Ethical Staffing Issues

The purpose of this article is to discuss appropriate nurse staffing and staffing ratios and its impact on patient care. Although the issue is just not about numbers as we discuss staffing we begin to see how complex the issue has become over the years. Many factors can affect appropriate nurse staffing ratios. As we investigate nurse staffing ratios we can see the importance of finding the right mix and number of nurses to provide quality care for patients.

The current and growing shortage of nurses is posing a real threat to the ability of hospitals, long-term care facilities, and others to provide timely access to quality care. Nurse staffing shortages and nurse turn-over contributes to the growing reduction in the number of staffed patient beds available for services, increasing costs, and rising concerns about the quality of care. Health care organizations highly depend on nurse managers and leaders to reverse this trend. This paper discusses the reasons for nursing shortage and turn-over, different approaches to solve this issue, and my personal philosophy about this issue.

First, as the unit managers, we will listen to our employees’ concerns. Next, we will address the specific complaints about working with certain staff members and the lack of supplies available on the unit. We will investigate further to see which employees are not performing to hospital standards and then schedule a meeting to explore their reasons and work together to find a solution to the problems. Next, we will address the lack of supplies available on the floor by scheduling a meeting with the manager of central supply. During this meeting, we will explain that the nurses are often working short-staffed and having available supplies will allow the nurses to manage their time more efficiently. Then, to implement evidence-based

With a shortage of nurses, the care and safety of patients may become compromised. The nurses themselves may be having feelings of dissatisfaction, overwhelm and distress. Nurses who may become overwhelmed with the high number of patients may become frustrated and burnt out. And inadequate staff of nurses may lead to a negative impact on the patient’s outcome. The quality of care the patients may receive in facilities with low staffing may be poor.

Healthcare professionals have an ethical obligation to respect patient’s wishes. Consequently, many legal and ethical dilemmas arise in healthcare in response to clinical decisions related to the needs, beliefs, and preferences of patients and families. Other dilemmas result over concerns about the integrity, competence, or actions of other healthcare professionals. Preserving human dignity, relieving suffering, equality, integrity, and accountability are essential nursing values (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen, 2015). Nurse leaders have an

As a long term employee of the healthcare field I could completely relate to your post. Staffing was always one of the areas that I felt was done without ethics in mind. Nursing homes and hospitals are very careful to staff based on legal requirements but many do not take into account the acuity of the patients that are being cared for. Sicker, more demanding patients requiring frequent and highly skilled care require more of the caregiver’s time and attention. It is frustrating to hear a caregiver being told that “they will just have to manage because there is nothing that can be done about it”. I realize that staffing based on acuity would frequently require an increased number of staff to provide adequate care, but I feel that is the ethical

According to Doane and Varcoe (2015) ethical inquiry is essential about the question, what is good, right and just that nurse must incorporate into their nursing practice to afford ethical problem. This form of inquiry emphasizes that every moment of nursing interaction involve ethics and that ethics is a “deeply personal process that is lived in the complexity and ambiguity of everyday nursing work” (Doane & Varcoe, 2015). When complexity and ambiguity of nursing practice is apparent to nurses through the involvement in caring for patient, then ethic of care can be brought forward as a compass to guide moral decision making and ethical care. As stated by Doane and Varcoe that research has shown that when staff and other resources are scarce,

A shortage of nursing staff in a healthcare center is a great burden for all involved. For the nurse, it is overwhelming and even potentially dangerous to take on the grand responsibility of many patients to care for. For the patients, the burden lies in getting the care they deserve. For the hospital it is the burden of staying afloat financially and utilizing resources to the fullest. This tug-of-war between nurse, patient, and administration is key to many legal issues in healthcare. Who is responsible if any part of this relationship goes awry? What are some solutions to help mitigate the burden? Is there a “magic number” in staffing ratios? Understaffing nurses in healthcare is a gray area, with definitions that cannot be defined indefinitely. What laws are involved and the debate if it should be a legal issue at all is up for discussion. This paper will analyze and discuss the topic, elaborating complications and implications this issue has in nursing.

Nurses are crucial in providing quality care in the health care industry. It is imperative to maintain the proper staffing ratio to ensure that nurses can maintain high quality care for their patients. Studies have shown that the increasing workload of nurses can be linked to increased patient deaths, medical errors, hospital-acquired infections, longer hospital stays, and many other complications. (National Nurses United n.d. ) Leaders and managers play a vital role in developing

The Importance of Proper Staffing Proper staffing within organizations is considered essential to business endeavors and management. By definition, staffing is defined as the “process involved in identifying, assessing, placing, evaluating, and directing individuals at work” (Ramasamy, 2009, p. 82). Upon researching an article related to staffing, some hospitals are experiencing a higher percentage of patient deaths that are linked to not having enough nurses scheduled, and the financial availability of the hospital institutions.

In this paper, I’m going to describe the financial institution where the nurse staffing issue takes place and I’m going to describe the role of the two people interviewed. I will also describe their viewpoints on the problem with nurse staffing. I will also discuss at least three actions taken to address the issue. Three future steps to address this ongoing issue will also be identified. I will also address three different problems discussed by the interviewees on the blocks that the organization anticipates in undertaking this issue. This paper will also provide statistical information on the background of three financial issues. Lastly, I will use recent literature to further explain the three recognized issues.

One important result that is occurring because of the lack of staff is the neglecting of tasks and more responsibility. Nurses are reporting that a lot of nursing tasks that are applicable to patient safety and good nursing are being left out. Nurses discussed how patient and family preparation for

There are legal responsibilities that we have as professional nurses. Because of the nursing shortage, one of the major issues of concern is staffing. Inappropriate staffing can threaten patient's safety. Inadequate staffing can also affect the nurse's health,

Staffing needs affect the nursing department’s budget, staff productivity, the quality of care provided to patients and even the retention of nurses (Jooste, 2013). The nurse manager has to explain to the management of the benefits of change in providing adequate staffing all the time. Adequate staffing helps staff retention. Staff retention saves a lot of money in terms of orienting new people to the unit. Safe staffing always helps in the reduction of falls, infection rates, pressure ulcers, decrease hospital stays and death. Flexible and creative scheduling is essential for retaining staff and promoting a positive work climate (Grohar-Murray & Langan, 2011). Adequate staffing with good staffing ratio will help nurses to concentrate on their patient care which may help in a reduction in medical errors and lawsuits to the hospital.

A continuous concern that continues to present itself within the healthcare environment is adequate staffing on nursing units. Most hospital organizations try their very best to accommodate staffing needs, though many units remain understaffed for an unspecified amount of time. Inadequate staffing can negatively affect patient outcomes, lead to nurse burnout, and decrease patient satisfaction scores. Combating this issue will require a great deal of effort, as many geographical face nursing shortages when seeking new graduates and qualified candidates. Employees may begin to feel that they are unable to pursue personal goals within a healthcare organization, due to inability to transfer as a result of staffing shortages. This often results in nursing seeking employment or career advancement outside of the organization or geographical area, which further intensifies ramification associated with inadequate staffing.