Using A Systems Theory Model

The nurses of today are just as important as doctors. Hospitals thrive on their training and skills to care for sick patients. Nurses are the heart and backbone of all hospital facilities. Nurse’s duties consist of injecting pharmaceutical drugs into a patients IV, measuring dosage, monitoring vital signs, keeping detailed logs of intake of medicine and other important procedures that go with the nursing profession. Hospitals all across the world depend on their valuable skills and determination to help people on their recovery (Olvera). There are different types of nurses, all which work in different paced environments. There are those who work in a calm setting were a patient is scheduled for a long stay, and then there are those who work in the emergency room, intensive care unit (ICU), nursing homes, schools and many more diverse areas (Olvera). The emergency room is a fast paced and hardcore working facility. Nurses within that department depend on their high energy and focus to make fast and accurate decisions (Ibid). It is hard to imagine a hospital with a shortage of nurses, but every day it becomes more perceptible that the U.S is going to be faced with a nursing crisis for the years to come (Tieman).

Nurses work in systems that are complex, rapidly changing, and beleaguered with financial and workforce pressures. One response to these chal­lenges is to find alternative ways to make an insufficient or detrimental system work for the nurse to get the job done and to achieve the desired patient out­come. While perhaps well intention-ed to produce the desired result, workarounds

"Results of this study point to the need to enhance nursing teamwork on patient care units. If nursing staff are not satisfied, like workers in general, they will be more likely to leave their position/occupation and/or to have a lower level of productivity. Moreover, increased teamwork would lead to safer and higher quality of care."

Rosa stated that, “Teamwork and communication is a must when achieving quality care for the patients”. (Rosa D Witcher, personal communication, February 4, 2014). A typical day on the unit for Rosa consists of admitting patients, taking patients vital signs, drawing blood, bathing and dressing patients, moving patients from bed to chairs, transporting patients to various departments for test, and discharging patients. The most stressful days in her line of work arise when other nurses call out for scheduled work days and miscommunications. When nurses call out from work, the burden for other nurses becomes overwhelming. The other nurses must take on more patients for their shift unless a nurse is called to their unit for help.

obligations in documents and alerts. Ease-of-use and functionality of workflow processes in the EHR system are key considerations for selecting the system vendor. Consequently, the needs assessment, readiness assessment, and the workflow analysis are fundamental steps to decide if an EHR system is convenient to be implemented in your healthcare facility, however the workflow analysis will guide you in choosing and purchasing the best system that fits your institution. Mapping the workflow for various tasks enables recognizing the features and functionalities that should be in the EHR system. These features are important to be presented for the vendor as scenarios, and it is recommended to ask the vendor to show you how a patient record is initiated and managed based on your previous presented scenarios. This allows you to compare between vendors and clarify the usage of the software for various workflows in your institution. Only scenario-based demonstrations elaborate if the system’s smooth usability matches your institution workflow or not. Finally, it is critical to test-drive the system by yourself

Each department works together to create a smooth streamline transition for every patient. The employees, from customer service to administration to physicians, work on the same level with one another and share in the passion of treating and healing their patients. The employees continue their focus of their patients to the patient’s family as well.

Our organization additionally utilizes a system called Verint. This system shows all employees work schedules, time off, sick time, vacation days in real time. T. Pedicone explained she can see staffing on a day to day basis of what nurses are working, how many nurses are working, how many are off in each department. Between the use of the dashboards and Verint, staffing decisions can be made in real time to meet the changing arrival patterns of cases throughout the day. The nursing departments under T. Pedicone were all cross trained to be multifunctional and to be able fill voids where necessary based on incoming arrival patterns. The integration of dashboards and Verint allows the Director to be sure that we have the right people with the right skills at the right time (T. Pedicone, personal communication, January 23,

This is a very complex system involving many subsystems such as physicians group including attending physicians, residents, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, nurses, technicians, laboratory

As a new formal leader, I created a Children’s Emergency Department visibility board as part of New York Presbyterian’s lean management and tiered huddle initiative. Working closely with the Chief Operating Officer and utilizing his publications on the standardization of workflow and practice, along with the knowledge I have obtained from my role as a clinical nurse, I created a visibility board displaying unit initiatives and improvement ideas that address several categories, including quality, cost, delivery, safety and morale. The visibility board has not only increased staff awareness of the unit and hospital initiatives, it has driven nurse excellence by motivating the staff to improve patient care. Providing information that previously may have only been known by management and seeing its impact on the unit’s nurses has shown me the importance of being transparent. This transparency has provided nurses with the ability to take action on issues that they see in a standardized

With the implementation of new software systems or new methods of performing tasks, there is often some level of resistance. Properly introducing the new idea, its feasibility and purpose is a necessary aspect of getting one’s current staff onboard and in cooperation with the plan. They need to understand the importance of system implementation and its implication on their daily performance of patient care. Nursing is an ever-evolving profession, one with many facets of care. Nurses must constantly adapt to changes in their daily working habits. A nature of commitment to new ways of working is vital to the delivery of safe and efficient healthcare. However, emotions can inhibit the way change is accepted. “Implementing sustainable and meaningful change means supporting each individual to find value in new ways of working” (Bowers, 2011, para. 1). Unexpected change lends itself to uncertainty, and fear of the unknown. Therefore, being able to identify reasons for resistance, and working to quell these levels of resistance are important in a constructive manner, this helps with progression.

Critical care nursing is a roller coaster ride. It has a lot of surprises throughout the day and you never know what is around the corner. Our Critical Care Step-Down Unit here at Davenport Hospital has a capacity of 30 beds (6 private and 12 semi-private rooms). 2 West accommodates a variety of patients such as adult postsurgical, trauma, seizures, renal failure, and myocardial infraction patients. This unit provides care for patient that have been discharged from an Intensive Care unit, but they are not stable and require a high level of monitoring before they return in a general medical surgical floor. Lately our unit has been struggled with staff shortage. It has been weeks that in the day shift there are only 3 register nurses and each of them provide care to 6 or 7 patients. Based on the hospital protocol policy nurse-to-patient ratio in a step-down unit must be 1:4 or fewer at all times. In addition, I am designing this written proposal to seek approval of hiring a new critical care nurse in 2 west step-down unit. The above proposed nursing position will definitely benefit both the unit staff and patient population. The nursing shortage can easily lead to nursing burnout such as fatigue, injuries, and dissatisfaction. Also, nurses that work in such conditions are more predisposed on making mistakes and medical errors. This proposal will definitely benefit the patient who are being treated on this unit as well. According to Huber (2014), “effective staffing has been

Over the past twenty years, research has established a clear correlation between insufficient nursing staff and poor patient outcomes. An increased incidence of medication errors, infection, pressure ulcers, sepsis, falls, and death rates have been reported due to inadequate staffing and unmanageable workloads (The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, 2012). When patients come to the hospital they rightfully expect that nurses will have the time and ability to manage their care in a holistic and safe manner. Instead, nurses are given unmanageable patient loads and end up rushing through care, negatively impacting the well-being of the patient, the nurse, and even the health care system.

*In America today, we see generations that are all about possessions rather than adventure and exploration. We live in a time were people express themselves with the things they have and not the accomplishments that got them there. According to the Worlds Systems Theory, the way society has changed is not due to parenting, but the bigger agendas that are happening around us. This approach was created through the changes that occurred throughout history. Furthermore, I will discuss how this song illustrates the concept of the World Systems Theory.

The Nurse Journal wrote about a study that evaluated the workflow process amongst RN’s, LPN’s and support staff. They changed the way particular clinics were doing things to see if it had any impact. They would re-evaluate the clinic in 6 months. During this time, the team members roles were changed, daily goal sheets were implemented, unit huddles were used for better communication. . Staff members need a standardized form of communication. Based on the Nurse Journals research he reason that team members were not happy in their workplace was because of these five dysfunctions: absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results. The significance of the research provided real-life

The tasks that are neglected are due to improper staffing levels in the hospital, forcing the nurses to place priorities on the most critical components of patient care. When provided with appropriate staffing ratios, the staff is better equipped to deliver patient care and the various unplanned task that arise in daily patient care. Studies have shown, “a higher proportion of RNs among the nursing staff is associated with shorter hospital stays and lower failure-to-rescue rates, inpatient mortality, cardiac arrest and hospital-acquired pneumonia rates” (Hinno et al., 2012).