Unmanageable Workload Nursing
The first issue: mismanagement of unpredictable workload
The first issue is that an unmanageable workload contributed to the clinical incident to Mr. Lee. It is important to note here that although this workload could connect to the occurrence of the incident, Registered nurses have a responsibility to grasp the situation accurately and make the best choice in order to ensure patient safety (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). It was a fact that there were urgent demands from three patients in the night. One female patient was very upset because of the dissatisfaction about hospital management and also had a language barrier, so it was good to allocate the enrolled nurse for her intervention. However, Ms Colleen Price still needed to address other three patients and two of them were operation-related …show more content…
nausea and urinary retention. They needed clinical observation, while Mr. Lee required more careful observation than the patients because he was in the immediate postoperative period. It is said that patients in post- surgery normally, require hourly for 4 hours, then 4 hourly for 24 hours.
If the patients experience any other symptoms, the frequency of observation should be increased (SSWAHS 2010, p. 5). In addition, Mr. Lee’s temperature and heart rate were out of a normal range, called yellow zone in BTF. If patients are in that zone, nurses should perform frequent observation and review their health conditions. Then, if any deterioration is confirmed, the nurses must consult with doctors (Ministry of Health 2013, p. 5). It seemed that the providing sufficient nursing care for all patients was nearly impossible in that situation, but the registered nurse still needed to manage this situation and create an environment, which she and the enrolled nurse could provide safe nursing care for their patients. This is because as a professional, any harm and potential harm to patients must be prevented, so she had to address this situation to ensure the provision of optimal nursing care in some way (NMBA 2010, p. 3). It is thought that the registered nurse should recognise the difficulty in the situation in order to provide nursing care effectively and take an action to make a safe environment which allows the nursing
staff to maximise the demonstration their nursing capacity.
Collaboration can be an effective and a rational strategy, and so as to minimise risks of patients, nurses actively participate in finding a solution (NMBA 2008a, p. 3). Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia states a professional conduct that offering safe and competent nursing care is a responsibility of professional nurses (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). However, if the capacity of nurses to provide such nursing care is insufficient, they must seek assistance from other members of the health care team to ensure the sufficient quality of nursing care (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). Therefore, when receiving phone calls for help from the nursing staff in the PACU, the registered nurse had to make a justifiable nursing judgement as a professional, that is, performing the collaboration with the nursing staff (NMBA 2010, p. 3). Moreover, refusing assistance from the ward was ethically and legally inappropriate action and as a result, this led to a failure to manage the heavy workload. According to NSW Health Code of Conduct, all nursing staff must promote a positive work environment and they should collaborate with others in a harmonious and productive way to ensure their performance (Ministry of Health 2015, p. 5). The registered nurse should collaborate with them to deal with the excessive workload. The nurse also needed to respect the nursing staff in the ward to control the extra workload. Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia states that respecting for the knowledge, experience and expertise of colleagues is essential to provide safe nursing care (NMBA 2008a, p. 3). Therefore, from a legal and an ethical perspective, the nurse should manage the excessive workload by collaborating with the supportive nursing staff in the PACU.
The first issue is that an unmanageable workload contributed to the clinical incident to Mr. Lee. It is important to note here that although this workload could connect to the occurrence of the incident, Registered nurses have a responsibility to grasp the situation accurately and make the best choice in order to ensure patient safety (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). It was a fact that there were urgent demands from three patients in the night. One female patient was very upset because of the dissatisfaction about hospital management and also had a language barrier, so it was good to allocate the enrolled nurse for her intervention. However, Ms Colleen Price still needed to address other three patients and two of them were operation-related …show more content…
nausea and urinary retention. They needed clinical observation, while Mr. Lee required more careful observation than the patients because he was in the immediate postoperative period. It is said that patients in post- surgery normally, require hourly for 4 hours, then 4 hourly for 24 hours.
If the patients experience any other symptoms, the frequency of observation should be increased (SSWAHS 2010, p. 5). In addition, Mr. Lee’s temperature and heart rate were out of a normal range, called yellow zone in BTF. If patients are in that zone, nurses should perform frequent observation and review their health conditions. Then, if any deterioration is confirmed, the nurses must consult with doctors (Ministry of Health 2013, p. 5). It seemed that the providing sufficient nursing care for all patients was nearly impossible in that situation, but the registered nurse still needed to manage this situation and create an environment, which she and the enrolled nurse could provide safe nursing care for their patients. This is because as a professional, any harm and potential harm to patients must be prevented, so she had to address this situation to ensure the provision of optimal nursing care in some way (NMBA 2010, p. 3). It is thought that the registered nurse should recognise the difficulty in the situation in order to provide nursing care effectively and take an action to make a safe environment which allows the nursing
staff to maximise the demonstration their nursing capacity.
Collaboration can be an effective and a rational strategy, and so as to minimise risks of patients, nurses actively participate in finding a solution (NMBA 2008a, p. 3). Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia states a professional conduct that offering safe and competent nursing care is a responsibility of professional nurses (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). However, if the capacity of nurses to provide such nursing care is insufficient, they must seek assistance from other members of the health care team to ensure the sufficient quality of nursing care (NMBA 2008b, p. 2). Therefore, when receiving phone calls for help from the nursing staff in the PACU, the registered nurse had to make a justifiable nursing judgement as a professional, that is, performing the collaboration with the nursing staff (NMBA 2010, p. 3). Moreover, refusing assistance from the ward was ethically and legally inappropriate action and as a result, this led to a failure to manage the heavy workload. According to NSW Health Code of Conduct, all nursing staff must promote a positive work environment and they should collaborate with others in a harmonious and productive way to ensure their performance (Ministry of Health 2015, p. 5). The registered nurse should collaborate with them to deal with the excessive workload. The nurse also needed to respect the nursing staff in the ward to control the extra workload. Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia states that respecting for the knowledge, experience and expertise of colleagues is essential to provide safe nursing care (NMBA 2008a, p. 3). Therefore, from a legal and an ethical perspective, the nurse should manage the excessive workload by collaborating with the supportive nursing staff in the PACU.