ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES NURS 6052
ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES NURS 6052
ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES NURS 6052
Specific needs of the unit or the facility can affect and impact the development of a new policy or an update to address those needs. Staffing shortages is a major healthcare issue that most facilities face that affects the performance of the unit. Staffing shortages lead to poor performance because it leads to staff burnouts, medical errors, medication errors, poor clinical decisions, and patient safety. It affects the staff member’s “ability to give quality patient care” and may allow the staff member to disconnect to their job due to emotional distress (Laureate Education, 2009, 3:24). The healthcare issue that has been most prominent on my unit, which is Chemical Dependency and dual diagnosis unit, is prescription drug overdose. When the unit runs with short staffing, many elemental situations get overlooked. For example, a new patient is admitted, and their belongings is not accurately searched. The counselor aide (CA) rushes and forgets to check the patient’s jacket pocket that has the patient’s prescription bottle of Seroquel 300 mg. After the patient is administered medication from the nurse, the patient goes to bed and takes the prescribed Seroquel 300 mg that she brought with her. The patient may take more doses depending on her intentions. Minor mistakes can cause a major incident such as a patient overdosing on the unit. This puts another stressor on the nurse who is already burned out.
According to the Joint Commission’s detox unit policy, the nurse-patient ratio should be 1:7. This ratio is only effective when we are fully staffed. Although our unit follows this policy, we do have incidences where we are forced to work short and one nurse must handle up to 21 detox patients. This has caused the detox nurse to be overwhelmed caring for patients constantly vomiting, complaining, cursing, and yelling. Burnout among staff can cause negative emotions to affect their job performance and produce a negative work environment (Kelly & Porr, 2018). Prior to Thanksgiving, my unit was affected due to Covid-19. A new admission, who was asymptomatic for Covid-19, was admitted and the virus spread throughout the unit like wildfire. Up to 14 staff members were affected and half of the patients had to be moved to the Covid-unit. This presented a larger issue since staffing was already low. Nursing managers should consider the staffing needs according to the workload of the unit to avoid burnout among their staff members. “Nurses in management and administration have a particular responsibility to provide a safe environment that supports and facilitates appropriate assignment and delegation” (American Nurses Association, 2015, p. 33). Better communication, productive teamwork, and work incentives are some examples of effective strategies that can make an impact on unit functions and performance.
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References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Silver Springs, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/coe-view-only
Kelly, P., & Porr, C. (2018). Ethical nursing care versus cost containment: Considerations to enhance RN practice. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1), Manuscript 6. DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No01Man06. Retrieved from http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-23-2018/No1-Jan-2018/Ethical-Nursing-Cost-Containment.html
Laureate Education (Producer). (2009b). Working with individuals [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: RE: Discussion – Week 3
ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES NURS 6052
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Hello ,
This is a very interesting post you have here. I agree with you that staffing shortage is a major healthcare issue that needs to be looked into and addressed diligently especially considering that it can cause staff burnout which can have a negative impact on the performance of nurses and ultimately patient care. Studies have shown that medical malpractices such as medication errors which lead to increased incidence of readmission is linked to nurse burnout. Nurse burnout is a phenomenon characterized by a reduction in nurses’ energy that manifests in emotional exhaustion, lack of motivation, and feelings of frustration and may lead to reductions in work efficacy (Mudallal, R. H., Othman, W. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. 2017). Nurses experiencing burnout have been found to become detached from their jobs allowing errors due to absent mindedness to increase exponentially. Nursing shortages lead to errors, higher morbidity, and mortality rates. In hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios, nurses experience burnout, dissatisfaction, and the patients experienced higher mortality and failure-to-rescue rates than facilities with lower patient-to-nurse ratios (Haddad L. M., Toney-Butler, T. J, 2020).
It is also very interesting that you mentioned your experience currently with the pandemic as my organization is also experiencing similar staff shortage due to infected nursing staff members that have to self-isolate. The management in my organization have continued to help alleviate the effect of the stress on us by recruiting new nurses via nursing agencies, ensuring that nurse managers take up clinical duties and introducing renumeration such as additional pay to nurses on duty. I hope to read more of your posts and wish you good luck.
References
Haddad L. M, Toney-Butler, T. J [2020]. Nursing Shortage. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/
Mudallal, R. H., Othman, W. M., & Al Hassan, N. F. (2017). Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits. Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing, 54, 46958017724944. https://doi.org/10.1177/0046958017724944
