Acute care facilities try to maintain low costs and employ quality nurses. Within this statement is a double standard. How can we have quality nurses and cut costs at the same time? This is where the skill mix comes into play. In the skill mix, there are Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and unlicensed staff. If the lesser skilled staff free RNs they can be better able to

" (Allen 2008) This means that nursing educators are also a key stakeholder. Other stakeholders include healthcare facility administrators, corporate trustees and public office holders, who will often have entangled or competing interests relating to the profitability of operations and the political expediency of policy orientation. This will also be true of the various professional advocacy groups, nursing associations and lobby groups that will vie for influence in the discussion on

Leadership for Advanced Practice Nursing 1 Staffing is not the main issue in elevating or containing costs: the main issue is retention. High turnover rates in nursing can drive costs up, but proper staffing with an appropriate ratio of nurses to patients can actually reduce costs over the long-term so long as turnover is not an issue. The reason is that appropriate staffing leads to improvements in quality care delivery (Martin, 2015).

Cross-Sectional Study to Determine Factors in the Educational Advancement of the Licensed Practical Nurse to the Registered Nurse in the State of North Carolina According to the Harvard Nursing Research Institute, United States nursing school enrollments dropped by 20.9% from 1995 to 1998 (Healthcare Review, 2000). Behind headlines such as this one are the overwhelming issues which threaten the nursing workforce: 1) staffing cuts, 2) mandatory overtime, and 3) the

Political Activism in Nursing There exists a dire need and urgency for a change in political and legislative advocacy in health care system. It has been observed that most of the female health care workers including nurses are facing problems with the existing system. This calls for development of political skills to bring forward changes in the system. Policy makers should understand the importance of nurses and pursue the cause of

Policy Process Part I Policies are constantly being reviewed and considered to assist in enhancing the federal, state, and local health care systems. Each of the reviewed and considered policies has the potential to affect every individual on a daily basis, so careful consideration must be exercised when policies are proposed. The careful consideration requires an understanding of the process through which an idea or topic ultimately becomes a policy