Missed Nursing Care, Staffing, and Patient Falls
Missed Nursing Care, Staffing, and Patient Falls
Grand Canyon University
Nursing Research
Nursing:433-V
Angie Lawson, RN
March 9, 2014
Introduction
Patient safety is a concern in the hospital setting. Missed nursing care due to high nurse patient ratios, or staffing issues leads to patient falls. Patient falls tend to be a big issue and expensive matter for hospitals nationwide. This paper will focus on a qualitative research article regarding missed nursing care, staffing, and patient falls. Included will be a summary of the research, methods and research used in the study, significance of the research findings, ethical considerations, and a conclusion.
Summary of Research Problem
Falls pose problems for many patients, such as death, fractures, functional need, and afraid of reoccurrence. Although, hospitals have set forth evidence based guideline strategies for de creasing the number of falls. Consistency and implementation of the strategies are limited. Data was gathered from 188 medical surgical units in 48 separate hospitals nationwide. Data revealed there was not consistent use of interventions to address specific risks. The findings go hand in hand with nursing care being regularly missed. Nursing care often gets missed due to staffing issues. Missing any nursing care or not fully completing tasks leads to patient falls (Kalisch, Tschannen & Lee, 2012).
Methods and Research Used in the Study
A qualitative approach was used in the design of this research. The research project was conducted in smaller scale hospitals of 60 beds to larger scaled hospitals with 913 beds. The total number of units was 124, this was broken down to as little as 2 units in the smaller hospitals to as many as 22 units in the bigger hospitals. Unit inclusion criteria were, an average patient length of stay of 2 days or more and, a patient population greater than 18 years. Exclusion criteria were short stay units and pediatric, women's health,
Grand Canyon University
Nursing Research
Nursing:433-V
Angie Lawson, RN
March 9, 2014
Introduction
Patient safety is a concern in the hospital setting. Missed nursing care due to high nurse patient ratios, or staffing issues leads to patient falls. Patient falls tend to be a big issue and expensive matter for hospitals nationwide. This paper will focus on a qualitative research article regarding missed nursing care, staffing, and patient falls. Included will be a summary of the research, methods and research used in the study, significance of the research findings, ethical considerations, and a conclusion.
Summary of Research Problem
Falls pose problems for many patients, such as death, fractures, functional need, and afraid of reoccurrence. Although, hospitals have set forth evidence based guideline strategies for de creasing the number of falls. Consistency and implementation of the strategies are limited. Data was gathered from 188 medical surgical units in 48 separate hospitals nationwide. Data revealed there was not consistent use of interventions to address specific risks. The findings go hand in hand with nursing care being regularly missed. Nursing care often gets missed due to staffing issues. Missing any nursing care or not fully completing tasks leads to patient falls (Kalisch, Tschannen & Lee, 2012).
Methods and Research Used in the Study
A qualitative approach was used in the design of this research. The research project was conducted in smaller scale hospitals of 60 beds to larger scaled hospitals with 913 beds. The total number of units was 124, this was broken down to as little as 2 units in the smaller hospitals to as many as 22 units in the bigger hospitals. Unit inclusion criteria were, an average patient length of stay of 2 days or more and, a patient population greater than 18 years. Exclusion criteria were short stay units and pediatric, women's health,
References: Kalisch, B. J., Tschannen, D., & Lee, K. H. (2012). Missed nursing care, staffing, and patient falls. Journal of Nursing Care Quality:, 27(1), 6-12. doi: 10.1097/NCQ.0b013e318225aa23