¶ … Leadership and Management
In the medical field, the recent topic of debate relates to Nurse Staffing Ratios where many argue that governments need to intervene in setting minimum staffing laws. Currently, the only state that has enacted a law is California and nurse unions in other states are fighting for the implementation of the same in their workplaces. However, most of the attempts made by other states to implement California's strategy have failed since hospitals fail to participate (Schultz, 2013). The argument of many hospitals is that the laws do not give them the opportunity or ability to make decisions regarding staffing and at the same time be a financial burden (Schultz, 2013, par. 3). As seen from many nursing unions, hospitals have abused the system to the point of employing few nurses and yet the patients are ever increasing. Inappropriate staffing ratios influence the safety of patients, the satisfaction of nurses, and contribute to the further deterioration of work environment due to job stress and burnout. Nursing staffing ratios is a debate, and the only way to improve the situation is to use effective approaches for leading and managing the hospital environment. Thereby, avoiding negative effects that are inappropriate for nurse-to-patient ratios.
According to Aiken et al., a positive relationship exists between nurse-staffing ratios and preventable patient death (2002). Arguments raised consider legislations to be having a high potential of leading political and economic devaluation of the nursing profession due to the fixed ratios. Therefore, failure to deal with nursing staffing ratios will be rampant. The mandatory proponents for staffing ratios argue that it will improve quality of care. Since the satisfaction of patients and nurses is enhanced, the nursing work environment will be improved. Improvement in the work environment attracts new nurses and licensed nurses who are not working currently. Staffing critics argue that by mandating specific staffing ratios in environments where the shortage is on the high, leads to the reduction of hospital services, increased unit closures, increased diversions in the emergency...
Nurse-to-Patient Ratios in Illinois The Facts For many years the ongoing nursing shortage has required nurses to work longer hours and care for more patients, causing many of them to make fatal and near-fatal mistakes on the job that could have otherwise been avoided. Illinois has attempted to remedy this situation by enacting The Nurse Staffing by Patient Acuity Law on August 24, 2007 ("The Nurse Staffing by Patient Acuity Law," 2012).
Dialysis organizations would be another opponent to the change due to the cost. Raising the costs of treatment might be necessary to hire new nurses. Dialysis clinics, because of their small size, often have fewer resources than large hospitals and the increased cost of wages of new hires would place a an additional stress on the unit's already limited budget, perhaps if estimates by the American Hospital Association are correct,
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
Nurse-Patient Ratio on Care Quality Nurse Patient Ratio The Impact of Nurse to Patient Ratio on Healthcare Quality The Impact of Nurse to Patient Ratio on Healthcare Quality It would be hard to understate the importance of a high nurse to patient ratio (NPR) for patient and staff safety, as well as quality of care. While there are a number of different nursing factors that can influence these outcomes, including nursing education, experience,
Staffing in Nursing Staffing and Other Nursing Issues The main topic of this paper is staffing related to the field of nursing, here it is very important to realize a correct balance between the demand of nurses and available nurses at any medical facility. Since the duty of any medical professional like a doctor requires much assistance from a subordinate such as nurse therefore it is vital for any organization to fulfill
Inpatient Ratio and Morale ER: INPATIENT RATIO AND MORALE Emergency Room: Nurse to Patient Ratio and Morale Nurse to patient ratios in health institutions is one of the most influential factors in health providence, in any country's health sector. Two states of the aforementioned aspect would comprise of either high or low ratios. The former demonstrates poor patient outcomes that would imply high mortality rates and dissatisfied clientele. On the contrary, the latter
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