Nurses across the globe are saving multiple lives daily. They work hard to take care of various patients with an array of different health problems. They are accountable for not only caring for the patient’s health but also being empathetic and friendly with all visitors. Exactly how many patients is a nurse responsible for keeping safe, comfortable, and alive? It is difficult to say because the nurse to patient ratio policies varies immensely across state borders.
Studies have found that each additional patient assigned to a nurse, the patient has seven percent increase in the likelihood of dying within thirty days of admission, and a seven percent increase of failure to rescue (Nurses to patient ratios, n.d.). Research has found after the implementation of minimum nurse-patient ratio found less nurse burnout, higher job satisfaction, and better ability to care for patients (Impact of Mandatory Nursing Staffing levels on Patient Outcomes, n.d.). State laws and the scope of nursing practice should be considered with staffing (Mensik, 2014).
Patient satisfaction and patient outcomes vary within components of the hospital setting. Amongst the many health care providers, nurses have obligations to ensure safety, stability, and care equally to everyone. According to American Nurses Association (2016), there is a Registered Nurse Staffing Act which provides guidelines and reasoning behind significance of adequate nursing staff in each facility. In order to be effective and equal between each patient, appropriate staffing must be accessible. It is imperative for staff to be equipped with safe working conditions, minimal overtime, and competent skill and education. To achieve this, an appropriate nurse/patient ratio is vital. However, controversy
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
The problem, as defined for my argument research paper, is that to cut costs, hospitals have been steadily increasing the number of patients nurses must care for. In many areas it's not uncommon for one nurse to have to assess, give medications to, and manage the care of as many as 12 patients. This puts tremendous strain on nurses. Many of the studies I have seen in my research indicate that a high ration of patients to nurses increases the rate of death or other poor outcomes for patients. It also leads to increased nurse burnout and higher turnover, though at this point I believe my paper will focus on patient outcomes.
Several other causes have been attributed to the nursing shortage. An increase in the number of nurses is needed. Sadly, there is little increase in compensation for nurses. In addition to no growth in pay, the level of stress, responsibility, and demand nurses is increasing. Unfortunately, patients are the ones who suffer. When a hospital does not have the proper nursing staff to care for patients, it results in poor patient safety and patient outcomes (Buerhaus, Donelan, Ulrich, Norman, DesRoches, & Dittus, 2007). Nursing salaries compared to other professions has remained stagnant. For example, a registered
In the case of nurse staffing, the more nurses there are the better outcome of patient safety. When there enough staff to handle the number of patients, there is a better quality of care that can be provided. The nurses would be able to focus on the patients, monitor the conditions closely, performs assessments as they should, and administer medications on time. There will be a reduction in errors, patient complications, mortality, nurse fatigue and nurse burnout (Curtan, 2016). While improving patient satisfaction and nurse job satisfaction. This allows the principle of non-maleficence, do no harm, to be carried out correctly. A study mentioned in Scientific America showed that after California passed a law in 2014 to regulate hospital staffing and set a minimum of nurse to patient ratios, there was an improvement in patient care. Including lower rates of post-surgery infection, falls and other micro emergencies in hospitals (Jacobson,
Many nurses face the issue of understaffing and having too much of a workload during one shift. When a unit is understaffed not only do the nurses get burnt out, but the patients also don’t receive the care they deserve. The nurse-patient ratio is an aspect that gets overlooked in many facilities that could lead to possible devastating errors. Nurse- patient ratio issues have been a widely studied topic and recently new changes have been made to improve the problem.
Adequate hospital staffing is vital in order for patients to receive high quality care (Cho et al., 2009). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS, 2004), studies indicate a clear connection between lower levels of nurse staffing and higher rates of adverse events, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. Although there are numerous types of units in hospitals, intensive care units (ICUs) require higher levels of nurse staffing to deliver safe and quality care to critically ill patients (Cho et al., 2009). In the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at DCH Regional Hospital, a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:2 has been the norm for many years. Recently, staffing inadequacies have contributed to nurses being assigned to care for up to three critically ill patients at one time. As a result, the MICU has lost approximately one-fourth of its nursing staff either to a different unit within the hospital or to an entirely new hospital. The purpose of this paper is to describe the MICU and the manager’s role, discuss the implementation of a plan to reverse the ill effects of inadequate staffing, and evaluate the results of the plan.
There are numerous elements that contribute to stress in the healthcare setting. Nurses’ days are full of physical, mental and emotional demands. There are societal demands and workplace demands created by the shortage. These stressors can become increasingly overwhelming and if there is no stress relief, job performance can and will be hindered. When fatigue and stress combine there is potential for “performance decrements”. This can include diminished capacity to manage a specific level of workload resulting in errors in the delivery of nursing care. This can produce damaging effects on the safety and advantageous outcomes for both the nurses and patients. (Reese, 2011). Therefore, finding a balance between lowering stress levels of staff and increasing the quality of patient care is of the utmost importance.