School Nurse To Student Ratio Analysis

They found that the lower the nurse-to-patient ratio the fewer the negative patient outcomes. At the conclusion of her research, Curtin noted that a ratio between 4 and 6 patients per nurse gave acceptable results in patient outcomes (Curtin, 2008).

I, Selena Hernandez, write this letter of appeal to you, the Director of the Nursing Program, a more mature individual with a greater sense of purpose. I am writing this letter to clarify the conditions surrounding my poor performance in the fall semester of 2017, in hopes that I may be given another opportunity at my dream of being the first in my family to achieve a college education.

For over a decade researchers have been performing studies examining the effects patient-to-nurse ratios have on adverse outcomes, mortality rates, and failure-to-rescue rates of patients and on job dissatisfaction and burnout experiences of nurses. Aiken, Sloane, Sochalski, and Silber (2002) performed a study which showed that each additional patient per nurse increased patient mortality within 30 days of admission by 7% and increased failure-to-rescue by 7% as well. This same study also showed that each additional patient per nurse resulted in a 23% increase in nurse burnout and a 15% increase in job dissatisfaction. Additionally, Rafferty et al. (2007) performed a study in which the results showed that patients in hospitals with higher patient-to-nurse ratios had a 26% higher mortality rate and nurses were twice as likely to have job dissatisfaction and experience burnout. Blegen, Goode, Spetz, Vaughn, and Park (2011) performed a study where results showed that more staffing hours for nurses resulted in lower rates of congestive heart failure morality, infection, and prolonged hospital stays. The same study also showed that increased nursing care from registered nurses resulted in lower infection and failure to rescue rates and fewer cases of sepsis.

Nursing to patient ratio can have a direct impact on patient safety. Studies have been done that show that these ratios impact patient outcomes and mortality rates when nurses are understaffed and are given a larger patient load than they can handle safely. Nursing education level has also shown to play a role in patient outcomes. Whether they are an unexperienced nurse or the patients are at a higher acuity and require more time for care, these larger ratios can be detrimental to the nursing quality of care that can be provided. These larger nurse to patient ratios can also play a part in nurse burnout leading to medical errors, negative patient outcomes, and higher health care costs in the future.

On November 1st, 2016 I had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Katherine M. Sawyer RN, BSN of Owosso, Michigan. Katherine, a female nurse who has worked in the nursing field for thirty-six years began her nursing career at Ingham Medical where she was a full-time staff-nurse for three years; then worked as a per-diem staff-nurse for eleven years. After working at Ingham for a total of fourteen years, Katherine obtained a position at Memorial Healthcare in Owosso where she worked as a nurse educator for fifteen years. Shortly after this she became a Basic Life Saving (BLS) instructor as her main role as a nurse educator was to provide nursing orientation and this additional role fit in perfectly. After some time she became involved in Quality Improvement for four years, and she has now switched back to the nurse educator role where she once again has the role of nursing orientation for Registered Nurses (RNs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Patient Care Techs (PCTs). The number of staff she teaches and orientates each month varies between one and ten individuals. She also teaches BLS and First Aid at Baker College of Owosso. Her contact information is as follows: Phone number (989) 413-1974 and e-mail address kmsawyer521@gmail.com. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader of Sawyer’s role in the nursing profession as a nurse leader. Individuals will learn of Sawyer’s many different roles, responsibilities, and the organizational structure of Memorial

BROCHURE ON CALIFORNIA STATE MANDATED NURSE PATIENT RATIO. Does mandating Nurse-Patient ratio improve care? Information for nurses and patients.

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.

Nursing shortages in the United States have left practicing registered nurses (RNs) with strenuous workloads. Such heavy workloads can lead to poor patient outcomes, decreased satisfaction among both patients and nurses, and questionable quality of care, among other things (Cimiotti, Akien, Sloane, & Wu, 2012; Department for Professional Employees, 2014; Duffield et al., 2011). Realizing the potential for error that accompanies such circumstances, efforts are being made to decrease the workload of nurses in hopes of improving quality of care. One such effort, and the focus of this paper, is the implementation of mandated nursing staff ratios. Mandated nursing staff ratios would restrict the number of patients a nurse is allowed to care for at one time (Tevington, 2011). While this idea seems to be a fitting solution, there has been much debate about the effectiveness of mandated nursing staff ratios. This paper will discuss arguments for mandated nursing staff ratios, arguments against mandated nursing staff ratios, and the impact of mandated nursing staff ratios on the profession of nursing as a whole.

Studies have shown that increase RN client ratios results in a reduction of 5.7% in patient days spent in hospital. The trend toward higher RN staffing levels has been shown to decrease avoidable never events such as inpatient falls and hospital acquired pressure ulcers. He, J. (2013).Too much burden on nurses tends to negatively affect productivity which compromises patient’s safety and quality of healthcare. In California, the mandatory nurse patient ratio was implemented at the time of severe registered nurse shortage and worsening of financial position of many hospitals. This legislature has been found to improve the health care system in many ways.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nursing is listed among the top occupations in terms of job growth through 2022, with the demand increasing at least 19% by the year 2022 (2012). Particularly in the past decade, there is a serious shortage in the number of nurses to fill the vast amount of open positions available. Why is there such a shortage in the nursing profession, and is the nursing shortage real in this type of economy? Unexpectedly, there are many unemployed nurses today, struggling to find employment. An MPR news article by Annie Baxter stated that she had interviewed many unemployed nurses that claim the shortage is just a myth. She goes on

Through all the research, in regards to Safe Harbor, important information was obtained and some misconceptions were set straight. At the facility that this nurse works, it has always been threatened to claim Safe Harbor and the nurse to walk out. Recently, this was done when the medical-surgical nurse was asked to accept an admission on top of the other patients already being cared for by her, which would increase her patient load to a total of six patients. Acuity of the patients was not taken into account by the nurse. According to facility policy, this is an adequate staffing ratio. Staffing 1:5 or 1:6 for nurse-patient ratio is a recommend ratio for a medical-surgical unit (Tevington, 2011). Once researching Safe Harbor, there were multiple

Nursing shortages are appearing to be a global concern as well. The shortage of nurses has caused a widespread and dangerous deficiency of experienced nurses who are needed to care for individual patients as well as the population as a whole. According to an article written by Littlejohn (2012) the nursing shortage needs appropriate intervention in order to prevent a serious public health crisis. Nursing is one of the largest groups of healthcare professionals whose has over 3.1 million Registered Nurses, but there are still not enough to care for the growing number of patients. AMN (2012) Study by Hecker (2004) suggested that in the year 2012 there would be a deficit of more than one million nurses. The shortage of nurses has put the patient as well as nurses at an increased risk for injury.

Once reading this essay will encouraged appreciate the significance of how health care admin remain with some problematic discussions, when it comes to the superiority of care. As well as how it may affect everyone the health care ring. Shortly after that will be three topics that will be discussed. That will tell of ways of enlightening the quality of health. There will also be some disagreements along the way.

This addressed ways in which the nurses could increase their participatory involvement in their professional community. One of the most telling facets of the meeting was the in depth discussion of key issues and challenges within the nurse force. Many issues broached during the meeting included ethical, emotional, relational and corporate concerns. The discourse on these pervasive problems served a few functional purposes. Firstly, they explained issues commonly faced by nurses, allowing people to find a sense of common ground. The communal dilemma among all nurses suddenly became evident, in spite of their differences in education or background. This served to advance and evolve the nurses as a whole, making them more empathetic contributors to the healthcare field.

Nurse to patient ratios is an important topic in health care today. The quality of care and safety of patients is a priority that demands constant improvement. The effect that nurse to patient ratios has on these matters has been the focus of many studies. One study found that the risk of patient mortality increases 7% per patient that a nurse is responsible for (Ratios, 2015). This percentage can become dangerously elevated when the nurse to patient ratio is high.