The Revolutionary Transformation Of The Healthcare Delivery System

The economic impact on healthcare has taken its toll on the number of registered nurses providing bedside care to patients, compromising patient safety and dramatically increasing the potential for negative outcomes. Several factors have immensely contributed to the nursing shortages over the years, including healthcare organizations downsizing, increased workloads, inadequate staffing plans and job dissatisfaction. Mandated nurse-to-patient staffing ratios have been implemented in several states to date with many more trying to pass some type of legislation. Have these ratios affected the quality of care or is it more realistic to create staffing committees that are based on each unit’s unique situation and varying requirements?

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the problems related to inappropriate nurse-patient ratios and provide suggestions that may improve the problem. The American Nurses Association advocates for proper number of nursing staff for delivery of quality patient care. However, hospitals are faced with problems related to decreasing staff levels. The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2015 provides for patient protection by establishing safe staffing levels. This bill requires the staff nurse to be actively involved on committees and in the development of unit-based staffing plans. The formation of the Protest of Assignment allows nurses to advocate for change to ensure proper patient care. Nurse recruitment is another challenge that is

I am writing to you in regard to safe patient ratio bill titled Safe Nurse Staffing for Patient Safety and Quality Care Act. My name is Angelina David and I am a registered nurse and practicing in the surgical intensive care unit. I am also enrolled in the Adult nurse practitioner program to further advance my knowledge in nursing. One thing I have learned is that as nurses no matter what the level of care or which facility you are practicing; patients’ safety is our number one priority. Patients’ safety and their quality of care have improved over the year. However, oftentimes nurses are still placed into a situation where it is unsafe to practice because they are required to care for more patients than it is safe.

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,

Primarily, it is crucial for health care organizations to focus on ensuring safe and quality patient care, as well as improved job satisfaction by enforcing an optimal and adequate nurse-to-patient ratio and creating innovative and long-term strategies through a collaborative effort. In order to ensure the safety of patients and nurses, state-mandated safe-staffing ratios are necessary. Adequate nurse staffing is key to patient care and nurse retention, while inadequate staffing puts patients at risk and drives nurses from their profession. As baby boomers age and the demand for health care services grows, staffing problems will only intensify. Consequently, safe-staffing ratios have become such an ever-pressing concern. In 2004, California became the first state to implement minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, designed to improve patient care and nurse retention. Subsequent studies show that California’s program measurably improved patient care and nurse retention.

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).

The influx of insured patients due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) needs to be met with an increase in health care providers to ensure adequate and safe patient care. Currently, there are issues regarding safe staffing within hospitals that leaves the patient’s and healthcare providers’ safety at

It is not a secret that for many years there has been a detrimental nursing shortage in the United States. Factors that contribute to the unfortunate decrease in availability of nurses and other health care professionals can be attributed to a shortage of nursing school instructors which impacts enrollment into nursing schools, and many in the health care profession are nearing retirement age. The need for health care continues to steadily increase as the baby boomer generation ages. In order to meet these demands, there has to be adequate staff in the workplace. After an extended amount of time dealing with unsafe staff to patient ratio it has come the time to take action and devise solutions rather than letting patient care suffer. After comparing a variety of possible solutions, the most feasible was to create and implement a clear updated set of regulations, and formulate a law to enforce the same. The proposed solution will address the ineffectiveness of current health care staffing regulations, propose a law that will enforce safe staff to patient ratios, mandate that all parties involved in developing health care laws be members of the health care field themselves, and work to maintain a strict continuous reassessment phase to ensure that all changes remain beneficial. With the help of the entire health care community the implementation of this proposed solution will create a dramatic decrease in adverse patient outcomes while increasing patient and staff

One element of an external environmental assessment is the complicated, dynamic process of a competitor analysis. The new paradigm of healthcare delivery makes it necessary for organizations to think about their competitive edge, something that healthcare administrators did not have to think about in the past. Ginter, Duncan, and Swayne (2013) identify the essential elements of a service area competitor analysis: establishing the categories of service; determine the service area, the geographical boundaries; and identification and analysis of weaknesses and strengths of those vying for the same market share (p. 78). Today’s healthcare leaders need to think beyond the facilities that are most close, owing to the fact that consumers of care are willing to move past their neighborhoods to centers of excellence that deliver the highest quality care. Leaders also need to consider service providers that are dissimilar in structure. These ventures are new to the healthcare market, offering one profitable, specialized service. Market niches should not be overlooked or underestimated because they are likely contenders (Ginter et al. p. 80). This paper offers a competitive analysis for detoxification, the first level of treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). There is a discussion of the service category and service area of one treatment offered in a freestanding psychiatric facility in metro Boston, Massachusetts, and ends with a discussion on how the

The goal of the LeadingAge Texas is to implement higher direct staffing hours for each resident allowing for positive outcomes, which is what the government was trying to accomplish through Texas Quality Incentive Payment Program (QIPP). QIPP implemented the goals of decreased pressure ulcers, decreased usage of antipsychotics, decrease in falls, and physical restraints (Texas Quality Incentive Payment Program, 2016). While these incentives assist in improving quality care, quality care starts at adequate quality staffing. Staffing is the key to quality care and is what consumers advocate; however, the nursing industry would rather implement incentive programs (Harrington et al., 2016). As shown by the failure of QIPP and NHQRE, quality staffing is needed to improve the quality of care.

H.R. 5052- Safe Staffing for Nursing and Patient Safety act of 2018 was introduced by Ohio representative David Joyce. House bill 5052 is critical to both nurse and patient safety. Proper patient to nurse ratio decreases the incidence of medical error, retention of staff and the accountability of a hospital wide staffing plan for nursing services. Mandated nurse staffing committees, Input from RN’s who provide direct care, a long side accountability of Medicare participating hospitals through evaluation and data collection in my opinion, is why Bill 5052 must pass.

Nursing is the powerhouse in the delivery of safe, quality patient-centered care in the healthcare industry. To ensure continued safety of the patient and nursing staff, the issue of inadequate staffing must be addressed. Consequently, patient’s mortality rate has been linked to the level of nursing staff utilized in ensuring an utmost outcome (Aiken, 2011). This paper will outline the issue associated with inadequate nurse to patient staffing ratios in the hospital setting; essential factors such as economic, social, ethical and political and legal affecting the issue will be established; current legislature and stakeholders will be ascertained and policy option, evaluation of bill and the results of analysis will be reviewed.

The delivery of healthcare has evolved and changed over the years and with the advances in science and technology, the ability to provide safe, quality care to all patients has been impacted by the changes. With the rising healthcare costs and decrease in reimbursement for care provided, organizations must look for ways of cost containment to maintain viability for the future. Fabre (2005) noted that administrators are struggling to maintain financial stability and retain competent nurses during these difficult

In the challenge of the increasing demand and pressures on health attention from the general public, the aging populations, and development of new technologies calls for policies that are ready to embrace the new patients’ needs. Registered Nurse safe staffing Act was introduced to US senate in April, 2015 and the goal is that every healthcare provider or hospital stablish an appropriate number of registered nurses provide direct patient care in each unit and on each shift of the hospital to ensure staffing levels that: address the unique characteristics of the patients and hospital

One of the many goals of the nursing profession is to provide high-quality, safe patient care. There are many responsibilities that come with a nursing career and when the nurse to patient ratio increases, there is a possibility that it may hinder the safe care that patients deserve, and this may result in negative patient outcomes and level of satisfaction. Staffing is one of the many issues that healthcare facilities face. In many facilities, there never seems to be enough nurses per shift to provide high quality, thorough patient care which often leads to burnt out staff, and frustrated patients and families. This review discusses the findings of quantitative studies and one systematic review that involves patient outcomes in relation to nurse staffing.