NURS4105 Advocacy Through Health Care Policy

Introduction

Nursing staffing policy is an ideal approach to assist in the increase of quality care to patients. The ratio of one nurse for every five patients ensures that each patient is accorded enough medical attention. Fagin (2001) contributes to the fact that nurses can detect early signs and symptoms of illnesses affecting the patient due to lessened work-load. In the case of two intensive care patients, regular monitoring of their progress contributes to their quick recovery.

How the policy addresses staffing requirements

The policy sets the requirements of one nurse to six patients which create the conditions for the nurse to balance energy resources towards the number of patients without burnout. Such requirements allow hospital to distribute nurses within the facility according to the workload of each station (Aiken et al., 2010).  Aiken et al. (2010) suggests that the study focused on addressing the link between nurse challenges to the quality of work that they perform on patients.  The study was based on 168 hospitals in Pennsylvania where it was discovered that the chances of patient mortality increased with the additional workload that nurses encountered.  Further, Coffman (2002) reported that additional patients to every nurse created a workload with increased burnout on the nurses of 23% and affected the level of patient satisfaction within the facility. These results indicate the need to reduce the nurse-patient ratio and set the minimum to achieve the required levels. Therefore, the role of the policy is to achieve required patient nurse ratio to increase quality of care from nurses and reduce nurse burnout.

How the policy does an effective job in addressing staffing requirements

Research by Sochalski et al. (2008) used the data in hospitals before the minimum ratio for patients was set to the minimum requirement. The outcome of staffing requirements is reduced mortality increased quality of care since nurses were able to allocate more time to patients. Hospitals that had the worst staffing rations in the past reaped these benefits since they realized an increased number of customer satisfaction levels and reduced mortalities as a result of improved quality of care. The legislation led to the best results within the medical care facility since hospitals were reaping the intended benefits of staffing ratios.

Poor staffing leads to errors and omissions by nurses due to the massive workload. It may be compromising to patients in areas like surveillance, follow-ups and general care in cases of delicate situations.  From a study done on California nurses where the staffing policy was implemented in comparison to other states, Aiken et al. (2010) found out that lower workloads in California translate into better evaluations of their work environments. This rendered favorable nurse to patient outcomes in hospitals where the ratio was applied. Nurses in hospitals that were understaffed seemed at discomfort with their work places and were on constant lookout for other hospitals that provided better work environments.

Role of nurses in addressing quality and safety standards in the staffing policy

Staffing policies seek to ensure a balance between the nurse and patients within a healthcare system. The role of the nurse is to meet all the requirements and qualifications that a profession should have. When staffing policies are put in place, the burden is not only on the institution or government that are interested in meeting the standards but rather the burden that every nurse receives in taking care of patients. Cordova (2017) states that when policies are put in place, they set requirements for both parties that are affected. This policy also places a burden on every nurse to ensure that they meet all the required standards.

The position to take in my Position Paper

Although research has not adequately pointed to the impact of nursing staffing ratio, it s worth noting that it has many positive impacts attributed to both the patient, practitioner and hospital facility (Kalisch & Lee, 2010). Through research strategies like direct observation, identifying problems affecting patients, and working on strategies to put proper intervention mechanisms in place, the results of the policy can easily be realized. The need to staff nurses properly has a direct impact on patient outcome since they play a larger role of ensuring quality of care with patients suffering from heart problems. Through participatory methods, institutions can reap the best outcome from nurse staffing and quality control mechanisms within the healthcare system. Therefore, policies on nurse staffing create greater impacts in the outcome of patients and reduction of mortality. States and the national government should enact these policies and ensure that enough resources are channeled towards this course of action to achieve the intended results. This will allow healthcare system to reap the intended demands of increasing the quality of healthcare outcomes and reducing nurse burn outs.

References

Aiken, L.H., Sloane, D.M, Cimiotti, J.P., Clarke, S.P., Flynn, L., Seago, J.A.,…Smith, H.L. (2010) .Implications of the California Nurse Staffing Mandate for other States. Health Services Research. 45(4):904–953.

Cordova, P. B. (2017). Staffing and nurse-perceived quality of care. Evidence Based Nursing , 16 (60), 263-271.

Coffman J.M., Seago J., A, Spetz J. (2002). Minimum Nurse-to-Patient Ratios in Acute Care Hospitals in California. Health Affairs. ; 21(5):53–64.

Fagin C., (2001).When Care Becomes a Burden: Diminishing Access to Adequate Nursing. New York, NY: Milbank Memorial Fund.

Kalisch B., & Lee K. (2010). The Impact of Teamwork on Missed Nursing Care.Nursing Outlook.58 (5):233–247.

Sochalski J., Konetzka RT., Zhu J., Volpp K. (2008) Will Mandated Minimum Nurse Staffing Ratios Lead to Better Patient Outcomes? Medical Care. ; 46(6):606–13.