Below is an excerpt that I
found on the American Nurses Association (ANA) website discussing the top three
issues in hospital-based nursing. After
each section, I will discuss why I think this is an
issue, an example, and suggestions about how we, the next generation of nurses,
can improve the current nursing issues.
(My responses will be color coded similar to the above text)
Safe
Staffing Levels:
For the practicing RN, staffing is an issue of
both professional and personal concern. Inappropriate staffing levels can not
only threaten patient health and safety, and lead to greater complexity of
care, but also impact on RNs’ health and safety by increasing nurse pressure,
fatigue, injury rate, and ability to provide safe care.
ANA
has worked continuously to ensure that safe staffing levels are recognized and
implemented through surveys, research, data collection, and legislative means,
and other activities.
Nursing shortage is a problem everywhere, and is only expected
to become worse as many of the boomer nurses pursue retirement. Hospitals are constantly fighting in the
battle of budget versus adequate staffing.
With changes in insurance reimbursement, this battle will undoubtedly
continue. There is also an inadequate
number of nurse educators, therefore schools can only accept small groups of
nursing students into each class.
I have two jobs; both in health care. One job is at a clinic and one at a
hospital. At both jobs, I see the
nursing shortage, firsthand. At the
clinic, the nurses are constantly multi-tasking and are forced work long hours
in order to complete their work. At the
hospital, nurses are asked on a daily basis if they can stay to work a double
because they are short.
Improving the nursing education in a way that would allow more
students to graduate and get in the work force would benefit the nursing
shortage immensely. Hospitals could hire
more casual/per diem workers to cover shifts when they are short-staffed. Putting a scheduling cap on nurses hours
would force the hospital to hire more nurses.
The hospital would not have to pay time and a half for all of the
overtime that is disbursed, and could use that money to pay new nurses to cover
the need.
Mandatory
Overtime:
Staff
nurses across the nation are reporting a dramatic increase in the use of
mandatory overtime as a staffing tool. This dangerous staffing practice, in
part due to a nursing shortage, is having a negative impact on patient care,
fostering medical errors, and driving nurses away from the bedside.
ANA really understands the root cause of this issue; the nursing
shortage. There is no other reason that
overtime would be mandatory, especially being that it negatively contributes to
patient safety and medical errors.
At the clinic I work for, there is no policy that mandates
overtime; however, when clinic runs late the nurse really is forced to stay
past her scheduled time. The hospital
that I work for does not practice mandatory overtime.
My solution is to educate more nurses, get them into the work
force, and hire them to fill the nursing needs.
Legislature should also get involved in solving this issue. The risk of medical errors and unsafe care is
worth fighting for.
Safety
on the Job:
Staff
nurses work hard on the job, but they shouldn’t have to risk their health to do
so. ANA is always working on ways to keep you and your workplace safe.
·
Safe Patient Handling - Back injuries are
always a danger, so ANA mounted a profession-wide effort to reduce them. This campaign
includes greater education and training, workplace information on increased use
of assistive equipment, and efforts to reshape government ergonomics policies
to protect nurses.
·
Safe Needles - Safer needle devices and procedures will keep
you safer, and ANA has information on this important program through our Safe
Needles Save Lives campaign.
·
Preventing Workplace Violence - No staff
nurse should have to deal with violence in the workplace, whether from staff,
patients or visitors. See our information on ways to help your employer prevent
this. Replacing Hazardous Products - Hazardous chemicals, toxins, and dangerous
waste products may be a part of the workplace, but there are ways to reduce and
replace them. ANA's environmental health campaign has collected information and
procedures to protect your environment.
·
Preventing Influenza - Influenza no doubt
impacts your workplace, but there are ways to learn about it and prevent it.
ANA's Influenza Initiative gives you the information you and your patients
need.
There is always a risk that a nurse may be exposed to something unintentionally
at the workplace; however, we take many actions to prevent such things from occurring. By using proper PPE and precaution, we are
not only keeping ourselves safe, but we are also doing it to keep our other
patients safe.
The hospital I work for utilizes bright signs to caution staff of
patients’ precaution status and uses reminders to wash hands and cover
coughs. On the oncology unit, we take
special precaution by using special gowns and gloves while disposing of
patients bodily fluids when they are receiving chemotherapy, also while
handling hazardous drugs.
Proper training and continuous education is key to solving this
problem. It may be beneficial to have annual
skill fairs to test nurses’ knowledge and capability to use safety
equipment.
American Nurses Association. (2013). Top issues for staff nurses. Retrieved from http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/Staff-Nurses/staffnurses
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