A.The family health care center in Worcester MA, is a center that is federally funded and provides services to low income and uninsured families within the Worcester area. In 2015, the family health care center received $541,951 by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. This money was to be used in the care, treatment, screening and prevention of HIV/AID’s to those who were not able to afford these services (Family Health Care Center, 2015). B.Some organizational costs that can effect nursing care and aggregates within a hospital are staffing, supplies and equipment. Staffing costs can affect nursing care and their patients through many means. From my experience, the employment of a nurse practitioner or physicians assistant instead of a doctor can at times place a strain on the nurses and patients. Due to their limited capabilities and skills, when compared to a doctor, they often end up needing a doctor to either further assess a patient that they are seeing, or wait to receive direction from the doctor on how to treat a patient if they are unsure of what to do. This in turn leads to longer wait times and frustrations for patients not only inside the emergency room but outside as well. Another example of costs that can affect nursing staffs and their patients is the limitations of the equipment that a hospital has. For example, if a hospital can not budget for an X-Ray device, when a patient comes in with a known or potential fracture, that
In a different review of literature on staffing and patient outcomes, Heinz (2004) describes the relationships between staffing and mortality, length of stay, and complications of patients. At first the article paints a clear picture of the future of nursing as it starts to feel the shortage which is approaching due to aging of present nurses, lowered nursing school admissions, and other hospital issues including financial hardships. In looking at the impact of ratios on mortality there were five different studies identified that showed that the lower the ratio, the lower the risk of mortality of patients. A patient's length of stay was also influenced negatively with higher nurse-to-patient ratios and positively with specialized units and care from nurses. The impact of staffing on patient complications also showed that there was an inverse relationship between the two. Heinz concludes that the key to solving these problems in nursing and reducing negative patient outcomes is nursing recruitment and retention (Heinz, 2004).
An analysis of a community allows for an in-depth look at the inhabitants and services that are available within that specific area. The area of Morris Heights in the Bronx is a neighborhood filled with culture, assets, liveliness, and recreational activities. Marketplace Facilitated Enrollers (MFE’s) work in United Healthcare Community Services (UHCS) a subsidiary of United Healthcare (UHC). Programs such as Women, Children, and Infant nutritional services (WIC) provide parents with dietary support. A specialty clinic for women - Morris Heights Health Center (Women’s Health Pavilion) (MHHCWHP) provides a center that concentrates strictly on maternal and gynecological healthcare to residents. The testimony of the individuals who live
Inadequate nurse staffing is commonly cited as a factor in unanticipated hospital events (ANA, 2015), whereas higher staffing levels are related to lower rates of negative patient outcomes (Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act [RNSSA] of 2015, 2015; MN study links nurse staffing to patient outcomes, 2015). For example, inappropriate nurse staffing can result in increased infections such as pneumonia, shock, cardiac arrest, and urinary tract infections (Stanton, 2004), longer hospital stays, medication errors, falls, injuries, and death (ANA, 2015; Stanton, 2004).
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.
One of the major functions of a nurse manager is managing a budget and allocating resources necessary to manage the unit or facility effectively. “Major steps in the budgeting process include gathering information and planning, developing unit budgets, developing cash budgets, negotiating and revising, and using feedback to control budget results and improve future plans”(Yoder-Wise, 2012, p. 244). The nurse manager must be able to accommodate variances and acclimate the budget in both the projections and up-to-date expenditures. Proficiency in managing a unit level budget is essential for both a favorable variance and optimal patient outcomes. Budgeting entails reviewing revenues and expenses, staffing costs, supplies, and capital equipment costs (Contino, 2001). This case study examines personnel, overtime (OT), supplies, travel, equipment, and staff education and the manner in which management can address these factors.
In terms of resources and finances, inpatient care is the most costly form of healthcare. It not only requires the medical supplies, but basic care supplies such as food, bedding, etc. It requires more practical resources in terms of electricity and other services, as well as more human resources, as the patients require round the clock care and availability. Hospitals and centers providing inpatient care therefore need a minimum of two shifts, and possibly three in order to avoid unnecessary and costly mistakes due to the workers’ exhaustion.
Health centers have continually proven to be a worthwhile investment by delivering high quality, affordable health care. Evidence based research shows that Community Health Centers prove to be a lasting solution for disease prevention and health promotion to our medically underserved population. Additional evidence based research statistics show the following:
Extensive research has shown that there is a correlation between staffing and patient ratio and patient outcomes. Better outcomes particularly are shown with lower patient to nurse ratio. However staffing issues remain an ongoing concern which greatly impacts the safety of the nurse and their patients, and also impacts cost of healthcare. Evidence shows that adequate staffing causes reduction in mortality, nurse burnout and job satisfaction, and reduction in medical errors.
Salina Health Education Foundation founded in 1979 and Salina Care founded in 1991, merged in 2004 to form Salina Family Health Care Center (SFHC). Since the inception the clinic has served Saline County with health and dental care for uninsured and low income residents. In addition the clinic has provided residency programs for family medicine physicians for future role as providers to rural Kansas towns. In December of 2004 SHEF became a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Following in 2009, SHEF transformed the practice into a patient-centered healthcare home. Through this work, SHEF redefined its mission to: provide excellent healthcare in a patient-centered setting that fosters education, all in a positive work environment
Nurse staffing have an effect on a variety of areas within nursing. Quality of care is usually affected. Hospitals with low staffing tend to have higher incidence of poor patient outcomes. Martin, (2015) wrote an article on how insufficient nursing staff increases workload and job dissatisfaction, which in effect decreases total patient care over all. When nurse staffing is inadequate, the ability to practice ethically becomes questionable. Time worked, overtime, and total hours per week have significant effect on errors. When nurses works long hours, the more likely errors will be made. He also argued that inadequate staffing not only affects their patients but also their loved ones, future and current nursing staff, and the hospitals in which they are employed. An unrealistic workload may result in chronic fatigue, poor sleep patterns, and absenteeism thus affecting the patients they take care of.
Community health centers play a critical role in providing health and social services to low income and medically underserved communities. Health centers capacity to give far reaching essential care and enhance access to superb care while holding down social insurance cost development has been recorded. As health reform goads coverage extension and endeavors to enhance quality, the country's dependence on health centers is prone to develop. In the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress contributed $11 billion to the growth of community health centers program for the next five years. The idea is to widen access of care in lower-income communities as coverage extends. As policymakers and others gear up for ACA execution, understanding the part
Issues such as staffing levels affect nursing sensitive outcomes negatively by causing increases in medical errors, patient infections, increased mortality, increased injuries to the patient and staff, and cause longer hospital stays. The positive side of staffing levels occurs when staffing is at an optimal level. This allows nurses to give better patient centered care, increases opportunities to educate the patient, and advocate for the patient more. In essence, staffing levels can ultimately affect patient safety outcomes and quality of care.
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
The delivery of healthcare has evolved and changed over the years and with the advances in science and technology, the ability to provide safe, quality care to all patients has been impacted by the changes. With the rising healthcare costs and decrease in reimbursement for care provided, organizations must look for ways of cost containment to maintain viability for the future. Fabre (2005) noted that administrators are struggling to maintain financial stability and retain competent nurses during these difficult
In the medical fraternity, nurses make up the largest healthcare profession. The care of patients depends on the well-being of the nurses, and issues affecting them may affect patients, directly or indirectly. As a profession, nursing, can be both an extremely rewarding and challenging activity. A number of problems exist, and most are becoming worse because of lack of lack of mechanisms to address these issues. The three greatest issues affecting nursing today include improving health education, lack of respect for nurses and cost cutting. Although these problems are not clinical, they influence the efficiency of the performance of nurses in their delivery of services.