Pay A Fine Which Is Often Cheaper

Providing the best care to each patient starts with providing the proper amount of staff members to each unit. Looking at the needs of different units not only allows administration to see areas for improvement, but also areas that are being handled correctly. Utilizing the indicators provided by The Joint Commission, 4 East, a pediatric medical/surgical floor, has a high rate of falls and nosocomial pressure ulcers that appears to be related to the increase overtime nurses have been working for that floor (Nightingale, 2010). Research has shown increases in adverse events have been related to nurses working over 40 hours a week (Bae, 2012).

Inadequate nurse staffing has become a major issue when it comes to patient safety. Having a unit function with not enough staff not only puts patients at risk for adverse events, it also puts the nurse at risk for potential errors. In the following paragraphs, information will be provided on how changing the number of nurses on the unit, will improve patient care. Literature will be discussed and will provide evidence that changing nurse-patient ratios not only improves the quality of care the patient receives, it also decreases the chances of errors. A change theory will also be discussed and will explain how it helps implement change in a hospital setting and how it will be used to implement change. Finally information on how the inter-professional

The purpose of this article is to discuss appropriate nurse staffing and staffing ratios and its impact on patient care. Although the issue is just not about numbers as we discuss staffing we begin to see how complex the issue has become over the years. Many factors can affect appropriate nurse staffing ratios. As we investigate nurse staffing ratios we can see the importance of finding the right mix and number of nurses to provide quality care for patients.

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).

Current nurse-to-patient ratios is a topic that has constant focus on today’s patient outcomes and safety. There have be many studies and there continues to be studies done on how a higher nurse to patient ratio effects not only patient and nurse safety and patient outcomes once they leave the hospital, but also patient mortality rates as well. When a nurse has been assigned more of a patient load than they can safely handle, whether it be because of a large patient volume or patient acuity, patients suffer and the quality of care declines. With the higher ratio,

Nurse-to-patient ratios is not a new topic of debate for all of us who deliver care to patients every day. Only lately it has been a big issue that have caught the attention of many. Demands by the medical community for changes concerning staffing, asking for the government interventions in minimum staffing laws. Registered nurses have long acknowledged and continue to emphasize that staffing issues are an ongoing concern, one that influences the safety of both the patient and the nurse. (ANA, 2015) .nowadays hospitals are running for profit and the emphasis is not put on job burnout, stress, and endangerment of patients. Nursing shortages is a very pertinent problem, it will be optimum to have laws in place to help with the issue, however meanwhile leadership and management methods to the matter can help to mend the nursing situation and avoid many of the damaging effects of unfitting nurse-to-patient ratios.

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).

Mandated nurse-to-patient ratios have some flaws to work out. Mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios could increase costs with healthcare costs already hard for many to afford. Welton (2007) stated, “Mandatory ratios, if imposed nationally, may result in increased overall costs of care with no guarantees for improvement in quality or positive outcomes of hospitalization” (p1). According to Welton the cost to the hospital are not covered when these mandates are put in place, leaving the hospital to pick up the extra costs of hiring additional nurses to comply with mandates. Mandated nurse-to-patient ratios do not allow for

Several studies have shown that patients get well faster and safer when they receive more nursing care. Even more importantly according to Linda Aiken study (2003), mortality rates and staffing ratios are closely tied. Each additional patient per RN after four patients, chances of dying in the hospital is increased by 7%.Patient on a surgical unit with patient –RN ratio of 8:1 were 31% more likely to die within 30days than those on surgical units with ratios of 4:1.Studies have shown that more infections like UTI, pneumonia, shock or cardiac arrest increases when patients receive fewer hours of nursing care. Medication errors and unsafe hand washing techniques were found more in increased patient workloads. Unsafe staffing gave more job dissatisfaction, job burnout and more nurses quit or drove nurses away from nursing. This increased mandatory overtime and increased nurse shortage. According to survey of California state

According to the General Laws of Massachusetts (MGL) Chapter 155, An Act relative to patient limits in all hospital intensive care units was approved (and signed by the Massachusetts Governor) on June 30, 2014. This act states that in all intensive care units, the ratio for registered nurse to client will be 1:1 or 1:2 depending on the client’s acuity, as assessed by an acuity tool and under the discretion of nurses within that unit (MGL, 2014). The acuity tool must be developed by each hospital in accordance with the staff nurses or other respective medical staff and certified by the department (MGL, 2014)

The debate to find the perfect balance of nurse to patient ratio continues between healthcare workers and legislators. According to an article in Modern Healthcare magazine, “Got enough nurses?” Nurse groups cite a Kentucky case to support push for staffing ratio laws,” nurses attending to a dozen or more patients at a time is “physically impossible” (Rice, 2015). Rice reports statements made by Gerard Brogan, lead nursing practice representative for the California Nurses Association, Pamela Cipriano, president of the American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association, Jan Emerson-Shea, vice president of external affairs for the California Hospital Association, Peter Buerhaus, director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Doctor Christine Cassel, CEO of the National Quality Forum, Bonnie Castillo, director of the Registered Nurse Response Network for National Nurses United union, Linda Aiken, director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania, discussing research and other insights into the hardships of large nurse to patient ratios. As nurses continue to research and present data to contest the high patient to nurse ratios, hospitals push back with confronting data and research; both unable to reach an agreement.

Been working at the same facility for 22 years. Started working in CT-ICU (cardio thoracic intensive care), in 1993. The ratio was 1:2 or 1:1 if patient was just out of the operating room. Now the ratio is 2:1 or 3:1, in really acute cases 1:1. For the past 7 years been in a surgical ICU (SICU). The turnover rate is high. Which means that we are working 3:1 ratio. There has been a section of the unit for step down patients, with a 4:1 ratio. The acuity is high and we have a fair amount of new nurses. Presently we have 4 nurses that aren’t off probation. With the shortage of nurses, the facility has instituted to cross train nurses to the recovery room and CT-ICU, along with floating to other units. This band aid causes more duress

Despite many efforts to improve staffing numbers, there is often still a staff shortage among staff in hospitals and acute care settings. While the most obvious solution to short staffing is to hire more nurses, there are also other ways to make staffing more effective. A patient acuity tool is a staffing instrument that can be used to decide how much time and attention each individual patient requires. By knowing the acuity level of each patient, charge nurses can decide how many patients each nurse can be assigned to at a time. This essay describes the way a patient acuity instrument improves healthcare outcomes by promoting patient-centered care and improving on key nurse competencies including teamwork and collaboration, quality improvement, and safety measures.

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

Patients in a hospital and/or healthcare facilities have to be cared for all day and all night, everyday of the week by nurses. The usual way to fulfill this need is to divide up the day into three 8-hour shifts. Different shifts have been put into place to help improve nurse satisfaction, decrease the nursing shortage and save the hospital money. The 24-hour day is made up of two 12-hour shifts; 12 hours in the day and 12 hours at night. There has been quite an ongoing debate over the years regarding this issue of nurses working over 8 hours in a single day. Many people, such as hospital nursing administrators, have reason to believe that working long hour shifts causes more errors in