The discussion topics raise a lot of issues that nurses and family members of nurses face today. As nurses, we have a responsibility to society, but we also have personal responsibilities. Dealing with fatigue and unsafe patient-to-nurse ratios are only two of the issues that come to mind when I contemplate my nursing responsibilities. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is fighting for the rights of nurses as well as patients, to establish safe working conditions and safe health care delivery. The ANA does not encourage nurses to work overtime, not do they encourage unsafe patient-to-nurse ratios (American Nurses Association, 2014).
Jim Jasper, spouse of Beth Jasper, filed a lawsuit against the hospital that his wife worked for. Beth, a Registered Nurse, was killed in a one-vehicle motor vehicle crash after leaving her work place. Jim believes that the hospital is responsible for his wife’s accident. He believes that chronic understaffing and the number of hours worked was the cause of her crash. Many thoughts were aroused when I watched the video. There was no mention of mandatory overtime, so I must assume that
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The act addresses staffing ratios, education requirements, professional certifications, available technology, patient acuity, complaint processes, and public reporting (American Nurses Association, 2015). I believe that adopting the act will change the way health care is delivered, and will increase patient safety and nurse moral. I also believe that mandating how many patients each nurse will be able to care for may cause many small facilities to close. Not that I think that patients should be treated in a facility that overworks their staff or does not have the proper staffing ratio, but I know that maintaining a facility is an expensive endeavor, and the facility must make a profit to remain open, and continue to offer treatment
Pamela F. Cipriano, President of American Nurses Association was in disbelief to see how she has tried to enforce the Nightingale pledge of keeping patients free from harm was failed because medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. As of now ANA has conducted yearlong campaign named “Safety 360 It Starts with You” in order to reduce and take measurable advances to protect the welfare of nurses and workers. It is one of campaign that the ANA comes with that is in support to both the nurses and patients. However, in the real-world nurses are stress and fatigue due to patient ratio. In my workplace, which is a state hospital, they have full time nurses on call where nurses work more than 70 hours a week. The nurses
Nurses with higher workloads are more likely to have medical errors as well as more patient falls occurring in the hospitals. When nurses are being overworked, research proves that patients are more likely to get hospital-acquired conditions,
Nurses find themselves in the middle of a complex health care system between the financial side and patient safety. A professional nurse’s goal is to provide safe, quality, patient care. However, nurses often fail to meet this goal due to the variability in patient acuity, the unpredictable workload of nurses, and institutional budget constraints (ANA, 2014). According to the American Nurses Association (2014) research shows that lower staffing levels of registered nurses correlate with poor patient outcomes, as well as negative nurse outcomes, such as physical injury and ‘burnout.’
In a profession where others' health and well-being are priority, there leaves room for neglect of those who are delegated to care for these people. As a professional nurse, there are many obstacles that arise and affect the care provided to a patient, as well as the livelihood of the nurse. The current deteriorating and unsafe staffing conditions in hospitals and other institutions prompts workplace advocacy as the universally appropriate concept for maintaining professional nursing practice. Common
The continued shortage of registered nurses will be a catalyst for the increasing stress placed upon practicing nurses now and in the future. Mandatory overtime has been an incessant problem within the nursing profession. When lives are at risk, alertness is a critical part of a nurse’s job performance. Fatigue impairs one’s judgement directly affecting patient and nursing safety or outcomes. This author’s typical six week work schedule consists of eighteen-twelve hour shifts, nine “required” twelve hour call shifts, and three-four hour back-up shifts. A nurse that accepts a patient assignment in the operating room cannot legally or ethically leave when their shift has ended without proper relief. Inevitably, without proper staffing departure is not an
Safe nurse-patient ratio is a complex issue debated on for many years. Due to inadequate staffing registered Nurses are faced with high patient ratios, and nurse burn out everyday. According to the American Nurses Association, “Massive Reductions in nursing budgets combined with, the challenges presented by a growing nursing shortage have resulted in fewer nurses working longer hours for sicker patients. This situation compromises care and contributes to the nursing shortage by creating an environment that drives nurses from the bedside”. (2012) Through the nurse’s process, the essential role of the Registered Nurse is to assess, diagnose, and plan based on outcomes, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of nursing care. However, it is not realistic to thoroughly implement these core guidelines in a safe and effective way, when you are responsible for an inadequate patient load.
As a result, overtime can compromise patients ' health or safety. Medical residents cited fatigue as a cause for their serious mistakes in four out of 10 cases (Boodman 2001), and two studies linked infection outbreaks at hospitals to overtime work (Arnow et al. 1982; and Russell et al. 1983). Indeed, the California Nurses Association reports that more nurses are refusing to work in hospitals with unsafe conditions, in which they include being forced to work unplanned overtime. The American Nurses Association (ANA), in a national survey of 7,300 of its members, found, disturbingly, that 56% of nurses believe that the time they have available for care for each patient has decreased, and 75% feel that the quality of patient care at their own facility has decreased in the last two years. The cited inadequate staffing as the chief reason.
The Ohio house bill 346 also protects nurses by providing laws on staffing. HB 346 “requires hospitals to establish staffing plans, with meaningful input from direct patient care nurses, which are consistent with the principles of safe staffing developed by the American Nurses Association and other nationally recognized organizations” (Ohio Nurses Association, 2011). The American Nurses Association as well as other nursing organizations should continue to advocate for nurses to work towards decreasing nursing workload and preventing burnout.
When it comes to nurse-to-patient ratio, safety is the number one priority. An article published in the National Nurse journal in 2010 discusses the impact of decreasing the maximum number of patients a specific nurse can safely take care of. At the core of the article’s argument is analysis of Boxer’s effort to introduce the National Nursing shortage reform and patient advocacy act 1031 and the impact it has on the nursing fraternity. According to Smith (2010) “mandatory nurse-patient ratios is that minimum, specific, guaranteed nurse staffing will produce better patient outcomes and alleviate nurse workloads and increase job satisfaction” (Smith, 2010, para. 14). While Senator Boxer is reported not to have enough sponsors for the new bill, the author concludes that passing the legislation will play a critical role in transforming the services offered by registered nurses in the United States (Smith, 2010). Second article that talks about safe staffing levels and mandatory nurse-patient ratios is from the MEDSURG Nursing journal published in 2011. This article assesses the impact of extending the Californian legislation that mandates patient nurse ratio on other states in the United States of America. The author concludes by arguing that passage of regulations that mandate nurse patient ratio promotes the value of the
Various factors have negatively influenced the nursing field. Those factors involve, but not limited to staff shortage, staffing ratios, mandatory overtime, violence issues, etc. In 2011, 16 states established limitations on the practice of mandatory overtime operated by nurses (ANA, 2011). Forced overtime laws monitor either nurse mandatory overtime or cumulative work hours. As prevention for nurses working mandatory overtime, state law permits employees to decline the offer of overtime by healthcare organizations, except during a medical emergency, which requires increased need for medical personnel unexpectedly. The overall goal of achieving mandatory overtime regulations is to produce supported practicing circumstances for nurses, as well as improve the quality of care for the patients.
Nurses continually strive to bring holistic, efficient, and safe care to their patients. However, if the safety and well-being of the nurses are threatened or compromised, it is difficult for nurses to work effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the position of the American Nurses Association (ANA) advocate that every nursing professional have the right to work in a healthy work environment free of abusive behavior such as bullying, hostility, lateral abuse and violence, sexual harassment, intimidation, abuse of authority and position and reprisal for speaking out against abuses (American Nurses Association, 2012).
An area of concern for the ANA is the work place of practicing and future nurses. The
In today’s society, overtime is the primary method that healthcare facilities are using to keep up with the high demand of staffing. Many employers mandate that healthcare workers work extra shifts and they threaten them with dismissal for insubordination, even to the point of reporting them to the state board of nursing for job abandonment.
Nurses strive to provide quality patient care and ensure patient safety. It is both a job and an ethical obligation for nurses to provide “safe, compassionate, competent, and ethical care” (CNA, 2008). However, some situations such as an overbearing workload can make this very difficult. This system of dedication to care puts many in the field in a moral dilemma. Studies have shown that upon investigation, this is a common problem facing many in the health field. Increasing workload on nurses has a direct correlation to patient safety, which is a big problem in both our country and globally (paraphrased Davies, Hebert, & Hoffman, 2003, p.12). A national research project by Baker et al.
American Nurses Association defines nursing as “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and population”( Potter,P.,& Perry, A. 2005,1-5). Thus making nursing dynamic and ever changing. However, when nursing