Discussion Questions on Hospital Nurse Staffing and Quality of Care - Paper Example

Given the nursing shortage, how can organizations address the requirement?

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Nursing shortage impacts the quality if health care services and has adverse implications for the safety and wellbeing of the patients. As such, organizations need to strategize how to address the shortages in the long and short run. Organizations can create an environment that is conducive such that it reduces nurse turnover and retains quality nurses. Health facilities can create flexible schedules that allow nurses to juggle around family matters and schooling opportunities and still be able to work as required (Stanton and Stanton, 2004). When the working environment is not too restrictive, nurses will feel that their time is valued and it offers them with a chance to grow in other areas of their life. Moreover, facilities should promote career growth through providing training and development opportunities where nurses become competent and are well compensated for their competence. Opportunities for growth allows the nurses to remain motivated to work and not leave the workplace to another. Finally, firms should listen to the complaints of the nurses and seek to address them promptly. In maintaining the staff, it saves the hospital costs of recruitment and turnovers that disrupt the process. And as such, the health facility can hire new nurses from time to time, invest in them, and they are retained in the workplace.

2.Does closing the hospital to new admissions due to understaffing serve the community?

When a hospital closes new admission because of understaffing, it does not seem to help the community. The hospital should not reject the patients on the basis of understaffing can compromise the safety of the patient and sometimes leading to death. It would be better for the nurses to work longer of the hospital allows part-time nurses to help out when the number of patients is higher than the required ratio. Sometimes, the health of the patients is at risk, the finances are not an issue and as such it would rather the hospital charges higher to hire a new set of nurses than dismiss admissions. On the other hand, admission that will not ensure that the patients have adequate health care can jeopardize and non-admission would help that. In any case, if patients are admitted and dont get proper health care it can lead to death or deterioration of illnesses. Thus, when patients are not admitted they will seek healthcare elsewhere where they can get sufficient attention and recuperate as soon as it's possible. 3- What about the unintended negative consequences of such legislation?

Limiting the number patients that can be admitted is a beneficial legislation which reduces mortality. However, it can have serious negative implications. For instance, that high quality and specialized health care will be expensive to acquire for some patients thus closing them out from seeking medical especially those who have to pay out of pocket. This change also has reduced the willingness of young nurses to join the profession because, with the limited number of patients based on the facilities, the hospitals are not taking in new patients. Additionally, this legislation has caused hospitals to circumnavigate the rule by reducing the number of inpatients. As such, some people who require admission and monitored caregiving are considered as outpatients so that the ratio is maintained (Shekelle, 2013). The aftermath is poor services to such patients whose recuperation process might take longer than it should.

References

Stanton, M. W., & Stanton, M. W. (2004). Hospital nurse staffing and quality of care. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Shekelle, P. G. (2013). Effect of Nurse-to-Patient Staffing Ratios on Patient Morbidity and Mortality.