Nursing in the Future
Financial issues, healthcare policy changes, scarce resources, political issues and advancing technology on health care affect all areas of nursing, no matter how diverse the field is. In the practice of long term care and assisted living facilities, these issues are of major concern for many people. Trends that are seen in my current practice can help give hints to what is to come in the future.
It seems like many health care facilities are always short on money, and so the number of patients per nurse increases so that the facility can make more money by having less nursing staff. When the work load increases on the nurses, there is a higher turn around for the nursing staff, and the facilities run into problems of being short staffed and overworked. In The Resilient Nurse, they explain that “rising patient acuity, rapid assessments and discharges, and increased service use by clients mean that nurses are dealing with sicker people who are likely to have multiple conditions that may complicate both the treatment and the recovery” (3-4). A facility that is short staffed comes to the situation where there is more likely to be mistakes when the nurses are being asked to work more hours then they should to compensate. This happens in long term care consistently, it is as if more and more is asked of the staff in order to save a buck somewhere else. It is very hard on the residents as well due to the fact that they are at the end of their lives, can no longer work and usually have no money let. Long term care is very expensive and most of the time it completely wipes out the resident of all of their savings.
I think scarce resources and advancing technology can sometimes go hand in hand. Supplies run short and it puts patients at risk if the proper supplies are not being used. Residents run out of things they need, or the facility has to be stingy with how many gloves they use when the really issue is patient safety. It is helpful in long term care when
It seems like many health care facilities are always short on money, and so the number of patients per nurse increases so that the facility can make more money by having less nursing staff. When the work load increases on the nurses, there is a higher turn around for the nursing staff, and the facilities run into problems of being short staffed and overworked. In The Resilient Nurse, they explain that “rising patient acuity, rapid assessments and discharges, and increased service use by clients mean that nurses are dealing with sicker people who are likely to have multiple conditions that may complicate both the treatment and the recovery” (3-4). A facility that is short staffed comes to the situation where there is more likely to be mistakes when the nurses are being asked to work more hours then they should to compensate. This happens in long term care consistently, it is as if more and more is asked of the staff in order to save a buck somewhere else. It is very hard on the residents as well due to the fact that they are at the end of their lives, can no longer work and usually have no money let. Long term care is very expensive and most of the time it completely wipes out the resident of all of their savings.
I think scarce resources and advancing technology can sometimes go hand in hand. Supplies run short and it puts patients at risk if the proper supplies are not being used. Residents run out of things they need, or the facility has to be stingy with how many gloves they use when the really issue is patient safety. It is helpful in long term care when
References: Lewenson, S., & Truglio-Londrigan, M. (2008). Decision-Making in Nursing. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Kelly, P. (2012). Nursing Leadership & Management. Clifton Park, NY: Cengage Learning. Creasia, J. L., Friberg, E. E. (2011). Conceptual Foundations: The Bridge to Professional Nursing Practice. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier. McAllister, M., & Lowe, J. B. (2001). The Resilient Nurse: Empowering Your Practice. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.