The risk for patient health has been increasing while the nurse staffing levels are decreasing, throughout the world patient care is at risk due to the shortage of staffing in the nursing industry. Many, including the nurses who are being greatly impacted by this situation believe that changes need to be made to increase nurse staffing levels to better the lives of every individual involved in such a massive problem that can affect many innocent lives. Although, some might argue against finding a solution to the problem and bettering the staffing levels by stating that the nursing field doesn’t have a low employment rate and is projected to grow in the near future, however, the situation remains to be impacting nurses and patients in negative Nurse staffing ratios are an important aspect of this problem because it determines the outcome of every patient's health from an overnight stay in a hospital. In a study performed by Alexandra Robbins she analyzes in her article “Nurse Staffing and Patient Safety” that low levels of nurse staffing put patient’s life at risk. In addition to this study, Robbins discusses about the extra work nurses are receiving and how it can become dangerous considering it is a “toxic formula” for patients’ health, meaning bad outcomes are bound to occur. In the situation where more patients are assigned to a nurse there is a higher chance of the patients experiencing something wrong with medical procedures during their stay in hospital. In the article “Inadequate Staffing Harms Quality and the Bottom Line” written by Jim Gogek, he mentions a study performed by Linda Aiken, and in her study, she states that, “For every additional patient a nurse cared for patients are at a 7% greater risk of dying within 30 days of admission.” The facts provided by Linda Aiken’s study in Gogek’s article clearly shows the importance of nurse staffing ratios because the last thing hospitals want is for their patients to pass away under their The fact that nurses are in constant worry because their working field is understaffed and their patients are in danger, including their nursing license is mournful and extremely unfair to them (Farrago, Understaffed Hospitals). Also, in the article “Understaffed Hospital Nurses” by Dough Farrago he mentions that since there aren’t enough nurses present at hospitals they are all assigned extra patients, which can cause them to get in trouble because according to his research, he points out how, “nurses were regularly assigned 7 to 9 patients at a time, when the safe max is generally considered four.” All of this extra work doesn’t only affect patients but also the nurses, they have to deal with more than what they can handle and on top of all of that the long hours they are required to work is just unfair. Nurses are being treated poorly due to the amount of work they are being forced to do this “leads to frustration and job burnouts.” (Minority, Nursing Shortage). This unhealthy work environment needs to be regulated to give nurses the proper work space so that they can do their job to its full potential which is something all nurses want not only for themselves but to
Nurses and others in the medical field are overworked and understaffed because the government has made cutbacks to the health care system. We live in a country where our health care is a privilege to have, but getting ill becomes a problem if there are not adequate facilities and professionals to care for the sick.
On April 17th 2013, Senator Barbara Boxer (California) introduced a federal bill that is aimed to reduce nursing shortages by establishing a minimum nurse-to-patient ration in hospitals. She is also ordering whistleblowing protection for nurses who report quality-of-care violations. The law requires that every hospital implement a written hospital-wide staffing plan that will guide the assignments to...
Needleman, J., Buerhaus, P., PKankratz, V. S., Leibson, C. L., Stevens, S. R., & Harris, M. (2011). Nurse Staffing and Inpateint Hospital Mortality. The New England Journal of Medicine , 364, 1037-1045.
In most aspects of life the saying “less is always more” may ring true; however when it comes to providing quality care to patients, less only creates problems which can lead to a decrease in patient’s quality of life as well as nurse’s satisfaction with their jobs. The massive shortage of nurses throughout the United States has gotten attention from some of the most prestigious schools, news media and political leaders. Nurses are being burnt out from their jobs, they are being overworked and overlooked. New nurses are not being properly trained, and old nurses are on their way to retirement. All the while the rate of patient admissions is on the rise. Nurses are reporting lower satisfaction in their job positions and hospital retention rates are at an all-time low, conversely this is affecting all patients’ quality of care. As stated in the article Addressing The Nurse Shortage To Improve The Quality Of Patient Care “According to an Institute of Medicine report, Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals providing direct patient care in hospitals, and the quality of care for hospital patients is strongly linked to the performance of nursing staff”.
The nursing shortage most likely does not mean a great deal to people until they are in the care of a nurse. The United States is in a severe nursing shortage with no relief in sight due to many factors compounding the problem and resulting in compromised patient care and nurse burnout. Nursing shortages have been experienced in the past by the United States and have been overcome with team effort. However, the current shortage is proving to be the most complex and great strides are being made to defeat the crisis before it becomes too difficult to change. Researchers anticipate that by 2010, the United States will need almost one million more registered nurses than will be available (Cherry & Jacob, 2005, p. 30).
I think shortages of nurses can also be a factor in why nurses are overworked and stressed. In most hospitals you can’t even tell if there is a nurse shortage, the nurses run around from patient to patient I’m trying to still provide the same quality care. My aunt is a registered nurse for Northeast medical center and I asked her out of the previously 11 listed reasons nurses are stressed which do you experience the most. She replied, “I have to say that I experience number one which is work overload the most. When I started working as a nurse 37 years ago there were three separate shifts throughout a day and there’s could work instead of the two 7am-7pm. The nursed patient ratio was a lot lower we got to spend time with the patients we had during the day and provide individual attention. You didn’t feel overwhelmed because the hospital had enough nurses. Now they nurses doing e same amount of work as two or three nurses combined, and are still expected to do
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
The prolonged shortage of skilled nursing personnel has been a serious concern to the healthcare industry, and this shortage has impacted the quality of care delivery. In addition, nursing turnover has also exacerbated the problem of nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been blamed on many nurses retiring and less younger nurses joining the occupation. There is also an increase in life expectancy (baby boomers) leading an increase in both physical and mental ailment with subsequent demand in nursing care. Nurses are also leaving nursing profession because of inadequate staffing, tense work environment, negative press about the profession, and inflexible work schedules. Even though nursing is a promising career and offers job security, the
I am glad that you mentioned safe staffing in your post this week as one way that nurses can help facilitate positive change throughout the community. Not only does safe staffing help to save patient lives it also helps to prevent burnout at the nursing level. According to Peate (2015), nurses face major challenges in order to deliver the best possible care with fewer resources that is not only financial but human as well. This creates an environment of overworked nurses who are more than likely letting their health take a backseat. “Individual nurses are going the extra mile to get the job done, yet the damage to their health is real and is happening nationwide” (Peate, 2015, p. 133). There is one particular vivid memory of an example of short staffing that I personally experienced on my floor and although one of my
Thousands of nurses throughout the nation are exhausted and overwhelmed due to their heavy workload. The administrators do not staff the units properly; therefore, they give each nurse more patients to care for to compensate for the lack of staff. There are several reasons to why
The purpose of this paper is to address the issue of nursing staffing ratios in the healthcare industry. This has always been a primary issue, and it continues to grow as the population rate increases throughout the years. According to Shakelle (2013), in an early study of 232,432 surgical discharges from several Pennsylvania hospitals, 4,535 patients (2%) died within 30 days of hospitalization. Shakelle (2014) also noted that during the study, there was a difference between 4:1 and 8:1 patient to nurse ratios which translates to approximately 1000 deaths for a group of that size. This issue can be significantly affected in a positive manner by increasing the nurse to patient ratio, which would result in more nurses to spread the work load of the nurses more evenly to provide better coverage and in turn result in better care of patients and a decrease in the mortality rates.
These articles have many similarities when discussing the issue of staffing shortages. For patients, their loved ones and the general population, they don’t understand the ramifications and strain that staffing shortages have on nurses. People expect and deserve complete, competent and safe care when they are patients. These articles bring to light all the struggles that nurses have to deal with. Nurses are fearful that they will make mistakes, will harm patients, and will harm themselves. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001; Martin, 2015) Overtime can be overwhelming and exhausting, which can lead to errors being made. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001) These articles perceive that it may be beneficial for nurses, patients, and healthcare facilities to decrease the nurse-to-patient ratio, however, this option is not always
Factors such as, heavy workloads, stress, job dissatisfaction, frequent medical errors, and intention of leaving the job are all common for nurses to experience, especially during the nursing shortage crisis. Not only do the nurses suffer during a shortage, but the patients ' health outcomes suffer even more. For instance, there are higher rates of infectious diseases and adverse patient outcomes, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, pneumonia, prolonged hospital stays, failure to rescue, and mortality. As a result, this leads to higher re-admission rates for patients. Furthermore, high patient-to-nurse ratios cause heavy workloads due to an inadequate supply of nurses, an increased demand for nurses, a reduction in staffing and an increase in overtime, and a shortened length of stay for patients. Without the heavy workloads that nurses have to endure on a daily basis, there would more time for nurses to communicate more effectively with physicians, insurance companies, and patients and their families. Those heavy workloads are the result of hospitals reducing the nursing staff and implementing mandatory overtime policies just to meet unexpectedly high demands. Unfortunately, the nursing shortage has affected nurses ' mental and physical health. For example, the most common health concerns for nurses include cardiovascular health, occupational injuries and illnesses, and emotional and physical exhaustion. Therefore, safe-staffing ratios/levels have to become the main
As reported by Bowron (2010), hospitals will benefit from reducing patient-nurse ratio by saving money. Bowron point out that an adequate staffing ratio could lower hospitals’ costs significantly in the following ways:
They also claim that the facility would not be able to afford such costs: "The American Hospital Association opposes mandated ratios for a variety of reasons.... would have to spend millions of dollars more per year" (Rajecki 2009). They may argue that the extra expenses would have to be deducted from other sources. The administrators may also say that they would have to increase the prices of procedures/ provided to clients. Health care facilities/ the corporation make a reasonable point; however, reducing the ratio of nurse to patient would decrease the costs spent on adverse patient outcomes. Per Keller et al. (2013), when the nursing staff is compromised, patients experience adverse outcomes such as pressure ulcers and nosocomial infections (an infection that is acquired during stay in a health care facility). Adverse patient outcomes are not reimbursed to the facility treating these