SMART GOALS

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SMART Goals

While in their work place, nurses are in a position to make positive changes and improve
on the nursing professional through day to day advocacy. The positive changes are not easy to
achieve and nurses are faced with a number of challenges while interacting with various parties
who include patients, fellow nurses, the society and those who came to visit patients. To make a
change in this field, nurses need to develop leadership and organization skills in order to provide
maximum benefits to all patients. The following is a description of two smart goals that I will
work hard to achieve and an outline of how they are to be achieved.
My first smart Goals relates to leadership skills where I will strive to ensure that within
the next three months, my communications skills will have significantly improved together with
those of my fellow nurses in a way that provide an accurate passage of information. My first step
will be to create a standardized way of collecting and reporting information. This way, it will be
impossible for a nurse to leave out even the smallest pieces of information. Secondly, I will and
encourage other nurses to enroll in short communication courses that enable us to collect
sensitive information that the patient may not feel comfortable sharing. Crucial information
about the patient will help nurses determine what kind of medication is most appropriate
resulting to an efficient utilization of resources and reduced hospital stay (Apker, 2012). Finally,
I will ensure that clear lines of communications are established to ensure that the right
information is directed to the right professional to initiate the necessary action. Upon
achievement of my goal, the health facility will experience huge benefits such as reduced
medical mistakes and a high level of patient satisfaction.

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Other benefits of an efficient communication system include the reduced hospital stay, reduced
stress on the side of the client, reduction of the nurse workload, and reduced resource
requirement.
The cost of health care services have continued in increase in the recent past and the
withdrawal of funding by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on 1st October 2008
on hospital acquired infections including pressure ulcers has left health facilities on tight
budgets. Health facilities have shifted their attentions towards the effective management of their
financial resources. My second Smart goal will therefore ensure that in the next six months, the
level of hospital acquired pressure ulcers are completely eliminated through provision of
sufficient knowledge to nurses and periodical audits of the provided knowledge application.
According to Armour-Burton Fields, Outlaw & Deleon (2013), a set of procedures that have been
tested by the Sharp Grossmont Hospital in prevention of hospital acquired ulcers and has been
successful. The first thing in applying the above procedure will be the seeking the services of a
nurse who specializes in this area. The nurse will carry out bimonthly audits and provide
consultation services to other nurses. Secondly, the nurses will also be continuously tested on
their ability to identify skin lesions. Lastly, a case study presentation will be provided for all the
patients who at the time of their admission, it was difficult to state their ulcers. This approach
will ensure that the health facility I work for is able to avoid incurring expenses on treating
hospital acquired ulcers and support the goal of eliminating preventable expenses.
With a high level of discipline and patience, the two smart goals on improving
communication and preventing hospital acquired hospital ulcers can be achieved. The above
goals indicate that nurses not only have the potential to improve the profession but can also play
a key role in achieving health care facility goals.

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References

Apker, J. (2012). Communication in health organizations. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

Armour-Burton, T., Fields, W., Outlaw, L., & Deleon, E. (2013). The Healthy Skin Project:
Changing Nursing Practice to Prevent and Treat Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcers.
Critical Care Nurse, 33(3), 32-39.