Issues That Nurses Face Today

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.

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

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.

Nursing profession is constantly changing with the development of new technologies that lead to a new level of responsibility. The new level of responsibility challenges nurses torespond to different and difficultsituations in the health care industry, especially in protecting the human right, dignity of patients and their safety. Nurses hold adistinctive position as patient advocates, regardless of their respective areas of practice; either in a home health, clinic, or in a hospital setting. Nursesare faced with ethical decisions, both personal and professional decisions.

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

Nurse-Patient staffing ratios have created debate among health care professionals for years. Who determines where, when and how many patients a nurse can handle on any given shift? Who determines the acuity of the patients handled by the nurse? Does the floor nurse have a say in what she or he can feasibly handle during their shift? At what point does patient care begin to suffer? These questions and many others have led to federal and state legislation coming to light to better serve the care of a patient. “The varied agendas and the inability of nurses, hospital administrators, and financial experts to communicate toward a single purpose, as well as the complexity of meeting staffing needs, have moved the issue into the political arena (Hertel, 2012, p. 1)”. Several states have already instituted mandatory nurse-patient ratios. While you can debate for or against political involvement, I will look at many factors regarding care and safety of patients.

Does one ever think about the words “required” or “extended work shifts”? To countless nurses these terminologies or jargons mean mandatory overtime. In today’s healthcare, “required” overtime has sky rocketed, attributable to, the nursing shortages throughout the United States. Studies have revealed that working “extended work shifts or additional shifts” have a negative impact on both patient and nurse safety. The purpose of this paper is to inform and advocate for the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act. This author will discuss the key points, provide a critique of empirical evidence, and demonstrate the importance and impact of this Act to the nursing profession.

There are pros and cons to implementing state or federal legislation regarding nurse-to-patient ratios. Pros to implementing nurse-to-patient ratios are most importantly, better patient safety, better patient outcomes, and better job satisfaction for nurses (ANA, 2014). Studies show increases in registered nurse staffing: decreases patient mortality; decreases adverse patient events, such as infections, patient falls; and decreases pressure ulcers (ANA, 2014). The studies also show better patient satisfaction and shorter lengths of stay for patients (ANA,

An area of concern for the ANA is the work place of practicing and future nurses. The

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.

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

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).

The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2015 (H.R. 2083) was introduced by Senator Lois Capps to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide patient protection by establishing safe nurse staffing levels. It proposes a balanced approach to ensure adequate RN staffing. It ascertains that direct care nurses, working closely with managers, are best equipped to determine the staffing level for the patients on their units. Higher patient loads put patients at risk for longer hospital stays, increased infections, avoidable medication errors, falls, injuries and even death. The Act considers RN educational preparation, professional certification and level of clinical experience, the number and capacity of available health care personnel, and the geography of a unit including available technology in relation to patient

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