When working as a staff nurse in a hospital setting, there is no Monday thru Friday 9-5 schedule. There is a need to have a nurse staffed around the clock and all shifts must be covered at all times. For most staff nurses, their full-time schedule involves either working an 8 hour shift 40 hours a week or a 12 hour shift 36 hours a week. But, how many nurses really work only 40 hours a week? Some nurses may volunteer to work overtime, but what happens when there are no volunteers. In such cases, mandatory overtime comes in to play and someone will be forced to work beyond their scheduled shift. “Mandatory overtime is the practice of hospitals and health care institutions to maintain adequate numbers of staff nurses through forced overtime, usually with a total of twelve to sixteen hours worked, with as little as one hour's notice”(. Mandatory overtime may result from nursing staff shortage, an unexpected increase in patient census, or unforeseen emergency, such as weather related emergency, or mass casualty. Mandatory overtime will solve …show more content…
As of 2010, 16 states had rules restricting mandatory overtime hours for nurses, those states include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and West Virginia. Since 2009, nurses and direct care givers in Pennsylvania cannot be forced to work beyond their scheduled shift unless in the cases of emergencies and any institution that did not abide by this would be fined. According to most state nurse practice acts nurses are held accountable for the safety of their patients. Thus, if a nurse accepts a patient assignment and something happens to that patient, the nurse is liable under her license. Once a nurse accepts an assignment, her license can be in jeopardy if she is unable to deliver safe patient
There are several approaches to take in solving the problem of nurse fatigue. Firstly, the nurse has an obligation to not going to work if too tired. Schedules should be designed to help with this where nurses are held accountable to pick days that does not contribute to fatigue. In addition, nurses can work as a team and cover each other effectively for breaks. Nurses should be able to take stress free breaks and not have to worry that their patients will not be taken care of. Lastly nurses should be educated on sleep hygiene and the effect it has on patient
In a hospital patients are cared for around the clock, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Hospital RN schedules are set up on rotation shifts meaning you might have to work night or days, holidays, and/or weekends (“Job…”). In a doctor’s office, school, or health center regular business hours are normally maintained (“Job…”). If an RN works for a home health care agency then their routine patient visits are mostly scheduled during business hours. However, if a nurse is on call they may be paged and required to make a visit on any day, at any time.
A considerable amount of literature has been published on the impact of working hours (8 vs. 12 hour shifts) on fatigue among the nurses. These studies revealed that twelve-hour shifts increase the risk of fatigue, reduce the level of alertness and performance, and therefore reduce the safety aspect compared to eight-hour shifts (Mitchell and Williamson, 1997; Dorrian et al., 2006; Dembe et al., 2009; Tasto et al., 1978). Mills et al. (1982) found that the risk of fatigues and performance errors are associated with the 12-hour shifts. Beside this, Jostone et al. (2002) revealed that nurses who are working for long hours are providing hasty performance with increased possibility of errors.
...hological preparation. After a nurse is done working their regular shift being forced to work overtime can out them a greater right of medical mistake in part due to fatigue and tiredness consequently putting the patient at high risk of complications.
...ork shifts depending on their ability. In addition, it is important for nurses to understand that it is their ethical responsibility to only practice when they are fit to do so. Moreover, nurses should take responsibility for self care and take adequate time to rest and recover after shifts. In general, nurses should be aware of their mental and physical capabilities and only work when they are well enough to do so.
How come my nurse doesn't spend more time with me? Why is she/he always rushing to get out of my room? Staffing in nursing is probably one of the biggest issues in health care nowadays. For one, there are just too many patients and not enough nurses, which makes it unsafe for the clients and the licensed professional.
Lastly, the NPA protects the public by stating that nurses can be punished or lose the ability to practice for any violations of the NPA or misconduct. This rule pushes nurses to do their very best and provide exquisite care for patients and the public in fear that they could potentially lose their license if they did not treat a patient correctly or with the same respect as a nurse would treat others.
“Nursing Accidents Unleash Silent Killers”, according to the article titled “A Wake-up Call” (Marilyn S. Fetter 2011). Mistakes or errors implemented by nurses nationwide not only kill but injure thousands. This perception of practicing nurses continuously causing errors and mistakes can be changed and something can be done about it. Although, rare cases of nursing malpractice are still on the rise. Malpractice is a serious case in which can be avoided completely by a skilled nurse who in which follows standards and safety precautions to accurately and correctly care for each and every patient. The nurse’s role in healthcare continues to expand throughout the years. For example, with the new Healthcare Reform Act taking affect the roles of the health care nurse expands even more increasing the demands placed on them for the care and treatment of every patient. This has also lead to an expansion of legal liability for malpractice. The nurse upholds a close and professional relationship with the patient and has the best advantage to impact the patient. The nurse holds the utmost responsibility in continuing to be well informed about malpractice, as well as how to avoid a malpractice case or negligence by presenting outstanding patient care; in addition to malpractice insurance to protect yourself from an undesirable outcome.
Nurse staffing ratio is an ongoing issue in healthcare. For some units, it is a temporary problem until more team members are hired. Unfortunately, for others it is an everyday challenge that must be addressed. Nurse staffing ratio is usually based on number of patients a nurse should be responsible for during a shift. Unfortunately, not having enough staff is a safety concern for both the patients and the nurses. Therefore, addressing this topic should be a priority for nurse managers and leaders. According to Vantage Point (2009) a patient has a greater chance of dying while in the hospital when nurses have to care for more patients than recommended. A heavier workload will not result in
Many nurses have to work shifts that are way too long, and this can have severe effects on their ability to stay sharp while working. According to Long Hours, Shift Work Still Plagues Nurses by Nancy Brent, a Registered Nurse and writer, seventy- five percent of nurses work twelve or more hour shifts. Not
Working in a fast-paced environment and being on their feet can really take a toll on a person. In addition they have to be prepared for anything to happen during their shift. A study of overworked and stressed nurses found that nurses are overworked suffered from physical sickness like type two diabetes (Stress and overworked 2006). For most nurses, their work week consists of more than sixty hours. Working that many hours can double their chances of sicknesses. When they compare the working week hours of nurses who worked the normal 21 to 40 hours with those that work more than 40 or 60 hours a week, they found that in comparison the ones who worked 40 hours or more a week increased the risk by almost 50 percent for type 2 diabetes (Stress and overwork 2006). If nurses were to work their normal work hours without mandatory overtime, then their health would improve.
Delegation is assigning a task and its responsibility to another who is able to perform it, while with holding the accountability (Silvestri, 2013). To regulate delegation, each state Board of Nursing enforces their Nurse Practice Act. The Nurse Practice Act varies by state, but is a detailed guideline which recognizes the 5 Rights of Delegation to follow when delegating specific tasks. It also defines the nurses’ scope of practice, education/ license requirements, and sets the consequences for noncompliance with the Act, such as license suspension and reinstatement (Rosdahl, 2012). Improper delegation can be harmful, and without these guidelines malpractice/negligence can result. Negligence is the result of a person not acting reasonably. When healthcare professionals’ actions results in negligence it is considered malpractice or professional negligence (Rosdahl, 2012). Nurses are held liable for their actions for instance: not providing safe patient care by delegating untaught procedures to other nurses or failure to question physicians’ orders if they seem wrong and not reporting medication errors are just a few that may lead to
Similar problems to the case presented on South Texas College have tasked policy analyst to question the legitimacy of government intervention on the issue of overtime compensation. Similarly, the perceived market failure surrounding the topic policy analyst have been entrusted to use their technical skills to “predict and access” the consequences of alternative policies related to this issue. The following sections within this document discuss how policy analyst have shaped the formulation of this policy and its effect on public stakeholders.
When shifts for doctors were 24 hours, there were 36% more serious medical mistakes. Residents used to work for 36 hours straight, but, while in the middle of a 36 hour shift, residents misdiagnosed a patient, Libby Zion, causing her to lose the gift of life. Later on, the law, Libby Zion Law was put in effect. This law regulates the hours residents are able to work. The residents can work 24 hour shifts, but they have an 80 hour limit each week.
Nurses generally work out of hospitals or doctors offices. Some nurses work out of schools or the patient´s homes. The work hours for nurses in hospitals can vary from 2 a.m to 2 p.m but nurses the