Christina R. Miller, MSN-Ed, RN

Enhancing Nursing Assistant Curriculum: Incorporating Strategies to Speak Up for Safety

Tags: advocacy assertiveness communication nursing assistant patient safety

Nursing Assistants are non-licensed clinical staff who, despite being directly involved in patient care, may be reluctant to call out safety concerns because of their position within the clinical hierarchal structure. The current nursing assistant training curriculum provides basic instruction on communication and teamwork skills, however, does little to reinforce the importance of the nursing assistant’s role, or empower these staff to bring safety concerns forward. This reluctance to speak up may result in unaddressed safety issues and patient harm.