Registered Nurse with extensive experience in the healthcare field. Goals direct. Exceptional leadership ability and good professional judgment. Strong patient advocacy.…
Improving the quality of care and patient safety is the top priority of every hospital.…
When nurses are forced to work with high nurse to patient ratios, patients can develop a variety of infections, get injured, and can lead to death. Often at times patients are discharged home too soon without adequate education about how to manage their illness or injury (Raquel & Sean, 2011). Because of patients being discharged to soon, this causes them to return back to the hospital often sicker than they were before. Increase in rate of admissions, transfers, and discharges on hospital unit’s raises nurses’ workload. When nurses have fewer patients, they are able to provide high quality care (Raquel & Sean, 2011). A quantitative research was done based on knowledge of unit’s attribute and shift by shift nurse staffing levels. The researchers inspected 43 units of medical and surgical patient’s mortality in an infamous magnet hospital here in United States. The units and shifts staffing data from 2003 to 2006 were obtained and consolidated with patient data resulting in 3.2 million unit shifts for 197961 patients. The outcome of two staffing variables were scrutinize using a shift unit level: understaffing actual registered nurses staffing eight hours or more below target staffing levels generated by a patient classification system and high turnover which means unit admissions, transfers and discharges exceeds mean day shift by one standard deviation. Patient survival rate was analyzed using Cox proportional hazard regression models with adjustment for clients, unit and shifts risk covariates was practiced. The risk adjust mortality was evaluated to staffing and turnover within the first 5 to 30 days after admission and during previous shifts. The result was dangerous ratios (Raquel & Sean, 2011).…
Nurses are turning increasingly to staffing agencies to find employment. Many hospitals and other healthcare facilities go through cycles of hiring personnel and then laying them off when budget cuts come down at the end of the fiscal year. This leaves many nurses unemployed while there is an increasing need for their talent.…
Quality, safety, and timeliness are the podium of nursing care, where as behavioral disciplines, theories, concepts, theoretical knowledge, and evidences are the leadership qualities. Proper staffing and a competent nursing team ensure maximum productivity, safety, and satisfaction. Nursing shortage impairs the functioning and quality of patient care delivery lead nurses to work under high pressure and feel overworked and overstressed, which leads to poor care and staff retention. Behaviors such as workplace incivility, negative supervisory relationships, and distrust on institution lead to increased nurse turnover and shortages which, in turn, leads to poor care and work…
The medical-surgical unit of ABC hospital is a 52 bed unit divided into three nursing stations. The unit provides care for medical/surgical adult and geriatric patients on various stages of recuperation from diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical interventions. Staffing levels are based on accurate calculation of the volume of patients occupying a bed. Lately the hospital has been experiencing a shortage in staffing of all positions; registered nurses, license practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, technical staff and orderlies. The problem has escalated to a critical level in recent…
* Recently, I read the article, "Why Emotions Matter: Age, Agitation, and Burnout Among Registered Nurses"...…
Coffman, J. M., Seago, J. A., & Spetz, J. (2002). Minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in acute care hospitals in California. Health Affairs, 21(5), 53-64. Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/21/5/53.full.html…
There is a shortage of nurses in this country in general and at my job in particular. “The causes of nursing shortages worldwide are attributed primarily to aging populations, increasing patient acuity, an explosion of knowledge and technology, and the ever-expanding role of nurses” (Wolff, Pesut, & Regan, 2010). This shortage affects our community but most important, it affects those who are most vulnerable, the patients who trust us to care for them. Nurses working long hours for more than three days become fatigued, frustrated, and feel unappreciated which leads to job dissatisfaction and the risk of…
The nursing shortage is nothing new to the United States of America. In this issue analysis essay, the causes that are compounding the nursing shortage are examined as well as the actions taken to prevent the shortage from becoming worse. Past nursing shortage causes and the current causes are studied. Most importantly, patient safety is at risk resulting in medical errors that otherwise would never happen. Nurses are also feeling dissatisfaction within their careers and many nurses across the country do not think positively about their field. It is important that the nursing shortage be controlled before the negative impacts of the deficiency are too great in damage. Together, hospitals, nursing programs, and the government must all work as a team in order to overcome the nursing shortage.…
The nursing shortage is a growing concern for the nation. The aging population is causing more demand for qualified healthcare professionals. At the same time, healthcare professionals are retiring faster than they can be replaced. This shortage of nursing professionals is causing more overtime work, which creates more nursing errors. Scholarships and grants are being awarded to students to try and generate more nursing professionals. Many facilities are offering tuition reimbursement incentives to help lure nursing professionals. Many facilities are also offering sign-on bonuses. These incentives show how serious the increasing need for qualified nursing professionals is becoming.…
There is a diverse range of aspects related to nursing staffing in health care organizations. Staffing levels in hospitals are likely to have a bearing on the assurance in the delivery of safe and reliable care. However, nursing staffing challenges have remained perennial prompting prolonged attention on the allocation of nurse staffing resources to facilitate patient safety (Weston et al., 2012). Nevertheless, focus on staffing levels has particularly increased with the prevailing shortage of nurses (Rochefort, et al., 2015). Furthermore, there have been changes in the manner nursing is approached. Traditionally, it would be assumed that well-trained practitioners were not prone to errors. Such was consistent with the traditional tendency…
AbstractOne suggested approach to ensure safe and effective patient care has been to mandate nurse staffing ratios. In 1999 California became the first state to mandate minimum nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals. California is not the only state to enact minimum nurse staffing ratios for hospitals, over the past four years at least eighteen other states have considered legislation regarding nurse staffing in hospitals. Policymakers are forced to consider alternatives to nurses ratios due to nurse shortages. Whether minimum staffing ratios will improve working conditions enough to increase nurse supply is unknown.…
Clarke, S. (2003). Patient safety series, part 2 of 2: Balancing staffing and safety. Nursing…
Imagine being admitted into the hospital with a serious illness and knowing that you may not get the proper care that you need and desire because the nursing staff is short. That could be very dangerous depending on what’s going on with your health. Nurses have always been a huge part of the medical field because of the diversity of the occupation. Patients rely on the care of nurses while healing/recovering and when that care can’t be given, there is a big problem. The shortage of nurses in the twenty-first century will greatly impact the well being and outcome of patients.…