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Issues That Nurses Face Today

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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 …show more content…

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

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