997. Nursing management's perspective on the role of unlicensed assistive personnel. Dissertation or Thesis.
[2] Karlene M. Kerfoot. Online Journal of issues in nursing, 2013.
[3] CALDERON-MARGALIT, Ronit, Ira ORINOVSKY, and Orly TOREN. "Nurses Working With Unlicensed Assistive Personnel: A Phenomenological Study." Journal of Clinical and Practical Nursing 1.1 (2017): 1.‏
[4] Wikipedia, Unlicensed Assistive Personnel. (2019). Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlicensed_assistive_personnel.
[5] Arizona Nurses Association. "Position statement on the Use of Unlicensed assistive Personnel When Under the Direction of the Registered Nurse" (2002). Available https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.aznurse.org/resource/resmgr/Professional_Advoc/Position%20Paper%20Unlicensed.pdf.
[6] Kalisch, Beatrice J. "The impact of RN-UAP relationships on quality and safety." Nursing Management 42.9 (2011): 16-2.
[7] Association of Rehabilitation Nurses. "The Role of nursing assistive personnel in the rehabilitation setting". (2017). available at: https://rehabnurse.org/about/position-statements/nursing-assistive-personnel.
[8] American Nurses Association. (2012). ANA’s principles of delegation by registered nurses to unlicensed assistive personnel. Silver Spring, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://documents.mx/ documents/principles-of-delegation.html.
[9] National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2005). Decision tree for delegation to nursing assistive personnel. Chicago, IL: Author. Retrieved from https://www.ncsbn.org/Preceptor-DelegationProces.Pdf.
[10] Carol S. K. Registered Nurses and Unlicensed Assistive Personnel: An Uneasy Alliance. leinman, the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing Vol. 37, No. 4 2006 CNAA.
[11] Glynn, D. M., Saint-Aine, R., Gosselin, M. A., Quan, S., & Chute, J. "The role of unlicensed assistive personnel in patient handoff." Nursing2021 47.3 (2017): 57-60.
[12] Tova Band-Winterstein, Leehu Zisberg, Ksenya Shulyaev, Anna Zisberg. The meanings of the unlicensed assistive personnel role in nursing homes: A triadic job analysis perspective (2018).
[13] Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. "The role of unlicensed assistive personnel (Nursing Assistive Personnel) in the care of women and newborns". Journal of Obstetric, Gynacologic & neonatal Nursing. 45, 1, (2016). Pages 137–139.
[14] Senatobia Healthcare & Rehab News Blog. What are the difference between a CNA, an RN, and an LPN?, (2019) Available at: https://senatobiahealthcare.com/difference-between-a-cna-rn-lpn/.
[15] Wagner, Elissa A. "Improving patient care outcomes through better delegation- communication between nurses and assistive personnel." Journal of nursing care quality 33.2 (2018): 187-193.
[16] Linda Kim, Linda, Jack Needleman. Defining attributes of patient safety through a concept analysis. 2015.
[17] Gizaw, A. Belay, F. Balcha Hailu, and D. Tamiru negese. perception towards patient safety practice and associated factors among health care providers of Jimma Zone Public Hospitals." Adv Tech Biol Med 6.261 (2018): 2379-1764.
[18] Carder, Paula C., and Janet O'Keeffe. State regulation of medication administration by unlicensed assistive personnel in residential care and adult day services settings" Research in gerontological nursing 9.5 (2016): 209-222.
[19] World Health Organization. "Patient Safety". (2020). Available online: https://www.Euro.Who.Int/En/Health-Topics/Health-Systems/Patient-Safety.
[20] Pandhi, N., Schumacher, J., Flynn, K. E., & Smith, M. "Patients’ perceptions of safety if interpersonal continuity of care were to be disrupted." Health Expectations 11.4 (2008): 400-408.
[21] Canadian Patient safety institute. "What is quality and patient safety?" www. Patient safety institute. Ca. (2012).
[22] Sahlström, M., Partanen, P., Azimirad, M., Selander, T., & Turunen, H. "Patient participation in patient safety: An exploration of promoting factors." Journal of nursing management (2018): 84-92.
[23] Lin F., Gillespie B. M., Chaboyer W., Li Y., Whitelock K., Morley N., Morrissey S., O’Callaghan F., Marshall A. P. Preventing surgical site infections: Facilitators and barriers to nurses’ adherence to clinical practice guidelines: A qualitative study. J. Clin. Nurs. 2019; 28: 1643–1652.
[24] Sermeus W. Understanding the role of nurses in patient safety: From evidence to policy with RN4CAST. BMC Nurs. 2016; 15: 1.
[25] Henneman E. A. Recognizing the Ordinary as Extraordinary: Insight into the “Way We Work” to Improve Patient Safety Outcomes. Am. J. Crit. Care. 2017; 26: 272–277.
[26] Vaismoradi M., Jordan S., Kangasniemi M. Patient participation in patient safety and nursing input—a systematic review. J. Clin. Nurs. 2015; 24: 627–639.
[27] Mojtaba Vaismoradi, Susanna Tella, Patricia A. Logan, Jayden Khakurel, and Flores Vizcaya-Moreno. (2020). Nurses’ Adherence to Patient Safety Principles: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17.
[28] World Health Organization. "Global patient safety action plan 2021–2030: Towards eliminating avoidable harm in health care." (2021).‏
[29] Linda Kenward, Charlotte Whiffin. 'Feeling unsafe within the healthcare system: the patients’ perspectives on contributory factors'. Research Gate, British journal of nursing, (2017) 26 (3): 143-14.
[30] Evans, S. M., Berry, J. G., Smith, B. J., & Esterman, A. J. "Consumer perceptions of safety in hospitals." BMC Public Health 6.1 (2006): 1-7.
[31] Al Mahmoud, S., Al Shakhs, F., Al Fayez, W., & Ahmad, A Exploring the perceptions of the patient safety culture." Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology 13.12 (2020): 5816-5822.
[32] Guijarro, P. Massó, et al. "Adverse events in hospitals: the patient's point of view." BMJ Quality & Safety 19.2 (2010): 144-147.
[33] Venesoja, A., Castrén, M., Tella, S., & Lindström, V. Patients’ perceptions of safety in emergency medical services: an interview study." BMJ open 10.10 (2020): e037488.‏
[34] Schiavone, S., Annecchiarico, A., Lisi, D., Mensorio, M. M., & Attena, F. "Evaluation of patients’ perception of safety in an Italian hospital using the PMOS-30 questionnaire." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18.9 (2021): 4515.
[35] Lasiter, S. "Older adults’ perceptions of feeling safe in an intensive care unit". Journal of advanced nursing 67 (12), (2011). pp. 2649-2657.
[36] Lovink, M. H. "Patients' experiences and perceptions of safety during haemodialysis treatment- a qualitative study". Journal of advanced nursing, 71 (10), (2013). pp. 2374-2383.
[37] Mollon, D. "Feeling safe during an inpatient hospitalization: a concept analysis". Journal of advanced advanced nursing 70 (8), (2014) pp. 1727-1737.
[38] Stenhouse, R. C. (2013). ‘Safe enough in here?’: patients' expectations and experiences of feeling safe in an acute psychiatric inpatient ward. Journal of clinical nursing, 22 (21-22), pp. 3109-3119.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Manal Mohamed Bakr. (2021). An Exploration to the Relationship between Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role and Patient Safety. American Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences, 2(4), 105-112. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Manal Mohamed Bakr. An Exploration to the Relationship between Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role and Patient Safety. Am. J. Nurs. Health Sci. 2021, 2(4), 105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Manal Mohamed Bakr. An Exploration to the Relationship between Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role and Patient Safety. Am J Nurs Health Sci. 2021;2(4):105-112. doi: 10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15,
      author = {Manal Mohamed Bakr},
      title = {An Exploration to the Relationship between Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role and Patient Safety},
      journal = {American Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {105-112},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajnhs.20210204.15},
      abstract = {To care for more patients safely and cost effectively, many health care facilities and organizations are creating positions for and utilizing a large number of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). The role of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) is critical for their success or failure. UAP play important role in compromising the safety which is the product of individuals' proper role, values, attitudes, and competencies. Aim: This study aimed to explore the relationship between UAP role and patient safety. Method: Descriptive, correlational design was conducted at Menoufia University Hospital (MUH) and National Liver Institute (LI) at inpatient units where the UAP work in. Purposeful equal samples of (73) UAP and (73) patients were recruited from mentioned hospitals. Data was collected by researcher self-administered questionnaire and observation checklist. Results: The highest percentage (80.0.8%) of UAP were done improper role completely. The highest mean score (18.0±2.1) of patient safety was noticed in adverse events parameter. Followed by mean score of admission and safety information parameter (12.7±2.2) and the lowest mean score was present in pain control of patient safety parameter (3.5±1.8). More than three quarter (88.9%) of patients in (MUH) felt no safety regarding the care provided by UAP compared to (LI) were (73.0%). There was statistically significance correlation between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and patient safety. Conclusion: Study concluded that there was statistically significance correlation between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and patient safety, this can explain the relationship between improper role of UAP and the patients experiences no safety of care provided to them by UAP. Recommendations: Develop written job descriptions; developed educational standards, role definitions, and scopes of practice for UAP; hold unit specific training program; proper delegation; good supervision; and further research should be used to inform the development of regulations for educational preparation and utilization of these providers beside the factors that contribute to patients feeling unsafe in the healthcare setting.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - An Exploration to the Relationship between Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Role and Patient Safety
    AU  - Manal Mohamed Bakr
    Y1  - 2021/12/02
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15
    T2  - American Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences
    JF  - American Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences
    JO  - American Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences
    SP  - 105
    EP  - 112
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2994-7227
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajnhs.20210204.15
    AB  - To care for more patients safely and cost effectively, many health care facilities and organizations are creating positions for and utilizing a large number of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). The role of unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) is critical for their success or failure. UAP play important role in compromising the safety which is the product of individuals' proper role, values, attitudes, and competencies. Aim: This study aimed to explore the relationship between UAP role and patient safety. Method: Descriptive, correlational design was conducted at Menoufia University Hospital (MUH) and National Liver Institute (LI) at inpatient units where the UAP work in. Purposeful equal samples of (73) UAP and (73) patients were recruited from mentioned hospitals. Data was collected by researcher self-administered questionnaire and observation checklist. Results: The highest percentage (80.0.8%) of UAP were done improper role completely. The highest mean score (18.0±2.1) of patient safety was noticed in adverse events parameter. Followed by mean score of admission and safety information parameter (12.7±2.2) and the lowest mean score was present in pain control of patient safety parameter (3.5±1.8). More than three quarter (88.9%) of patients in (MUH) felt no safety regarding the care provided by UAP compared to (LI) were (73.0%). There was statistically significance correlation between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and patient safety. Conclusion: Study concluded that there was statistically significance correlation between improper role of unlicensed assistive personnel and patient safety, this can explain the relationship between improper role of UAP and the patients experiences no safety of care provided to them by UAP. Recommendations: Develop written job descriptions; developed educational standards, role definitions, and scopes of practice for UAP; hold unit specific training program; proper delegation; good supervision; and further research should be used to inform the development of regulations for educational preparation and utilization of these providers beside the factors that contribute to patients feeling unsafe in the healthcare setting.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Department of Nursing Administration, Faculty of Nursing, Menoufia University, Shebin El Koom, Egypt

  • Sections