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Essay on staffing issues in nursing
Literature review on staff shortages in nursing
Effects of staffing on nursing
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Staffing and Safety The shortage that the nursing division faces can be because of the lack of people working in the field (Hassmiller & Cozine, 2006). In likeness of the nursing shortage, sufficient care of patients have been on the decline, and the staff that is present incurs abysmal work environments (Hassmiller & Cozine, 2006). Because of the substandard working conditions, nurse leave the work force thus creating shoddier work environments (Hassmiller & Cozine, 2006). Encouraging new nurses to join the task force in such array proves to be difficult as the effort to comply with the job’s demand is challenging with an insufficient number in staffing (Hassmiller & Cozine, 2006). The sequence will continue in this manner until the issues …show more content…
Implications of what quality can stand for include the company reputation, product liability, and global implications (Nguyen, 2015). In the case of understaffing, product or service liability is the culprit when discussing a quality implication. It is imperative for an operations manager to deliver healthy, safe, and quality service and products to their customer (Nguyen, 2015). Nurses are being pulled away from their duties to fulfill the demands of another position that is lacking in the support system of patient care (Kalisch, 2006). While fulfilling other jobs rather than their own, nurses are losing valuable time with their patients resulting in ineffective nursing practices, charting, and a lack of team work as there is barely time to finish their duties (Kalisch, 2006). To acceptably perform to the standards set by the firm, the total quality management that emphasizes the quality of the entire organization, from the supplier to the customer, needs to be committed to and met in every prospect of the job (Nguyen, …show more content…
Enlisting employment from nurses aboard is an option opted by South Florida to help with the lack of nursing staff in the facilities (Purnell et al., 2001). The west coast of Florida and northern Florida are being assisted by The Nursing Shortage Consortium of South Florida with materials and information on effective strategies to help rectify the issues (Purnell et al., 2001). The Nursing Shortage Consortium of South Florida used numerous strategies to enhance the goals and activities to correct the staffing shortage (Purnell et al., 2001). These strategies included closer partnerships with school to boost interest in the nursing field from a young age, enriching the image of the nursing atmosphere to attract the educated individual to join the line of work, developing a sustaining Consortium membership, and using online tools to communicate, employ, and educate about the imminent issues (Purnell et al.,
“In 2010, the US Department of Labor Statistics (DLS) projected a 22 percent increase in the demand for RNs or 581,500 new jobs by 2018, to total a projected 1,039,000 jobs needed to be filled by 2018” (Cottingham, DiBartolo, Battistoni, and Brown, 2011, p. 250). It is imperative that strategies be implemented to improve the recruitment of nurses to meet the needs. Without improvements in the recruiting of new grads or seasoned nurses, organizations will need to rely on expensive agencies and traveling nurses; therefore, causing a financial burden on organizations (Cottingham et al., 2011).
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.
Current literature continues to reiterate the indicators of a major shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States. The total RN population has been increasing since 1980, which means that we have more RNs in this country than ever before (Nursing Shortage). Even though the RN population is increasing, it is growing at a much slower rate then when compared to the rate of growth of the U.S. population (Nursing Shortage). We are seeing less skilled nurses “at a time of an increasingly aging population with complex care needs and an increasingly complex technological care environment” (Mion). According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that “more than a million new and replacement nurses will be needed over the next decade” (Diagnosis: Critical).
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”.
In the past two decades, there has been a push for appropriate staff to client ratios. However, measuring client needs and nursing efforts have been around since 1922 (Lewinski-Corwin, 1922, pp. 603-606). The earliest recorded effort was by the New York Academy of Medicine. Superintendents and nurses from ten training schools documented the time spent providing bedside care. From complied information, the researchers revealed each client required an average of five hours and four minutes of care in a 24-hour period. From these observations, they evaluated staffing issues in New York City. At that time, none of the hospitals were sufficiently staffed (Lewinski-Corwin, 1922, pp. 603-606).
In her paper emerging model of quality, June Larrabee discusses quality as a construct that includes beneficence, value, prudence and justice (Larrabee, 1996). She speaks of quality and value as integral issues that are intertwined with mutually beneficial outcomes. Her model investigates how the well-being of individuals are affected by perceptions of how services are delivered, along with the distribution of resources based on the decisions that are made (Larrabee, 1996). She speaks of the industrial model of quality and how the cornerstone ideas of that model (that the customer always knows what is best for themselves) does not fit the healthcare model (Larrabee, 1996). Larrabee introduces the concept that the patient va provider goal incongruence affects the provide (in this case the nurse) from being able to positively affect healthcare outcomes (Larrabee, 1996). The recent introduction of healthcare measures such as HCAHPS: Patients' Perspectives of Care Survey has encouraged the healthcare community to firmly espouse an industrial model of quality. HCAHPS is a survey where patients are asked questions related to their recent hospitalization that identifies satisfaction with case based solely on the individuals’ perception of the care given. This can lead to divergent goals among the healthcare team or which the patient is a member. Larrabee’s model of quality of care model
... & Abrahamson, K. (2009). A critical examination of the U.S. nursing shortage: contributing factors, public policy implications. Nursing Forum, 44(4), 235-244. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6198.2009.00149.x
Staffing issues amongst the nursing profession has been a major concern. Safety of both nurse and patient is important. There is a strong correlation between having an adequate nursing staff and patient safety outcomes. The rise in the acuity of patients and shorter hospital stays has been linked to errors, nurse burnout, and patients sometimes feeling neglected. Patient satisfaction has become the major focus point since the change of our health care system today. Being able to find an optimal nurse- to- patient ratio has been an ongoing struggle in mostly all health care facilities. This paper will answer the PICO question, how is quality of care and patient safety affected in regards to nursing staffing and nurse patient ratios?
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
Over the past years, there has been a nursing shortage which has led to the need of more registered nurses in the hospital setting. This is the result of higher acuity of patient care and a decrease in their length of hospital stay. In order for the patients to get safe and quality care, the staffing, education and experience of the nursing staff needs to be made a priority. Because of the lack of nurses, patient quality of care has suffered.
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
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
From over-crowding and long waiting lists to staff shortages which have knock on effects resulting in inadequate skills mix and unacceptable nurse-patient ratios. An aging population, high birth rates and an increase in chronic diseases also puts pressure on the healthcare system. The nursing role has had to evolve in response to changing societal needs and the challenges in the healthcare system today. (McCurry et al. 2009). This can bring additional challenges to nurses’ professional identity. ??
Nurse staffing ratio's in healthcare is an ongoing issue throughout the country. With healthcare being run like a business, the bottom line is sometimes thought to be more important than the safety of the patients. One will see through this paper by reviewing patient outcomes and mortality, nurse staffing ratios can affect the quality and safety of patient care.
With the help of the s\theory system, I think the nursing shortage problem can be resolve. The health care institution is considered as an open system that is the organization flattering as share and piece of the environment in which it is positioned. The NSDT suggest that input, material, and output are parts of the system that combine actively to influence the global assignments and problems placed on nurses with the evidence that health care is made small in production subsystem. The NDST offers administrators and directors with new insights which they can use command and evaluate organizational creativity that will improve nursing service in efficiency, worth, and