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The effects of nurse staffing
The effects of nurse staffing
The effects of nurse staffing
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In the article “Addressing staffing shortages in an era of reform,” Stanford point out that in a time when change is necessary because of mandated healthcare requirements, there is a shortage of nurses in the field of direct patient care, because they are offered jobs with better pay to oversee office positions. “Health system leaders recognize that these shortages threaten the quality of care they can provide to patients. As a result, competition for talent is becoming more heated in several parts of the country,” (Stanford, 2013). By nurses taking on jobs in other areas of the field, we are left to find people to replace them and when that happens, it creates a shortage on the front line of patient care.
The literature, “The Unintended Consequences of Staffing Mandates in Florida
Nursing Homes: Impacts on Indirect-Care Staff,” talk about the effect that staff shortage has on the direct care staff like the certified nurse aids, activity staff and others who see and interact with the resident on a daily bases, (Thomas, et all, 2010). By increasing the number of direct or non-licensed staff members, the work of indirect care members like housekeeping and other minor jobs feel onto the burden of the direct care staff. This created a problem as they tried to complete all task as assigned to them. Once again staffing was blamed for any problems, although this time they included the staff that was not directly involved in the care of the residents. Have less indirect care staff meant that everyone had to pick up extra job duties and the indirect care staff was left to hold the bag with less than standard quality of care.
Interventions
Based on the finding of my research, a change is necessary to ensure that those who depend on lon...
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...rtages in an era of reform Healthcare Financial Management: Journal Of The Healthcare Financial Management Association [serial online]. December 2013; 67(12):42-45. Available from: MEDLINE with Full Text, Ipswich, MA
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Current literature continues to reiterate the indicators of a major shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States. The total RN population has been increasing since 1980, which means that we have more RNs in this country than ever before (Nursing Shortage). Even though the RN population is increasing, it is growing at a much slower rate then when compared to the rate of growth of the U.S. population (Nursing Shortage). We are seeing less skilled nurses “at a time of an increasingly aging population with complex care needs and an increasingly complex technological care environment” (Mion). According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that “more than a million new and replacement nurses will be needed over the next decade” (Diagnosis: Critical).
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These articles have many similarities when discussing the issue of staffing shortages. For patients, their loved ones and the general population, they don’t understand the ramifications and strain that staffing shortages have on nurses. People expect and deserve complete, competent and safe care when they are patients. These articles bring to light all the struggles that nurses have to deal with. Nurses are fearful that they will make mistakes, will harm patients, and will harm themselves. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001; Martin, 2015) Overtime can be overwhelming and exhausting, which can lead to errors being made. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001) These articles perceive that it may be beneficial for nurses, patients, and healthcare facilities to decrease the nurse-to-patient ratio, however, this option is not always
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.
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
The region’s labor market is already tightening, as a result of which competition for skilled healthcare professionals is increasing. Kaiser Permanente would have to compete with the existing hospitals in recruiting and retaining qualified management and staff personnel responsible for the day-to-day operations of each of its hospitals and physician practices, including nurses and other non-physician healthcare professionals. The scarcity of nurses and other medical support personnel in the region presents a significant operating issue. This shortage may require Kaiser Permanente to enhance wages and benefits to recruit and retain nurses and other medical support personnel, recruit personnel from foreign countries, and hire more expensive temporary personnel. Competition for skilled healthcare professionals may lead to a further increase in Kaiser Permanente’s wage
The prolonged shortage of skilled nursing personnel has been a serious concern to the healthcare industry, and this shortage has impacted the quality of care delivery. In addition, nursing turnover has also exacerbated the problem of nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been blamed on many nurses retiring and less younger nurses joining the occupation. There is also an increase in life expectancy (baby boomers) leading an increase in both physical and mental ailment with subsequent demand in nursing care. Nurses are also leaving nursing profession because of inadequate staffing, tense work environment, negative press about the profession, and inflexible work schedules. Even though nursing is a promising career and offers job security, the
Bedside nurses want to change staffing levels to assure that they have enough time to both keep up with the constantly evolving health care and to provide safe patient care. Yet, healthcare employers consider that reducing nurse patient ratio is an unnecessary expense that has not been proven to improve quality of patient care (Unruh, 2008). Employers emphasize that raising nursing staffing level is not cost-effective. In fact, in accordance with ANA’s report (2013), a study, in the Journal of Health Care Finance, confirmed that reducing patient-nurse ratios increased hospital costs, but did not lower their profitability. Higher hospital costs were attributed to wages and benefits allocated to newly hired nurses. Yet, according to Cimiotti et.al (20112), it is more costly for hospitals to not invest money on nursing.
...elly, P., & Crawford, H. (2013). Nursing leadership & management. In Nursing leadership & management(2nd ed., pp. 168-177). Canada: Nelson Education.
Doody, O., & Doody, C. (2012). Transformational leadership in nursing practice. British Journal of Nursing, 21(20). Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.ohiou.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=3655bc92-b9ec-4a08-84d8-f5d3098ddfdf%40sessionmgr120&vid=17&hid=116
When I think of barriers to leading change, the experience that comes to mind is one that occurred during my first few months as a nurse leader. Though this experience happened many years ago it is one that I think of periodically, and contemplate how I could have been more effective in my leadership style