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Managers and Leaders view on Nurse Staffing Ratio Nurse staffing ratio is an ongoing issue in healthcare. For some units, it is a temporary problem until more team members are hired. Unfortunately, for others it is an everyday challenge that must be addressed. Nurse staffing ratio is usually based on number of patients a nurse should be responsible for during a shift. Unfortunately, not having enough staff is a safety concern for both the patients and the nurses. Therefore, addressing this topic should be a priority for nurse managers and leaders. According to Vantage Point (2009) a patient has a greater chance of dying while in the hospital when nurses have to care for more patients than recommended. A heavier workload will not result in …show more content…
Effective leadership has a great impact in what direction the team takes. They have great communication skills and are very easy to talk to and approach. Employees look up to the nurse leader for reassurance and comfort when things are not so bright. Leaders are very compassionate and caring individuals. They are not afraid to take risk in order to reach their goals. Nurse leaders will go the extra mile for his or staff and patients. From a leader standpoint, providing quality care to every patient is a priority. Leaders are usually on the floor with the nurses and are very aware of the work load. Leaders can better understand the nurse’s frustration about the staffing ratio. Sometimes having four patients feels like six because of the acuity level. When faced with a situation like not having enough staff to work a shift, leaders are quick to call in an extra nurse to come and work. Reducing the work load and proving effective quality care to the patients is what a leader usually has in mind. Leaders are not thinking about the hospital budget and deficits. They look at the big picture which is staff shortage and the work that needs to get done. The leaders goal is to keep everyone safe and happy. According to Stanley (2006), leaders tend to be solitary, proactive, intuitive, emphatic and attracted to situations of high risk; they ask the 'why not ' question and 'do the right thing. Therefore, a leader will do everything he or she can to accommodate patients and nurses
The United States offers some of the most established and advanced health care in the world. Practitioners and administers are constantly trying to improve the quality of care received by patients in the US. Data has consistently shown that the presence of a registered nurse contributes directly to positive patient outcomes (Cho et al., 2016). The debate across the country, however, concerns the precise number of staff required to provide safe, high-quality care. The issue of safe staffing is one that is of great importance to all involved in the delivery of health care across the country.
The problem, as defined for my argument research paper, is that to cut costs, hospitals have been steadily increasing the number of patients nurses must care for. In many areas it's not uncommon for one nurse to have to assess, give medications to, and manage the care of as many as 12 patients. This puts tremendous strain on nurses. Many of the studies I have seen in my research indicate that a high ration of patients to nurses increases the rate of death or other poor outcomes for patients. It also leads to increased nurse burnout and higher turnover, though at this point I believe my paper will focus on patient outcomes.
Many nurses face the issue of understaffing and having too much of a workload during one shift. When a unit is understaffed not only do the nurses get burnt out, but the patients also don’t receive the care they deserve. The nurse-patient ratio is an aspect that gets overlooked in many facilities that could lead to possible devastating errors. Nurse- patient ratio issues have been a widely studied topic and recently new changes have been made to improve the problem.
In healthcare it is very important to have strong leaders, especially in the nursing profession. A nurse leader typically uses several styles of leadership depending on the situation presented; this is known as situational leadership. It is important that the professional nurse choose the right style of leadership for any given situation to ensure their employees are performing at their highest potential. Depending on which leadership style a nurse leader uses, it can affect staff retention and the morale of the employees as well as nurse job satisfaction (Azaare & Gross, 2011.) “Nursing leaders have the responsibility to create and maintain a work environment which not only promotes positive patient outcomes but also positively influences teams and individual nurses” (Malloy & Penprase, 2010.) Let’s explore two different leadership styles and discuss how they can enhance or diminish the nursing process.
Hospital administrators will charge nurse leaders with ensuring that patient positive outcomes prevail while also controlling overhead. Nurse leaders are specially trained just for this task. Clinical Nurse Leaders are the experts that America’s patients will rely on to keep them safe and healthy in hospital settings.
In healthcare profession, leadership is defined as utilization of personal characteristics and experiences to communicate effectively with the patients suffering critical health problems for which there are no specific answers and to direct health care team in developing policies to solve these problems. The nurse leader establishes relationships to encourage others to set and accomplish clinical or administrative goals. An effective leader provides guidance, use moralities to direct the process, and develop self-confidence in others (Yoder-Wise, 2010).
The premier nurse leader shows commitment to their patients. They provide everything they can for their patients. They do the best they can with their resources and seek out resources when needed (Morgan, 2010). The care provided for patients needs to be continuous. Leaders are able to plan and ensure care is done and communicated well (Morgan, 2010). They listen to the patients and staff about issues and make sure they are communicated to the appropriate person and are handled (Morgan, 2010).
Thousands of nurses throughout the nation are exhausted and overwhelmed due to their heavy workload. The administrators do not staff the units properly; therefore, they give each nurse more patients to care for to compensate for the lack of staff. There are several reasons to why
The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of nursing staffing ratios in the healthcare industry. This has always been a primary issue, and it continues to grow as the population rate increases throughout the years. According to Shakelle (2013), in an early study of 232,432 surgical discharges from several Pennsylvania hospitals, 4,535 patients (2%) died within 30 days of hospitalization. Shakelle (2014) also noted that during the study, there was a difference between 4:1 and 8:1 patient to nurse ratios which translates to approximately 1000 deaths for a group of that size. This issue can be significantly affected in a positive manner by increasing the nurse to patient ratio, which would result in more nurses to spread the work load of the nurses more evenly to provide better coverage and in turn result in better care of patients and a decrease in the mortality rates.
Patient’s safety will be compromised because increase of patient to nurse ratio will lead to mistakes in delivering quality care. In 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducted a metanalysis and found that “shortage of registered nurses, in combination with increased workload, poses a potential threat to the quality of care… increases in registered nurse staffing was associated with a reduction in hospital-related mortality and failure to rescue as well as reduced length of stay.” Intense workload, stress, and dissatisfaction in one’s profession can lead to health problems. Researchers found that maintaining and improving a healthy work environment will facilitate safety, quality healthcare and promote a desirable professional avenue.
Factors such as, heavy workloads, stress, job dissatisfaction, frequent medical errors, and intention of leaving the job are all common for nurses to experience, especially during the nursing shortage crisis. Not only do the nurses suffer during a shortage, but the patients ' health outcomes suffer even more. For instance, there are higher rates of infectious diseases and adverse patient outcomes, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, pneumonia, prolonged hospital stays, failure to rescue, and mortality. As a result, this leads to higher re-admission rates for patients. Furthermore, high patient-to-nurse ratios cause heavy workloads due to an inadequate supply of nurses, an increased demand for nurses, a reduction in staffing and an increase in overtime, and a shortened length of stay for patients. Without the heavy workloads that nurses have to endure on a daily basis, there would more time for nurses to communicate more effectively with physicians, insurance companies, and patients and their families. Those heavy workloads are the result of hospitals reducing the nursing staff and implementing mandatory overtime policies just to meet unexpectedly high demands. Unfortunately, the nursing shortage has affected nurses ' mental and physical health. For example, the most common health concerns for nurses include cardiovascular health, occupational injuries and illnesses, and emotional and physical exhaustion. Therefore, safe-staffing ratios/levels have to become the main
In the leadership position, the nurse manager must be concerned with reducing incremental overtime for the common good in order for the unit to stay as it is and to prevent drastic changed that will make the nurses on the unit unhappy. The nurses are assigned hours based on availability and as a leader the nurse must realize that the overtime adds up and will eventually lead to decreased availability in hours and possible layoffs from the unit; therefore it is essential to complete tasks such as assessments, administering medications, documenting and providing basic care within the allotted time. When positive leaders create an encouraging and positive environment, then the nurses are more likely to comply. The nurses on the unit want to be motivated and inspired and that is where a leader can come in and give them encouragement and emphasize that they all want to achieve the same goal of providing excellent care in an appropriate amount of time, the end result is that there will be more hours available and rewards for those who are following the lead. The nursing manager cannot accomplish the task alone and as a leader, she must believe in the nursing team and each of the nurses on the unit to work towards the decreasing the incremental overtime. By believing in other people she can encourage the staff nurses and offer assistance by asking how they can work together to achieve this goal. Another important characteristic of a leader is being synergistic and bringing the team together to work towards the same goal. The nurse manager can bring the nurses together by reinforcing that it is a team effort and asking the nurses to step up and offer assistance when someone
My success as a nurse leader will be based on my ability to lead and inspire others. I will . . . “act with integrity, set realistic goals, communicate clearly and often, encourage others, recognize the successes of your team members, and inspire them to provide the best of care.” A winning team can be built only through a shared vision and acknowledgement of each team member’s contribution. (Frandsen, B. 2014). My success as a nurse leader will not be by my work alone, I will have my team of great, effective staff behind me. My success will be
In today’s society, leadership is a common yet useful trait used in every aspect of life and how we use this trait depends on our role. What defines leadership is when someone has the capability to lead an organization or a group of people. There are many examples that display a great sense of leadership such being an educator in health, a parent to their child, or even a nurse. In the medical field, leadership is highly used among nurses, doctors, nurse managers, director of nursing, and even the vice president of patient care services. Among the many positions in the nursing field, one who is a nurse manager shows great leadership. The reason why nurse manager plays an important role in patient care is because it is known to be the most difficult position. As a nurse manager, one must deal with many patient care issues, relationships with medical staff, staff concerns, supplies, as well as maintaining work-life balance. Also, a nurse manager represents leadership by being accountable for the many responsibilities he or she holds. Furthermore, this position is a collaborative yet vital role because they provide the connection between nursing staff and higher level superiors, as well as giving direction and organization to accomplish tasks and goals. In addition, nurse managers provide nurse-patient ratios and the amount of workload nursing staff has. It is their responsibility to make sure that nursing staff is productive and well balanced between their work and personal lives.
Lisa explains to me that, “Patient to nurse ratio is a very real concern”. This is leading to a major problem with the nurses’ ability to provide quality care. This understaffing is becoming increasingly problematic. Experts have stated that there is evidence that indicates a direct relationship with overall safety, patient satisfaction, and cost. When nurse to patient ratios are handled correctly it can improve health outcomes, assure quality care, remove costly mistakes, and save lives (Waters). Even being so overwhelmed and outnumbered, nurses still seem to provide the best care possible, through unreserved determination and