Explanatory Statement On Professional Development

The economic impact on healthcare has taken its toll on the number of registered nurses providing bedside care to patients, compromising patient safety and dramatically increasing the potential for negative outcomes. Several factors have immensely contributed to the nursing shortages over the years, including healthcare organizations downsizing, increased workloads, inadequate staffing plans and job dissatisfaction. Mandated nurse-to-patient staffing ratios have been implemented in several states to date with many more trying to pass some type of legislation. Have these ratios affected the quality of care or is it more realistic to create staffing committees that are based on each unit’s unique situation and varying requirements?

Mandatory nurse-patient ratios have been a controversial topic facing nurses for decades. Nurses, patients, physicians, nursing organizations, researchers, hospitals, federal government, and state governments have opposing views in regard to mandatory nurse-patient ratios. Those that support the idea of mandatory nurse-patient ratios believe that there would be an improvement in quality of patient care, decreased nursing shortages, increased job satisfaction, decreased client hospitalization, and increased nurse recruitment (Pamela Tevington, 2012). Groups that oppose mandatory nurse-patient ratios believe that mandatory staffing laws ignore factors such as the level of care a patient requires from a nurse, treatments, length of hospitalization, improvements and differences in technology, the expense of an increased nursing staff, and nurse experience and education (Tevington, 2012).

Stanton, M. R. (2004, March). Hospital Nurse Staffing and Quality of Care. Research in Action. Rockville, MD, USA: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Mandatory staffing ratios have been suggested as a way to meet nursing staffs’ concerns of high nurse to patient ratios. Mandatory staffing ratios are used as a way to reduce workload and patient mortality and are aimed at addressing the perceived imbalance between patient needs and nursing resources. (American Nursing Association, 2014). However, issues have been raised on applicability of staffing ratios since it could lead to increased costs without the guarantee of improvement in the quality of health care and could also lead to unintended consequences including unit closures, limited infrastructural development and limited access by patients (American Nursing Association, 2014).

Dr. Linda Aiken is the leading researcher in nursing staffing rates within the United States (Kerfoot & Douglas, 2013). She suggests that each state follows California’s example of conducting research to determine a minimum staffing ratio and making it a law (Kerfoot & Douglas, 2013). The California legislation enhanced nurse staffing in hospitals across the state and improved the patient care results of millions of patients (Kerfoot & Douglas, 2013). After the bill went into effect, job satisfaction increased, and the nursing shortage ended (Kerfoot & Douglas, 2013).

(ANA 2015; Brewer & Kovner, 2008). The high turnover rates can decrease the number of RNs

“The first approach is to have a nurse driven staffing committee to create plans that reflect the needs of the patient population and match the skills and experience of the staff. The second approach is for legislators to mandate specific nurse to patient ratios in legislation or regulation. The third approach is requiring facilities to disclose staffing levels to the public or regulatory body” (2013).

In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen a significant decline in the quality of patient care it provides. This has been the result of reduced staffing levels, overworked nurses, and an extremely high nurse to patient ratio. The importance of nurse staffing in hospital settings is an issue of great controversy. Too much staff results in costs that are too great for the facility to bear, but too little staffing results in patient care that is greatly hindered. Moreover, the shaky economy has led to widespread budget cuts; this, combined with the financial pressures associated with Medicare and private insurance companies have forced facilities to make due with fewer

situation and give a clear forecast of the material you will cover in your essay. Your thesis

Formulating the proper ratio of nurses to patients remains to be a challenging topic that has been debated in healthcare policy in numerous techniques during the previous twenty years. Adequate staffing of nurses is critical due to the direct effect that it can have on the ability to provide safe, quality healthcare (American Nurses Association, 2012). In the modern era, legislators have attempted to answer the idea of nurse staffing ratios in two distinct techniques. The first technique, embraced by the state of California, is to enforce a definite numeric nurse-to-patient ratio which is required to be upheld within the entire medical insitiution. The second technique, which is recently more frequently used, is to develop a

In an argumentative essay, the writer informs his or her audience about facts and ideas

The expression argument has two meanings in scholarly writing. First, it means a composition that takes a position on one side of a divisive issue. You might write an argument against the death penalty, or for or against censorship of pornography. But argument has another meaning, too. It means an essay that, simply, argues a point. You might assemble an argument about the significance of ancestor myths in a certain aborigine culture, or you might write an argument defending your understanding of any poem or essay that is read in your philosophy class. (Winthrop University) You are not necessarily taking one side of a divisive issue, but you are required to defend your points with credible evidence. You are taking a position. In a sense,

One of the many goals of the nursing profession is to provide high-quality, safe patient care. There are many responsibilities that come with a nursing career and when the nurse to patient ratio increases, there is a possibility that it may hinder the safe care that patients deserve, and this may result in negative patient outcomes and level of satisfaction. Staffing is one of the many issues that healthcare facilities face. In many facilities, there never seems to be enough nurses per shift to provide high quality, thorough patient care which often leads to burnt out staff, and frustrated patients and families. This review discusses the findings of quantitative studies and one systematic review that involves patient outcomes in relation to nurse staffing.

Staffing deficits pose a direct threat of manifesting negative outcomes associated with the delivery of patient care. Anything or anyone that compromises patient care should be eradicated immediately. This author believes that staffing deficits remain a consistent issue due to lack of solutions that actively address the issue. This author believes that inadequate staffing is a major concern due to the degree of harm it can impose on patients. Adverse events associated with

Taking into account the numerous feedbacks I have received from different lecturers, they have helped me to tackle a research topic with necessary skills like referencing and the importance of having a well-laid out introduction and conclusion part. Throughout this learning process, I have ensured to come up with a research thesis that clearly lays out the focus of the essay within the introduction section. As a result of this, I have managed to write up effective arguments in relation to any provided topic as can be shown in this assignment.