In the VHA Workforce and Succession Strategic Plan of 2016, VISN aggregated data cites Registered Nurse as the 2nd highest Mission Critical Occupation in FY 2016 through 2022. VHA projects 39,256 RN losses from attrition over that six year span. Turnover is expected to be high because of early career quit rates, staffing shortages, voluntary retirement, staff satisfaction issues, and from the overall high mission critical nature of the RN position within VHA. On top of nurse attrition, the VHA continues to face increased competition for skilled nurses from private sector medical facilities. When competing against private sector facilities, recruitment and retention is particularly difficult for nurses with advanced professional skills, knowledge…
Nurse staffing is taking center stage in the legislative arena because of the ongoing nursing shortage and the imminent retirement of many nurses. “Identifying and maintaining the appropriate number and mix of nursing staff is critical to the delivery of quality patient care. Numerous studies reveal an association…
Zinn, Guglielmi, Davis, and Moses (2012) noted that the present shortage of registered nurses will grow to a staggering 1 million by the year 2020. With this being said, the need to attract, properly train, and retain nursing staff is crucial to the future of health care. It is well known among nurses that the first year working as a new nurse is one of the hardest. Jones-Bell, Halford-Cook, and Parker (2018) recognize that entry into practice is often described as difficult and conflicting between expectations and reality. Besides the incongruence between nursing education and nursing practice, the job itself is stressful and requires skills, confidence, and competence in order to deliver safe patient care.…
Nurses have an integral and important role in the health care system. In the long run, suitable nurse to patient ratios will reduce spending and recruitment and retention of quality nurses will improve. Staffing needs and problems will intensify as the changing need for health care grows in our society. In order to retain nurses and have quality patient care, sufficient nurse to patient ratios must be obtained. Hiring additional staff is an economic issue, however, the outcomes could offset the cost.…
In turn, many new nurses resign within their first year due to overwhelming workloads and stress. (Berry, Parasuraman, & Zeithaml, 1994). This issue is the root of nursing shortage concerns in healthcare organizations.…
Mandating Nurse-Patient Ratios • Data shows that lowering the nurse-patient ratio similar to the California mandated ratios will result in lower mortality rates (Aiken et al., 2010). • When the workload is decreased nurses are more successful in identifying a change in patients’ health status, therefore able to intervene and provide a better outcome for the patient (Aiken et al., 2010). • Reports of job dissatisfaction and nurses’ burnout decreased when the nurse-patient ratio in other states were equaled to the California mandated ratios (Aiken et al., 2010). • Research shows that lowering the amount of workload for nurses’ results in fewer mistakes, improved nursing care, a supportive staff, and an overall better working environment (Aiken…
The argument I will be addressing in my persuasive essay will be about the unfair workload of nurses. I will be arguing that nurses are overworked and do not have the support of the administrators. My main argument is to have the administrators hiring more nurse staff or to lower the ratio of nurse to patient. This argument is derived from my field of work. I am an RN, and I work in the same circumstances.…
Turnover In the healthcare setting, it has been studied that within the current staffing, scheduling, and patient care levels, something are needed to be done to avoid unsafe circumstances (Richards). If any of these examples become a problem, a nurse may start to think of turnover. Turnover is the effect of quitting a job. Richards states that in the nursing field, it is common for nurses to turnover because of how little time they get for themselves or sleep time (Richards).…
Inadequate staffing levels on inpatient psychiatric units has several down sides, for example, there is an increased risk for nurse burn out, decreased nurse satisfaction, high staff turnover rates, risk for poor patient outcomes, increased risk for patient on staff and patient on patient violence, and increase risk for safety concerns to patients and staff. All of these issues are currently costly to time, resources and finances. Four years ago the American Psychiatric Nurses Association identified how these issues are impacting the care of psychiatric patients and call for changes to be made in staffing (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2011). However, there has continued to be no recommendations or staffing models developed to remedy this issue.…
The let-down on ensuring the equate amount of nurse staffing has revealed such a damaging impact on the patient. This problem cannot be based on just adequate staffing, it is also a problem with the patient care and…
Isn’t it strange how nurses are well-known to render patient care, yet their actions influence adverse patient outcomes? Nurses play a significant role with the improvement of patients’ health. Given a shortage of nursing staff cannot be controlled, the intense workload assigned to nurses with higher patient proportions affects quality patient care and increases nurse burnout. When hospitals are short staffed, nurses tend to take alternative routes to make sure tasks are completed within their shifts which then cause harmful effects on patients including medication errors, nosocomial infections, and pressure ulcers (Cho et al., 2016; Frith, Anderson, Tseng, & Fond, 2012). Short staffing is an ongoing problem in acute hospital settings.…
1. Staff shortage is one of the biggest issues in many health care organizations in the united states. It has a direct relationship with the poor patient outcomes and unstable health care system. In our department as we all noticed that every month we have to provide orientation to the new nurses and other health care providers, which has a negative impact on the health status of patients. Old staffs are more experienced than new staffs so they have better skills and knowledge to deal with health care challenges so it is most crucial to minimize the shortage of staffs.…
Within the next ten years, more than one million registered nurses in the United States will be eligible for retirement. This will potentially leave the nursing profession with the largest shortage in history. The need for health care is only growing due to the aging baby boomer population. “Nursing researchers have noted that the projected nursing shortage, if not rectified, is expected to affect health care cost, job satisfaction and quality patient care” (Lartey, 2014, p. 1027). Without an adequate number of nurses’ patient safety is at risk, resulting in medical errors due to understaffing.…
A nursing shortage provides opportunities for future nurses; however, it causes consequences as well. The impacts of low nursing levels have several negative effects, such as increased risk for medical errors, death, workplace injuries, etc. For a healthcare facility to work efficiently, effectively and safely, there needs to be a sufficient number of working nurses and experienced nurses available to care for patients. Since there is a close connection between patient safety and nurses, staffing levels have become a concern for the public, government and healthcare…
Nurses and providers have an important role to play in the health care system. High patient to staff ratio is an essential feature in ensuring patient safety and quality of health care provided (Manion, 2012). Adequate staffing is a key requirement for nurse retention and patient care. While on the other hand, inadequate staff ratios endangers the patient’s life and the quality of care provided by driving the nurses away from their profession (Connecticut, 2000).…