Long-Term Care Facilities: A Case Study
Effects of Fatigue on Staff and Quality/Safe Care in Long-Term Care Facilities
Fatigue prevention seems like such a central issue in our intricate medical environment. However, as we provide more multifaceted care, we have not kept up with caring for those giving the care. The consequences of fatigue at this long-term care facility show that patients are not receiving adequate care, more errors are made, and patient safety is being jeopardized due to inadequate staffing caused by fatigue and lack of effective recognition of the problem by leaders/management.
Statement of Problem and Proposed Change
Fatigue is recognized globally as an occupational hazard in the nursing profession for nurses and their patients. Fatigue has implications on the health and safety of nurses …show more content…
They believe this can be achieved by coordination, clarifying roles staff play, and monitoring operations to increase quality of care. Long term care facilities should use many measures to reduce fatigue because research results indicated that increasing staffing levels alone is not likely sufficient to increase quality/safe care, according to Havi, Skogstad, Kjekshus, & Romøren, 2011). By adopting measures to ensure that fatigued is reduced, long term care facilities can ensure that adequate staffing is provided to deliver quality/safe care for patients. Such measures include: ensuring task-oriented leadership, providing a strong, supportive, work environment that includes a culture of safety for nurses and their patients, developing and monitoring use of anonymous reporting systems for employees to report accidents, errors, and near misses to identify possible fatigue, and establishing lower nurse patient ratios considering patient acuity (Havi, Skogstad, Kjekshus, & Romøren, 2011, MacKusick & Minick, 2010, Barker, & Nussbaum,
Fatigue prevention seems like such a central issue in our intricate medical environment. However, as we provide more multifaceted care, we have not kept up with caring for those giving the care. The consequences of fatigue at this long-term care facility show that patients are not receiving adequate care, more errors are made, and patient safety is being jeopardized due to inadequate staffing caused by fatigue and lack of effective recognition of the problem by leaders/management.
Statement of Problem and Proposed Change
Fatigue is recognized globally as an occupational hazard in the nursing profession for nurses and their patients. Fatigue has implications on the health and safety of nurses …show more content…
They believe this can be achieved by coordination, clarifying roles staff play, and monitoring operations to increase quality of care. Long term care facilities should use many measures to reduce fatigue because research results indicated that increasing staffing levels alone is not likely sufficient to increase quality/safe care, according to Havi, Skogstad, Kjekshus, & Romøren, 2011). By adopting measures to ensure that fatigued is reduced, long term care facilities can ensure that adequate staffing is provided to deliver quality/safe care for patients. Such measures include: ensuring task-oriented leadership, providing a strong, supportive, work environment that includes a culture of safety for nurses and their patients, developing and monitoring use of anonymous reporting systems for employees to report accidents, errors, and near misses to identify possible fatigue, and establishing lower nurse patient ratios considering patient acuity (Havi, Skogstad, Kjekshus, & Romøren, 2011, MacKusick & Minick, 2010, Barker, & Nussbaum,