The charge nurse is responsible for making the patient assignments on the critical care unit. An experienced, certified nurse is assigned to care for the acutely ill patient with sepsis who also requires continuous renal replacement therapy and mechanical ventilation. The nurse with less than 1 year of experience is assigned to two patients who are more stable. This assignment reflects implementation of the

A. QSEN focuses on preparing nurses with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to improve patient safety and quality of care. While relevant to overall safety, it does not specifically guide matching nurse competencies to patient acuity in assignments. B. These goals, established by The Joint Commission, provide specific safety standards for areas such as medication administration, infection control, and patient identification. They do not address individualized nurse-patient assignments based on skill and patient acuity. C. The Synergy Model links patient needs with nurse competencies, emphasizing that patient outcomes are optimized when the nurse’s experience, expertise, and certification match patient complexity and acuity. In this scenario, the most experienced nurse is assigned the most critically ill patient, while the less experienced nurse cares for more stable patients, reflecting synergy between patient needs and nurse competencies. D. Crew resource management focuses on team communication, decision-making, and error reduction, originally in aviation and applied in healthcare to improve safety. It does not specifically guide nurse-patient assignment based on competency.