1. A) Saint-Mary’s Hospital assessed the need for training when five nurse managers noticed a problem with high turnover and poor patient satisfaction with nursing care in the oncology unit. From an organizational stand point, organizational measures of performance such as a unit with high turnover and patient complaints of inadequate care from the nurses was indicative of an issue. In respect to the people who needed to be trained, the hospital realized training was pertinent for the nurses in the oncology unit because they suffered from compassion fatigue because cancer patients’ health could suddenly deteriorate and caring for them could be emotionally draining. As a result, nurses in this unit started to detach themselves from patients …show more content…
The program initially focused on 20 oncology nurses and after 6 weeks, nurses reported feeling more positive about their work and better equipped to manage the stress and emotions that are a key component of their jobs. Therefore, the program dealt with who needed to be trained and the tasks that needed improvements. However, it should be noted that it is unclear whether nurse satisfaction resulted in lower turnover and improved patient care. Subsequently, it is hard to conclude if the program resolved the issues previously mentioned simply because it set out to do …show more content…
It is unclear if the program was effective because while the nurses felt that they could handle compassion fatigue better, which the hospital identified as the root cause of other issues such as turnover and poor patient care, we are unsure if nurse satisfaction actually resulted in a reduction in compassion fatigue, nurse turnover, and poor patient care. Just because the nurses are satisfied does not mean that they learned more. Also, workers don’t always know what they actually need to learn. Furthermore, it is uncertain if the program was effective because they only used one qualitative measure (reactions) and zero quantitative measures to determine how the program dealt with problem such as high turnover and subpar patient care by nurses in the oncology
The issues of nursing burnout and compassion fatigue are an important one in part, because of the ongoing nursing shortage across the united states. Per the American colleges of nursing “the U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of Registered Nurses (RN’s) that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2017). The ACA fact sheet cites several reasons for this including; the increasing needs of an aging population, healthcare reform, decreased enrollment in nursing programs, shortages of nursing faculty, large portions of working nurses
The level of job satisfaction for a nurse is a vital factor in creating positive outcomes for their patients. California RNs report having much more time to spend with patients. The hospitals are far more likely to have enough RNs on staff to provide quality patient care. In California, where hospitals have better compliance with the staffing limits, RNs report fewer complaints from patients and families and the nurses have more confidence that patients can manage their care upon discharge. California RNs are substantially more likely to stay in their jobs because of the staffing limits, and less likely to report burnout than nurses in any other state. Two years after implementation of the California staffing law which mandates minimum staffing levels by hospital unit, nurse workloads in California were significantly lower than that of any other state. The legislation of the mandated nurse patient ratio has achieved its goals of reducing nurse workloads, improving recruitment and retention of nurses, and having a favorable outcomes on patient
Working in long-term care can be overwhelming. Imagine you are a new graduate nurse putting your new found knowledge and skills to practice for the first time. Your orientation lasted three days which is standard for nurse home orientation compared to hospital orientation that last approximately six to eight weeks for new grads. The shift has just begun and already you have a new admit, new found pressure ulcer to assess, a possible medication reaction, several new orders to take off and eight patients to document on for varying reasons. Feelings of frustration and confusion take over as you are the only nurse on the unit along with a Certified Medication Technician (CMT) and three Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) taking care of 47 patients. Ideal nurse-to-patient ratio continues to be a national issue in both the hospital and long-term care setting (LTC). In the LTC setting there is no official nurse-to-patient ratio; there is a suggested staff-to-patient ratio. This issue not only affects the new licensed nurses but the seasoned nurse as well. Recently, there has been controversial debates as to whether heavy workloads are detrimental to patients. The federal, state, and local government regulates many aspects of healthcare. However, it is the physicians, nurses and other healthcare professional that provide care directly to patients. Consequently, does insufficient staffing, heavy workloads, and unsupportive work environment directly contribute to poor patient satisfaction, nurse burnout, high turnover and job dissatisfaction?
“Code Blue”, that the last thing anyone wants to here at the beginning or end of a shift, or for that matter at any time during their shift. With the development of rapids response teams (RRTs), acute care nurses and ancillary departments have a resource available to their disposal when need in uncertain situations. Many times nurses struggle to maintain a patient deteriorating in front of them all the while make a multitude of calls to the physician for orders or concerns. Having a set of “expert” eyes assisting you in these times helps alleviate stress and encourages collaboration amongst staff. (Parker, 2014)
Vahey, Doris C., Linda H. Aiken, Douglas M. Sloane, Sean P. Clarke, and Delfino Vargas. "Nurse Burnout and Patient Satisfaction." Medical Care 42.Suppl (2004): II-57-II-66. Print.
The nursing profession is notorious for burnout. The place of work, scheduling, compassion fatigue and lack of support all affect the nurses’ risk of becoming burnt out. Nurses and nurse managers should be well educated on the signs of burnout in order to correct it as soon as it becomes an issue. There are many ways for nurse managers to help prevent burnout amongst their staff and there are significant benefits in reducing the burnout rate. Peery (2010, pg. 53) summarized nursing as:
Recent literature reports that there is a nursing shortage and it is continually increasing. Data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2011) projects that the shortage, would increase to 260,000 by the year 2025. AACN (2011) also reported that 13% of newly registered nurses changed jobs and 37% were ready to change within a year. A study conducted reports that there is a correlation between higher nursing workloads and nurse burnout, retention rates, job dissatisfaction and adverse patient outcomes (Vahey & Aiken, 2004). Among the nurses surveyed in the study, over 40% stated that they were suffering from burnout while 1 in 5 nurses intended
One of the most serious issues in nursing, that can affect a nurses career is nursing burn- out. According to the article “Where have all the nurses gone”, current nurses that are practicing, report high rates of job dissatisfaction (which is part of burn out) and 1 of 5 nurses may quit nursing in the next 5 years (Dworkin, 2002). Burnout is associated with nurses not coming in to work, not feeling satisfied when doing their job, high turnover rates and a lack of commitment to the work (Katisfaraki, 2013). If a nurse becomes burned- out, they may not take care of their patients as well and could make mistakes with medication administration. A study performed in the United States by Dr. Jeannie Cimiottti, shows that hospitals with high burn-out rates among nurses have higher levels UTI’s, and surgical infections (World, 2012). Nursing burnout not only affects the nurse, but it also affects the patient, the nurses’ colleagues, and the nurses’ family; nursing burn out often leads to emotional exhaustion and depression, that can effect relations and communication between the nurse effected and the person they are communicating with. This paper will cover what burn-out is, who is susceptible to burn out, and treatment and prevent nursing burn out.
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”.
Nurse staffing is a complex issue. There are many factors which need to be considered when staffing a nursing unit. Evidence shows an association between Registered Nurses (RNs) having decreased workloads and better patient outcomes, including a decrease in patient mortality (Aiken et al., 2011; Needleman et al, 2011; How Lin, 2013; Patrician et al., 2011; Wiltse-Nicely, Sloane, Aiken, 2013). A small percentage of patients expire during their hospitalization as evidence suggests that a portion of these deaths can be attributed to RN staffing levels (Shekelle, 2013). As the reimbursement system for hospitals today emphasizes quality outcomes, this has an increase in the importance of the nurse’s role in patient care (Frith, Anderson, Tseng, & Fong, 2012). The quality of care is effected when there are higher RN-to-patient ratios. Mortality rates can be decreased by 50% or more when there is a lower RN-to-patient ratio. The morale of nursing staff and the hospital’s reputation are effected when there is a large nurse turnover and poor patient outcomes (Martin, 2015; Knudson, 2013). Having adequate nurse staffing levels saves lives (Martin, 2015). The purpose
The number of patients assigned per nurse has been directly linked to nurse job satisfaction and patient outcomes; with a ratio of four patients to one nurse being the ideal ratio (7). Research has shown that the addition of just one patient per nurse has been associated with a higher risk of death for patients and an increase in nurse job dissatisfaction and burnout (2). This is significant because nurses wish to provide the best quality of care for patients and with increased patient to nurse ratios, nurses are unable to maintain their ideal quality of care; which leads to job dissatisfaction and nurse burnout. Originally, after the passage of the California nurse staffing act, which set mandated nurse-patient rations, overall job satisfaction appeared to increase (1). However, several longitudinal studies have suggested that direct care nurses are still dissatisfied despite increased nurse to patient ratios (1). From the results of these longitudinal studies, it has been found that there is still some shortcomings with staffing systems based solely on nurse-patient ratios. Therefore, even though the ratios staffing system accounts for appropriate patient care, it does not take into consideration different patient complexities and needs for nursing care (10). Staffing by acuity is the third and final staffing system that is considered when looking at nurse burnout and job
However, upon securing a job, they find that things on the ground are not as they had expected them to be and this results in some of them deciding to leave the profession early. Research shows that turnovers within the nursing fraternity target person below the age of 30 (Erickson & Grove, 2011). The high turnover within the nursing fraternity results in a massive nurse shortage. This means that the nurses who decide to stay have to work for many hours resulting in exhaustion. A significant percent of nurses quitting their job sites exhaustion and discouragement as the reason that contributed to their decision. In one of the studies conducted on the issue of nurse turnover, 50% of the nurses leaving the profession argued that they felt saddened and discouraged by what they were unable to do for their patients (Erickson & Grove, 2011). When a nurse witness his/her patients suffering but cannot do anything because of the prevailing conditions he/she feels as if he/she is not realizing the reason that prompted him/her to join the nursing profession. The higher rate of nursing turnover is also affecting the quality of care nurses provide to
Registered Nurse turnover is a continuous problem in the nursing profession. Turnover in this context is simply defined as “someone leaving a job” (Kovner, Brewer, Fatehi, & Jun, 2014). Some aspects of nurse turnover can be viewed as positive, however, most circumstances of turnover are seen negatively and can be referred to as functional versus dysfunctional. The difference between the two is a “functional turnover, a poorly functioning employee leaves, as opposed to a dysfunctional turnover, when well-performing employees leave” (“One in Five nurses leave First job within a year,” 2014). The nursing profession’s recommendation for improvement focuses on dysfunctional turnover of Registered Nurses. Nurses choose to leave their jobs to explore
Nurses want to give complete and quality care, but are unable to, due to the constant needs of their workload and inadequate staffing. They have to prioritize their patients needs based on the most critical treatments first. Then whatever time is left, they fill in what treatments they can. Some reasons that nursing treatments are missed include: too few staff, time required for the nursing intervention, poor use of existing staff resources and ineffective delegation.” (Kalisch, 2006) Many nurses become emotionally stressed and unsatisfied with their jobs. (Halm et al., 2005; Kalisch,
Singh and Loncar utilized information from two hundred registered nurses who are union members to gain insight upon the changes nursing and hospital management should make to reduce turnover among the nursing staff and gain the maximum benefit from their employee investment. Employees who become disproportionally dissatisfied with their employment fail to strive for the best possible output and instead perform to the bare minimum of standards. This may cause failure to meet service standards, leading to customer dissatisfaction.