Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper

Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper

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Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue
Develop a 2 to 3-page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following:
• Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).
• Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.
• Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.

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Description

Nursing staffing shortages is one of the prevailing challenges in the healthcare system, and it is influenced by a high demand for professionals, which is not met by a steady supply of professionals in the field. The issue is also associated with a high turnover rate, particularly in the public healthcare sector. Many nurses opt to work for private entities because of the quality of the workplace, flexible hours, and enticing compensation and reward programs. Studies have revealed that the turnover rate in public healthcare organizations is relatively high among younger nurses. Shortages in nursing staff compromises the quality of care and safety for patients. Additionally, the issue is likely to result in burnout among nurses since they are forced to work overtime, while being delegated more tasks in the workflow. Burnout is one of the reasons associated with negligence, errors, and malpractice among nurses (Broome & Marshall, 2021)Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper. Organizations facing shortage in nursing staff are often associated with poor performance, in terms of the satisfaction level of the patients because the few nurses may not have the capacity to sustain the demand for services. For instance, during the Covid-19 pandemic, shortages in nursing staff was one of the reasons for poor health outcomes among patients because they required close monitoring and assistance, while nurses were overwhelmed by the high number of patients requiring services.

Articles Summary

According to a study conducted by Yang et al., (2021)Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper, the Covid-19 pandemic revealed the influence of shortages in staffing in healthcare facilities. The focus of the study was a comparison of the effectiveness of the approaches used to sustain quality services to patients in organizations facing staffing shortage in the nursing department. Findings from the study revealed that it is necessary for healthcare organizations to adopt strategies that are effective in allocating the available human resources to cases in a manner that satisfies the needs of the customers. However, it was apparent that some of the facilities in the rural areas did not have the capacity to eliminate the complexities associated with shortage in nursing professionals. This was mainly because of their lack of delegation systems and information sharing platforms that were effective in promoting collaborative handling of the tasks. Urban healthcare organizations portrayed the capacity to work with limited numbers of nurses amid the increasing demand for services during the pandemic. The researchers recommended for managers in healthcare facilities to focus on developing effective strategies for delegating tasks and monitoring the performance of the nurses to ensure that the services are satisfactory to the consumers.

Jacobs (2021) argued that patients’ safety is greatly impacted by the number of nurses present in an organization to provide services. This was based on an analysis of scenarios, including the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby nursing shortages had a big impact on the recovery process for patients. Hospitals facing shortages in nursing professionals could not provide the relevant level of care for patients requiring close monitoring. This resulted in many patients developing complications and a higher mortality rate in some of the facilities. Nurses are the primary caregivers in hospitals, and their capacity to provide services has a direct impact on the quality of services and the safety levels of the patients.

How the Healthcare Issue is Being Addressed

The use of electronic health systems is one of the approaches being used by facilities to improve the quality of care despite facing shortages in nursing professionals. The enhancement of the capacity to utilize technology as a solution to effective care delivery is embedded in the fact that technology enables closer collaboration, effective monitoring of the patients, and efficient planning of tasks (Broome & Marshall, 2021)Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper. Shortage in nursing staff is a prevailing challenge in both public and private sectors, but the private entities seem to be more efficient in managing the crisis because of their adoption of technological solutions to reinforce the functions of the nurses. Additionally, there is a focus on the provision of better compensation and benefits programs for nurses in some of the facilities, which ensures there is a low turnover rate, while motivating the available nursing team to handle task effectively.

Strategies to Address the Organizational Impact of Nurse Shortage

Organizations in the healthcare system focus on the development of the capacity to attract more human resources in the nursing department by continuously improving the working conditions and the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. This approach is mainly focused on the new nurses to motivate their participation in the practice, while also eliminating the risk of being poached by the private entities. There is also a focus on the development of protocols that enhance collaborative care for patients, an initiative that guarantees that even during times of nursing staff shortages, the quality of care and safety for patients is enhanced (Broome & Marshall, 2021). There is also a focus on the improvement of the capacity for temporary hiring to enhance the effectiveness of the nursing teams. This was prompted by the experience during the Covid-19 pandemic, whereby healthcare facilities identified the need to expand their capacity in response to the surge in demand for nursing care.

Positive and Negative Impacts

One of the positive impacts of the issue is that it has made it necessary for innovation to be applied in healthcare. Shortage in nursing staff can be resolved through the adoption of technological solutions, including telehealth services, continuous monitoring of patients through artificial intelligence solutions, and the simplification of tasks through the use of electronic health systems and analytics (Broome & Marshall, 2021)Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper. However, shortage in nursing professionals is often associated with challenges in the line of poor health outcomes for the affected populations. Nurses are the first line of contact with patients; therefore, there is a need to ensure that there are sufficient professionals in this field in all organizations.

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References

Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From

expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

Jacobs, A. (2021). Nursing is in crisis: Staff shortages put patients at risk. New York Times.

Yang, B. K., Carter, M. W., & Nelson, H. W. (2021). Trends in COVID-19 cases, deaths, and staffing shortages in US nursing homes by rural and urban status. Geriatric Nursing, 42(6), 1356-1361 Shortages In Staffing In Healthcare Discussion Paper

Current Healthcare Issues

Nursing staffing shortages are among the most significant national stressors within the United States healthcare system. Specifically, the nursing shortage has increased dramatically following the COVID-19 outbreak due to a rise in demand for healthcare services. Nurses enhance patient care quality, safety, efficiency, and timeliness to achieve desired health outcomes (Bakhamis et al., 2019). Additionally, nurses transform healthcare organizations through leadership roles (Broome & Marshall, 2021). Therefore, the nursing shortage affects the US healthcare system adversely.

The shortage of nurses has impacted our healthcare organization negatively. Nurses’ workload has increased substantially in the healthcare organization to meet the high demand for healthcare services. Studies show that healthcare outcomes in medical facilities significantly depend on nurses’ workload (Norful et al., 2018). Therefore, nurses’ job performance, productivity, and ability to provide high-quality and safe patient care have been compromised, resulting in adverse health outcomes. The social determinant with the most significant effect on the nursing shortage is the decrease in nursing graduates in the United States. A lower number of nurse graduates is a significant challenge facing the United States healthcare system (Chan et al., 2021). As a result, it is challenging to meet the high demand for nurses nationwide.

The management has introduced various measures to address the nursing shortage in the healthcare organization. First, the organization hires contract nurses to meet the high nurse demand. Additionally, nurses are hired depending on the demand for healthcare services. For instance, more critical care nurses are hired to meet the increased demand for healthcare services in the emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic. These measures resolve nursing in the healthcare organization, improving the quality and safety of patient care.

References

Bakhamis, L., Paul, D.P., Smith, H., & Coustasse, A. (2019). Still an Epidemic: The Burnout Syndrome in Hospital Registered Nurses. Healthcare Management; 38(1):3-10

Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

Chan, G. K., Bitton, J. R., Allgeyer, R. L., Elliott, D., Hudson, L. R., & Burwell, P. M. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 on the nursing workforce: a national overview. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 26(2), 1–17.

Norful, A. A., de Jacq, K., Carlino, R., & Poghosyan, L. (2018). Nurse practitioner–physician comanagement: A theoretical model to alleviate primary care strain. Annals of Family Medicine, 16(3), 250–256.

NURS 6053 N MODULE 1 ASSIGNMENT  INSSTRUCTIONS

TOPIC: ANALYSIS OF A PERTINENT HEALTHCARE ISSUE

REQUIRED READING:

• Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader(3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
  • Chapter 2, “Transformational Leadership: Complexity, Change, and Strategic Planning” (pp. 34–62)
  • Chapter 3, “Current Challenges in Complex Health Care Organizations and the Quadruple Aim” (pp. 66–97)

Read any TWO of the following (plus TWO additional readings on your selected issue):

• Auerbach, D. I., Staiger, D. O., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2018). Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians—Implications for the physician workforceLinks to an external site.. New England Journal of Medicine, 378(25), 2358–2360.
• Gerardi, T., Farmer, P., & Hoffman, B. (2018). Moving closer to the 2020 BSN-prepared workforce goal.Links to an external site.American Journal of Nursing, 118(2), 43–45.
• Jacobs, B., McGovern, J., Heinmiller, J., & Drenkard, K. (2018). Engaging employees in well-being: Moving from the Triple Aim to the Quadruple AimLinks to an external site.. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42(3), 231–245.
• Norful, A. A., de Jacq, K., Carlino, R., & Poghosyan, L. (2018). Nurse practitioner–physician comanagement: A theoretical model to alleviate primary care strainLinks to an external site.. Annals of Family Medicine, 16(3), 250–256.
• Palumbo, M., Rambur, B., & Hart, V. (2017). Is health care payment reform impacting nurses’ work settings, roles, and education preparation?Links to an external site.Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(6), 400–404.
• Park, B., Gold, S. B., Bazemore, A., & Liaw, W. (2018). How evolving United States payment models influence primary care and its impact on the Quadruple AimLinks to an external site.. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 31(4), 588–604.
• Pittman, P., & Scully-Russ, E. (2016). Workforce planning and development in times of delivery system transformationLinks to an external site.. Human Resources for Health, 14(56), 1–15. doi:10.1186/s12960-016-0154-3. Retrieved from

https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12960-016-0154-3

• Poghosyan, L., Norful, A., & Laugesen, M. (2018). Removing restrictions on nurse practitioners’ scope of practice in New York state: Physicians’ and nurse practitioners’ perspectives Links to an external site.. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 30(6), 354–360.
• Ricketts, T., & Fraher, E. (2013). Reconfiguring health workforce policy so that education, training, and actual delivery of care are closely connected Links to an external site.. Health Affairs, 32(11), 1874–1880.

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INSTRUCTIONS:

The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of goals to pursue to maintain and improve healthcare. Within each goal are many issues that, if addressed successfully, may have a positive impact on outcomes. For example, healthcare leaders are being tasked to shift from an emphasis on disease management often provided in an acute care setting to health promotion and disease prevention delivered in primary care settings. Efforts in this area can have significant positive impacts by reducing the need for primary healthcare and by reducing the stress on the healthcare system.

Changes in the industry only serve to stress what has always been true; namely, that the healthcare field has always faced significant challenges, and that goals to improve healthcare will always involve multiple stakeholders. This should not seem surprising given the circumstances. Indeed, when a growing population needs care, there are factors involved such as the demands of providing that care and the rising costs associated with healthcare. Generally, it is not surprising that the field of healthcare is an industry facing multifaceted issues that evolve over time.

In this module’s Discussion, you reviewed some healthcare issues/stressors and selected one for further review. For this Assignment, you will consider in more detail the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. You will also review research that addresses the issue/stressor and write a white paper to your organization’s leadership that addresses the issue/stressor you selected.

To Prepare:

• Review the national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the Resources and reflect on the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for study.
• Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post for the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected.
• Identify and review two additional scholarly resources (not included in the Resources for this module) that focus on change strategies implemented by healthcare organizations to address your selected national healthcare issue/stressor.

The Assignment (2-3 Pages):

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Develop a 2 to 3 page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following:

• Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).
• Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.
• Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.