NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Discussion- Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Healthcare policies are essential to determine how patient care is accessed and administered. The production and outcomes of a policy is essential. There are multiple competing needs that impact healthcare policy decision making. The workforce, resources and patients impact policy decision making as these are core components of a healthcare setting.
The workforce is described as the healthcare setting environment and staffing. Nursing shortages continue to be an ongoing healthcare issue. Professional nurses are the largest occupational group in the healthcare sector, accounting for 59% of healthcare workers worldwide (World Health Organization, 2020). Healthcare issues such as chronic short staffing, overtime and lack of nursing retention contribute to burnout and nursing shortages across this country. Outflow, or reasons for leaving, included poor working conditions, limited involvement in decision-making and decreased collaboration (WHO,2020).
Another contributor to staffing shortages is compassion fatigue and burnout from working excessive overtime. Overtime has shown to affect both patient and nurse outcomes (Min et al., 2022). Although overtime is likely “voluntary”, it is unsafe and unhealthy for both the patients and the nurse providing patient care.
Including the workforce in policy decision making is essential. The staff are able to contribute real life experience to the policy development. For an example, nursing can help develop safe patient to nurse ratios and staffing grids. Limitations on how much overtime a person can work can be developed by the workforce. This would contribute greater success to the workforce.
Healthcare resources should be carefully considered when developing policies. Examples of healthcare resources include facilities, funds, equipment and supplies. Lack healthcare policies that focus on resources will negatively impact the workforce and patient care. A policy addressing the obtaining and inventory of medical supplies ensures that both the staff and the patients have access to adequate resources.
Patients can also contribute to the development and success of policies. Patient satisfaction surveys can be implemented to gather feedback from patients. This information can be used to improve weak areas of the patient experience. Ultimately this will contribute towards positive patient outcomes.
Including staff in the development of policies is the key factor to developing successful policies to reduce the national healthcare crisis of nursing and staffing shortages. These high turnover rates are due to many issues, with staff burnout and job dissatisfaction being leading contributors (Rajamohan et al., 2019). Healthcare entities that recognize the importance of valuing staff’s opinion will be successful in keeping staff.
Resources:
Min, A., Hong, H. C., Son, S., & Scott, L. D. (2022). Overtime and alertness of rotating‐shift nurses: An observational study using ecological momentary assessment. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 32(1-2), 199–207. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16218
Rajamohan, S., Porock, D., & Chang, Y. P. (2019). Understanding the relationship between staff and job satisfaction, stress, turnover, and staff outcomes in the person‐centered care nursing home arena. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 51(5), 560–568. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12488
World Health Organization. (2020, April 6). State of the world’s nursing report – 2020. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240003279
World Health Organization. (1970, January 1). State of the world’s nursing 2020: Executive summary. World Health Organization. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/331673
NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Discussion – Week 3
Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Quite often, nurse leaders are faced with ethical dilemmas, such as those associated with choices between competing needs and limited resources. Resources are finite, and competition for those resources occurs daily in all organizations.
For example, the use of 12-hour shifts has been a strategy to retain nurses. However, evidence suggests that as nurses work more hours in a shift, they commit more errors. How do effective leaders find a balance between the needs of the organization and the needs of ensuring quality, effective, and safe patient care?
In this Discussion, you will reflect on a national healthcare issue and examine how competing needs may impact the development of polices to address that issue.
To Prepare:
- Review the Resources and think about the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously selected for study in Module 1.
- Reflect on the competing needs in healthcare delivery as they pertain to the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously examined.
By Day 3 of Week 3
Post an explanation of how competing needs, such as the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients, may impact the development of policy. Then, describe any specific competing needs that may impact the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. What are the impacts, and how might policy address these competing needs? Be specific and provide examples.
By Day 6 of Week 3
Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by providing additional thoughts about competing needs that may impact your colleagues’ selected issues, or additional ideas for applying policy to address the impacts described.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
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4 months ago
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National Healthcare Issue/Stressor
The COVID-19 pandemic has initiated an upheaval in society and has significantly cause considerable stress during this pandemic. Healthcare professionals have been on the front line during this health crisis, particularly hospital nurses in all specialty. The focus of this study was to assess the high level of stress of healthcare workers during the first wave of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic by an international study is questionnaires disseminated from collecting online demographic and stress-related data over the globe, during the pandemic. Stress levels were evaluated using non-calibrated visual analog scale, from 0 (no stress) to 100 (maximal stress).
The main outcome was work-related stress, measured with the use of a visual analog scale i.e. a non-calibrated horizontal line ranging from minimum (0) to maximum (100). Visual analog scale of stress is a validated tool commonly used in daily practice. With this type of tool, participants can self-assess in a simple way the range of their possible feelings. Secondary outcomes were sociodemographic (age, sex), occupations (non-healthcare workers, medical doctors, paramedical staff), and working conditions (working in usual conditions, working in unusual conditions, interruption of work). This was a computerized questionnaire hosted on the secure REDCAP platform. It consisted of about 100 questions. The study presented here reports on the answers related to work-related stress. Depending on the answers given, individuals had access to all or part of the questionnaire.
Women Healthcare workers more affected:
In our study, whatever their profession, women had the highest levels of work-related stress during the first global lockdown. Our results concord with the literature revealing that women are more prone to stress, and may also suffer more from the negative psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Women often have a double life combining work and family life. This is even less reconcilable when both professional and family constraints increase. Indeed, families had to adapt to the closure of schools. Even in couples that shared the involvement in the education and care of children, women are still mostly implicated. Given these elements and the predominance of women in healthcare professionals, the WHO advised to study gender-specific consequences of the pandemic. Even if women have less severe forms of COVID, they were frightened of contracting COVID-19. They may also have been more impacted by the higher number of deaths and difficulties during the crisis. Women show greater psychophysiological concordance and consistency than men, and may therefore present more psychological vulnerability. Improving Work -Life Integration (WLI) is likely to improve healthcare worker’s quality of life, organizational outcomes and, ultimately, quality of care for patients (Schwartz et al., 2018).,
Healthcare System Taking action on burnout
According to National Libraryy of Medicine During COVID-19, employers were noticing the need for intervention. Through employee assistance programs (EAPs) or health care insurance, mental health programs were offered. Some programs offered by mental health staff are stress reduction, cognitive restructuring and reframing, and grief counseling. Mental health can also help a nurse to recognize and admit to symptoms of burnout. COVID-19 was an introduction of EAPs and mental health checks that should occur routinely. Nurses will not always admit or even recognize that they need mental health support. However, if one knows the signs of burnout, they can see it in nurses.
The national collaborative, which rolled out in 2017, has three main goals: better understanding the challenges to clinician well-being, raising the visibility of clinician stress and burnout, and elevating evidence-based solutions. To date, the collaborative has received commitments from more than 150 organizations, including health systems, hospitals, medical schools and state medical boards, to improve clinician well-being and curb burnout.
Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH, chief wellness officer at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City also co-chairs the national Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine, which this March co-published a first-of-its-kind charter in the Journal of the American Medical Association that outlines fundamental principles for supporting provider well-being. The charter has been endorsed by more than a dozen organizations, including the American Medical Association and Association of American Medical Colleges.
Preventing, promoting appropriate support for healthcare workers may significantly reduce the effects contibutind to burnouts in organization;
- Strong Interpersonal Relationships outside of work
- Work-Life Balance
- Healthy Lifestyle
- Decrease Stress
- Mindfulness
- Education
- Recognize Achievements
- Healthy work Enviroment
- Recommendtions
- Therapy
Conclusion NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
The COVID-19 pandemic has and will have consequences for every population. Nevertheless, healthcare professionals were more impacted than other workers by work-related stress. Paramedical staff were more impacted on than physicians. Across all occupational categories, age appears to mitigate work-related stress, and maybe due to the effects of experience. We were able to identify risk factors for high levels of work-related stress such as youth, female gender, paramedical professions and having maintained one’s professional activity. The impact of such a surge in work-related stress may inflict a second blow to already fragile healthcare systems. Adequately monitoring work-related stress and its effects on healthcare workers may be crucial to plan for post-pandemic adjustments. The finding that burnout and poor wellbeing are both associated with poorer patient safety has significant implications for policymakers and management teams within healthcare settings (Hall et al., 2016).
Reference NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Bangasser DA, Eck SR, Ordoñes Sanchez E. Sex differences in stress reactivity in arousal and attention systems. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019;44: 129–139. pmid:30022063
Broche-Pérez Y, Fernández-Fleites Z, Jiménez-Puig E, Fernández-Castillo E, Rodríguez-Martin BC. Gender and Fear of COVID-19 in a Cuban Population Sample. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2020; 1–9. pmid:32837428
Dutheil F, Duclos M, Naughton G, Dewavrin S, Cornet T, Huguet P, et al. WittyFit—Live Your Work Differently: Study Protocol for a Workplace-Delivered Health Promotion. JMIR Res Protoc. 2017;6: e58. pmid:28408363
Dutheil F, Pereira B, Moustafa F, Naughton G, Lesage F-X, Lambert C. At-risk and intervention thresholds of occupational stress using a visual analogue scale. PLoS One. 2017;12: e0178948. pmid:28586383
Lesage F-X, Berjot S, Deschamps F. Clinical stress assessment using a visual analogue scale. Occup Med. 2012;62: 600–605. pmid:22965867
Lesage FX, Berjot S. Validity of occupational stress assessment using a visual analogue scale. Occup Med Oxf Engl. 2011;61: 434–436. pmid:21505089
National Library of Medicine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8882221/
Notman MT, Nadelson CC. Medicine: A Career Conflict for Women. Am J Psychiatry. 1973;130: 1123–1127. pmid:472890
Rossi R, Socci V, Talevi D, Mensi S, Niolu C, Pacitti F, et al. COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures impact on mental health among the general population in Italy. An N = 18147 web-based survey. Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology; 2020 Apr.
Sandanger I, Nygård JF, Sørensen T, Moum T. Is women’s mental health more susceptible than men’s to the influence of surrounding stress? Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2004;39: 177–184. pmid:14999449
Schwartz, S. P., Adair, K. C., Bae, J., Rehder, K.J., Shanafelt, T.D., Profit, J., & Sexton, J.B 2018. Work-Life balance behaviors cluster in work settings and relate to burnout and safety culture: Across-sectional survey analysis BMJ Quality & Safety, 28 (2), 142-150. Doing: 10.1136/bmjqs 2018-007933
The National’s Health https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/48/8/1.3
Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17: 1729. pmid:32155789
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The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed many critical issues in the national healthcare system in the United States. The nursing shortage is among the top priorities because the whole system relies on nursing practitioners as the backbone. The statistics emphasize the urgent measures taken at each level of the government. As of March 2022, almost every state had taken executive actions to address the shortage, such as issuing temporary licenses to put nursing students to work (Zhavoronkova et al., 2022). The problem is significant enough to disregard the impact of competing needs in healthcare delivery.
Nursing shortage results from the impact of various external forces on the healthcare system. These include but are not limited to the aging population, aging workforce, nurse burnout, and population growth (Haddad et al., 2022). Therefore, the demand for registered nurses will be the highest among all professions. The reported growth will be at a faster rate (9%) than all other occupations, with more than 275,000 additional nurses being needed until 2030 (Haddad et al., 2022). The government actively invests in the development of nursing education and encourages more people to enter the profession and address the shortage. Nevertheless, the impact of competing needs in healthcare delivery persists. The available nurse workforce does not have sufficient resources to address all primary care needs. Alternative approaches such as preventative and chronic disease interventions and outpatient care models help close the gap, but they do not suffice (Korownyk et al., 2017). The nursing shortage is inextricably linked to diversity, aging, and education accessibility. For instance, the number of nurses has not kept up with the aging US population (Zhavoronkova et al., 2022). It implies that the new policies need to be comprehensive, addressing the factors and aspects of the healthcare issue.
In conclusion, the nursing shortage remains a central healthcare problem in the United States. It has many aspects and is related to other issues. Ignoring those related problems may not result in effective outcomes and a considerable increase in the nursing workforce. A more comprehensive approach is necessary for the government to ensure a long-term solution.
References: NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2022). Nursing shortage. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.
Korownyk, C., McCormack, J., Kolber, M. R., Garrison, S., & Allan, G. M. (2017). Competing demands and opportunities in primary care. Canadian Family Physician, 63(9), 664-668.
Zhavoronkova, M., Custer, B. D., Neal, A., & Schweitzer, J. (2022, May 23). How To Ease the Nursing Shortage in America. Center for American Progress. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-to-ease-the-nursing-shortage-in-america/
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Alejandro informative and insightful post on COVD-19 and healthcare shortage. According to Wiley Online Library. Nurses experience high levels of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, while several sociodemographic, social and occupational factors affect this burnout. The COVID-19 pandemic is a significant challenge for nurses worldwide and learning lessons from the first wave is imperative to prepare better strategies for the subsequent waves. Several measures could be introduced to mitigate the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses, e.g. screening for mental health illness and early supportive interventions for high-risk nurses, immediate access to mental health care services, designated rest periods, social support through hospital support groups to reduce feelings of isolation, sufficient personal protective equipment for all nurses to provide security etc. As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting worldwide and there are predictions for the following waves in the near future, there is a need to decrease nurses’ burnout and improve their mental health. Governments, health care organizations, and policymakers should act in this direction to prepare health care systems, individuals and nurses for a better response against the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is worth noting that protective factors regarding nurses’ burnout were found in some studies such as belief in readiness to cope with COVID-19 outbreak, willingness to participate in frontline work, prior training and experience in COVID-19 patients’ management, protection safety during the clinical work, and increased social support (García & Calvo, 2020; Hu et al., 2020). Since burnout is a multifactorial issue researchers should emphasize the importance of protective factors revealing at least the most important of them.
References: NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Wiley Online Library https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jan.14839
García, M., & Calvo, A. (2020). The threat of COVID-19 and its influence on nursing staff burnout. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(2), 832– 844. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14642
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4 months ago
Reema Felix
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You have chosen a very interesting topic and nurse shortage is indeed a major crisis that the healthcare system is facing right now. Nurses makes a major part of the healthcare system and some major reasons for the shortage are high turnover, inadequate distribution of workforce, aging work force, burnout, violence in healthcare settings, high patient- nurse ratio and lack of empowerment (Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., Toney-Butler, T. J., 2022). Healthcare system is in need for nurses around the nation due to the increase in patient demand and decreased supply and the demand continue to increase as years pass by. Lengthened lifespan due to more accessible healthcare stretches out the timeframe when the patient needing services, thus adding pressure to an already stressed healthcare system and greater number of aging populations also means a lot of nurses are reaching retirement age (University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences [USAHS],2022).
After the outbreak of covid-19 the working condition of nurses and other healthcare workers have become very stressful and demanding. Nurses were asked to work in unsafe condition without proper personal protective devices, understaffed and having to deal with critically ill patients. This resulted in a lot of nurses leaving the job due to fear of unknown. High staffing levels results in better patient outcomes, shorter hospital stays, and reduced death rates among patients and nurses are at the frontlines of the healthcare system, and it is important to address the shortage soon to prevent even worse crisis (Hamlin, K., 2022).
References NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., Toney-Butler, T. J. (2022). Nursing shortage. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books
Hamlin, K., (2022). Why is there a nursing shortage? Nurse Journal.
https://nursejournal.org/articles/why-is-there-a-nursing-shortage/
University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS),2022. The 2021 American nursing shortage: A data study.
https://www.usa.edu/blog/nursing-shortage/
Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
The healthcare systems have to provide the best quality of care to meet the rising demand for such services. The population growth, increasing percentage of the geriatric populations, and the emergence of many chronic illnesses contribute to the high demand for healthcare services. On the other hand, the rising costs of living make life unbearable for many and influence the many cases of mental health issues among the populations. The impact of the high cost of living is also evident in healthcare institutions. The U.S government introduced the Medicare and Medicaid program to increase access to healthcare services by people from low-income families. Such an initiative would increase their access to healthcare services. Besides, government policies on the Medicaid and Medicare programs require healthcare institutions to minimize unnecessary interventions and offer quality healthcare services to their patients. Healthcare institutions are always caught in the competing need to offer high-quality care which may require additional resources and reducing the cost of medication.
Description of the Competing Needs
The healthcare institution where I work is committed to offering the best healthcare services to patients. The institution services many people with more of them being from poor backgrounds. The access to healthcare services to the poor families increased courtesy of the Medicaid program. The increasing number of patients visiting the hospital meant that the institution had to recruit more staff. The healthcare institution adopted the patient-centered care delivery approach and this means that they would give adequate time to the patients’ interactions to obtain relevant data for better patient management. Spending more time on a patient was necessary for offering the best quality of care, making the right diagnoses, and minimizing undesirable outcomes in their patients. On the other hand, the approach would require that the hospital recruits more healthcare staff to meet the demand for healthcare services. Therefore, the need to have more staff to offer high-quality services and the need to reduce the cost of the medication will be competing.
Relevant Policy or Practice
In responding to the competing need, the healthcare institution developed a policy that would require the healthcare providers to have mandatory overtime. Though the policy would increase the cost of a treatment since the nurses for the overtime; the cost incurred will be less compared to that needed for recruiting other full-time staff. The nurses and healthcare providers are required to attend to all the booked patients in a day. The number of extra hours spent on the work will depend on the patients in the queue. The healthcare providers are compensated based on the number of extra hours worked. The healthcare institution developed the policy as the cheap available alternative for addressing the need to meet the growing number of patients. The policy means that the healthcare institution will still be able to attend to their patients without any going unattended. Besides, the healthcare providers will commit themselves to offer a patient-centered care approach.
Critique of the Policy
The mandatory overtime policy in the healthcare institution aims at benefiting the patients and ensuring their needs are addressed accordingly. The patients will benefit because they will have adequate time to interact with the healthcare providers. Furthermore, the healthcare providers will have additional money from the overtime compensation and this may motivate some of them. Employees derive motivation from different things with some having more value on the monetary rewards and this constitutes a major strength to the policy.
The Healthcare system is highly sensitive because a slight error can even lead to a patient’s death. According to Zaree et al. (2018), the psychological well-being of the healthcare providers influences the quality of the care they deliver to the patients. Healthcare providers experiencing burnout are less likely to offer the best care to their patients. Furthermore, they will lack the moral to interact with their patients in a friendly manner. The healthcare organization must aim at creating a suitable environment that will promote high productivity among the patients. Both patients and healthcare providers are important stakeholders that influence the sustainability of the health organization’s operation. There must be a proper balance between the protection for the patients and the protection for the healthcare providers. The best way for the healthcare institution to promote the healthcare providers’ wellbeing is by ensuring they have a good working environment with all the resources and have adequate time for rest.
On the other hand, there are significant concerns related to the policy, especially on the healthcare providers’ part. The first concern is that employees should not be forced to work beyond the set working hours. Employees should be allowed to participate in the overtime program voluntarily because some value their families while others require personal time. Forcing all the healthcare providers into the mandatory overtime program means that some will be emotionally and psychologically drained. The emotional and psychological draining reduces the effectiveness of the healthcare providers in their duty delivery. Besides, there could be many cases of burnout and absenteeism arising from the employees who feel fatigued and exploited in their professional practice.
Furthermore, working for long hours could expose healthcare providers to physical injuries and other healthcare issues. According to Son et al. (2019), overtime is associated with inadequate sleep and fatigue. Also, some of the nurses are likely to have lower back pain because they have overworked. Fatigued nurses or other healthcare providers are prone to medical errors and this could cause more harm to the patients and this is ethically wrong (Milliken, 2018). Therefore, the major ethical concern in the policy is whether it is justifiable to expose the healthcare providers to health risks in the process of promoting the patient’s experiences. The harm presented to the healthcare providers is greater than the benefits emerging from the policy and thus making it unethical (Kelly & Porr, 2018).
Best Practices
The need to offer the best healthcare services at an affordable cost cannot be overlooked. The quadruple aim address four issues including promoting the quality of healthcare delivered to the patients, better population health, reduced cost of medication, and better quality of life for the healthcare providers. The increasing number of patients seeking medical services presents a major challenge to achieving the quadruple aim without straining the available resources in the healthcare institutions. However, the use of telehealth can significantly address the challenges because it will reduce the number of patients visiting the healthcare facility. According to Monaghesh & Hajizadeh (2020), the use of telehealth has been effective in managing patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. Adopting the policy will help the healthcare institution serve many patients at a reduced cost.
The policy will require the healthcare providers to intensify the patient education provided to the patients and equipping them with self-care skills. Patient’s education allows them to take control over their lives and so reduce their dependence on the healthcare providers (Tuckson et al., 2017). Furthermore, the patients will be committed to healthy behavioral practices and so there will be reduced cases of adverse treatment outcomes. Healthcare providers derive happiness when they realize that their patients have recovered and have better health status. On the other hand, high incidences of mortality and poor treatment outcomes affect the healthcare providers’ emotions negatively. The telehealth system will be the best solution to addressing the competing needs in the healthcare institution (Salles et al., 2021). There will be no need for mandatory over time and so the healthcare providers will have adequate time for personal life.
Conclusion NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Competing needs in healthcare systems are common; therefore, healthcare providers must constantly develop measures to improve the quality of care delivered to the patients and maintain low operational costs. The healthcare institution developed a mandatory overtime policy which is not efficient because of the many adverse outcomes to the healthcare providers. Instead, adopting the telehealth system would be the best policy for addressing the need to reduce costs and improve the quality of care concurrently. The policy will reduce the number of patients visiting the healthcare institutions and so reduce congestion and the pressure exerted on the limited number of healthcare providers. Providing patients’ education will promote independence and this is needed for quality health outcomes.
References NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Kelly, P., & Porr, C. (2018). Ethical nursing care versus cost containment: Considerations to enhance RN practice. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1), 6. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No01Man06.
Milliken, A. (2018). Ethical Awareness: What it is and why it matters. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1), 1. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No01Man01.
Monaghesh, E., & Hajizadeh, A. (2020). The role of Telehealth during COVID-19 outbreak: A systematic review based on current evidence. BMC Public Health, 20, 1193 https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-23906/v3
Salles, N., Saillour-Glénisson, F., Sibe, M., Langlois, E., Kret, M., Durrieu, J., Arditi, N., Abraham, M., & Perry, F. (2021). Effectiveness and organizational conditions of effectiveness of telemedicine in nursing homes. A study protocol of a comparative prospective cohort (EFFORT study). DIGITAL HEALTH, 7, 205520762098242. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207620982422
Son, Y., Lee, E. K., & Ko, Y. (2019). Association of working hours and patient safety competencies with adverse nurse outcomes: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(21), 4083. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214083
Tuckson, R. V., Edmunds, M., & Hodgkins, M. L. (2017). Telehealth. New England Journal of Medicine, 377(16), 1585-1592. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmsr1503323
Zaree, T. Y., Nazari, J., Asghary Jafarabadi, M., & Alinia, T. (2018). Impact of psychosocial factors on the occurrence of medication errors among Tehran public hospitals nurses by evaluating the balance between effort and reward. Safety and Health at Work, 9(4), 447-453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2017.12.005
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Great and informative contribution to the discussion post. Indeed the Covid pandemic raised so many issues pertaining to both healthcare and other econmic issues butthe healthcare was affected by it tremendously. One area where it was affected is the Nursing staff shortage and burnout which is affecting quality care given to patients. Quality care is one of the competing needs along with nursing shortage that put a lot of stress on management and administration. Hospitals often use temporary/contract nurses to supplement a perceived shortage of staff nurses. Use of temporary nurses is no longer a stop-gap measure but has become a way of life for many hospitals which made hospital executives surveyed said they use temp nurses for an average of 5% of all nursing hours (Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2007, p. 1).
Policy development is essential for any organization settings and that helps to regulate the practices by management. Policies are the
rules and regulations that govern the practice (Grohar-Murray & Langan, 2011)., hence competing needs would give rise to the development of policies to address them. I think is about time that lawmakers put certain policies in place for the the daily shaortage of nurses i the healthcare industry because I believe the healthcare organizations have made tremendous impact in saving the situation by hiring agencies to supplement their staffing but at a huge cost to them.
Thank your for your post.
References NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
Grohar-Murray, M. E., & Langan, J. C. (2011). Leadership and management in nursing. Boston: Pearson
PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2007). What works: Healing the healthcare staffing shortage. New York: Health Research Institute
As the dwindling labor supply and need for services increase healthcare system is coughing out billions of dollars per year for clinical staff compared to the past, there is no playbook for this change in dynamism. Nurses, as frontline responders, play an essential role in the healthcare system. The health system is faced with a workforce that is under strain due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic (Van den Heede et al., 2023).
Healthcare leaders are designing ways to respond to this challenge day in and day out. Healthcare organizations are familiar with their workers quitting their jobs. An increase in the population of older adults and nursing burnout contributes to staff shortages. This issue is worsen by a more significant number of nurses retiring.
Healthcare organizations need to create a policy that will help them source and fascinate applicants and remain competitive as an employer, enhancing and making the hiring process simple. The need for continuous supply and retention of healthcare workers is a worldwide problem facing the healthcare system (Park & Yu, 2019).
Some organizations’ hiring process takes months instead of days, so using data to propel the hiring decisions will be a good policy to address the impact of the shortages. Using data will help employers determine the effectiveness of their hiring process. A policy that involves gathering data will help the employer know why an applicant might consider another company.
This data will assist them in decision-making policy that involves post-interview checks, allowing employers to know why applicant choose to work in another company. A policy that enhances thorough onboarding process will equip employees with the resources they need to survive. A policy that incorporates mentorship can be an effective way of supporting new hires, and mentors can provide professional support and counseling, which can help the new hires get situated in the company. If places of work can entrench policies that reward employees for referrals, it will be a way to reward the existing employers and source new employees.
This type of policy will reduce the problem of employee shortages. Creating policies that will create resources to prevent staff burnout will be a good step. The healthcare worker deficit constitutes the main pressing challenge for healthcare facilities worldwide (Dubas-Jakobczyk et al., 2023).
References
Dubas-Jakóbczyk, K., Domagała, A., Zabdyr-Jamróz, M., Kowalska-Bobko, I., & Sowada, C. (2023). The 2021 plan for hospital care centralization in poland – when politics overwhelms the policy process. Health Policy, 129, 104707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104707
Massey, L., Esain, A., & Wallis, M. (2009). Managing the complexity of nurse shortages: A case study of bank and agency staffing in an acute care trust in wales, uk. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(7), 912–919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2007.11.006
Park, H., & Yu, S. (2019). Effective policies for eliminating nursing workforce shortages: A systematic review. Health Policy and Technology, 8(3), 296–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2019.08.003
Van den Heede, K., Balcaen, K., Bouckaert, N., Bruyneel, L., Cornelis, J., Sermeus, W., & Van de Voorde, C. (2023). Improving hospital nurse staffing during the pandemic: Implementation of the 2019 fund for health care staff in belgium. Health Policy, 128, 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.11.013
NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES vGrading Rubric Guidelines
| Performance Category | 10 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Scholarliness
Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic decisions. |
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| Performance Category | 10 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Application of Course Knowledge –
Demonstrate the ability to analyze, synthesize, and/or apply principles and concepts learned in the course lesson and outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations |
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| Performance Category | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Interactive Dialogue
Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts a minimum of two times in each graded thread, on separate days. (5 points possible per graded thread) |
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Summarizes what was learned from the lesson, readings, and other student posts for the week. |
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| Minus 1 Point | Minus 2 Point | Minus 3 Point | Minus 4 Point | Minus 5 Point | |
| Grammar, Syntax, APA
Note: if there are only a few errors in these criteria, please note this for the student in as an area for improvement. If the student does not make the needed corrections in upcoming weeks, then points should be deducted. Points deducted for improper grammar, syntax and APA style of writing. The source of information is the APA Manual 6th Edition |
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| 0 points lost | -5 points lost | ||||
| Total Participation Requirements
per discussion thread |
The student answers the threaded discussion question or topic on one day and posts a second response on another day. | The student does not meet the minimum requirement of two postings on two different days | |||
| Early Participation Requirement
per discussion thread |
The student must provide a substantive answer to the graded discussion question(s) or topic(s), posted by the course instructor (not a response to a peer), by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of each week. | The student does not meet the requirement of a substantive response to the stated question or topic by Wednesday at 11:59 pm MT. |
Also Read: NURS 6053 Discussion 1 Leadership Theories in Practice 1
As we begin this session, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my expectations for this course:
Please note that GCU Online weeks run from Thursday (Day 1) through Wednesday (Day 7).
Course Room Etiquette:
- It is my expectation that all learners will respect the thoughts and ideas presented in the discussions.
- All postings should be presented in a respectful, professional manner. Remember – different points of view add richness and depth to the course!
Office Hours:
- My office hours vary so feel free to shoot me an email at Kelly.Dellorusso1@my.gcu.edu or my office phone is 602.639.6517 and I will get back to you within one business day or as soon as possible.
- Phone appointments can be scheduled as well. Send me an email and the best time to call you, along with your phone number to make an appointment.
- I welcome all inquiries and questions as we spend this term together. My preference is that everyone utilizes the Questions to Instructor forum. In the event your question is of a personal nature, please feel free to post in the Individual Questions for Instructor forum I will respond to all posts or emails within 24 or sooner.
Late Policy and Grading Policy
Discussion questions:
- I do not mark off for late DQ’s.
- I would rather you take the time to read the materials and respond to the DQ’s in a scholarly way, demonstrating your understanding of the materials.
- I will not accept any DQ submissions after day 7, 11:59 PM (AZ Time) of the week.
- Individual written assignments – due by 11:59 PM AZ Time Zone on the due dates indicated for each class deliverable.
Assignments:
- Assignments turned in after their specified due dates are subject to a late penalty of -10%, each day late, of the available credit. Please refer to the student academic handbook and GCU policy.
- Any activity or assignment submitted after the due date will be subject to GCU’s late policy
- Extenuating circumstances may justify exceptions, which are at my sole discretion. If an extenuating circumstance should arise, please contact me privately as soon as possible.
- No assignments can be accepted for grading after midnight on the final day of class.
- All assignments will be graded in accordance with the Assignment Grading Rubrics
Participation
- Participation in each week’s Discussion Board forum accounts for a large percentage of your final grade in this course.
- Please review the Course Syllabus for a comprehensive overview of course deliverables and the value associated with each.
- It is my expectation that each of you will substantially contribute to the course discussion forums and respond to the posts of at least three other learners.
- A substantive post should be at least 200 words. Responses such as “great posts” or “I agree” do not meet the active engagement expectation.
- Please feel free to draw on personal examples as you develop your responses to the Discussion Questions but you do need to demonstrate your understanding of the materials.
- I do expect outside sources as well as class materials to formulate your post.
- APA format is not necessary for DQ responses, but I do expect a proper citation for references.
- Please use peer-related journals found through the GCU library and/or class materials to formulate your answers. Do not try to “Google” DQ’s as I am looking for class materials and examples from the weekly materials.
- I will not accept responses that are from Wikipedia, Business dictionary.com, or other popular business websites. You will not receive credit for generic web searches – this does not demonstrate graduate-level research.
- Stay away from the use of personal pronouns when writing. As a graduate student, you are expected to write based on research and gathering of facts. Demonstrating your understanding of the materials is what you will be graded on. You will be marked down for lack of evidence to support your ideas.
Plagiarism
- Plagiarism is the act of claiming credit for another’s work, accomplishments, or ideas without appropriate acknowledgment of the source of the information by including in-text citations and references.
- This course requires the utilization of APA format for all course deliverables as noted in the course syllabus.
- Whether this happens deliberately or inadvertently, whenever plagiarism has occurred, you have committed a Code of Conduct violation.
- Please review your LopesWrite report prior to final submission.
- Every act of plagiarism, no matter the severity, must be reported to the GCU administration (this includes your DQ’s, posts to your peers, and your papers).
Plagiarism includes:
- Representing the ideas, expressions, or materials of another without due credit.
- Paraphrasing or condensing ideas from another person’s work without proper citation and referencing.
- Failing to document direct quotations without proper citation and referencing.
- Depending upon the amount, severity, and frequency of the plagiarism that is committed, students may receive in-class penalties that range from coaching (for a minor omission), -20% grade penalties for resubmission, or zero credit for a specific assignment. University-level penalties may also occur, including suspension or even expulsion from the University.
- If you are at all uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, you should review the resources available in the Student Success Center. Also, please review the University’s policies about plagiarism which are covered in more detail in the GCU Catalog and the Student Handbook.
- We will be utilizing the GCU APA Style Guide 7th edition located in the Student Success Center > The Writing Center for all course deliverables.
LopesWrite
- All course assignments must be uploaded to the specific Module Assignment Drop Box, and also submitted to LopesWrite every week.
- Please ensure that your assignment is uploaded to both locations under the Assignments DropBox. Detailed instructions for using LopesWrite are located in the Student Success Center.
Assignment Submissions
- Please note that Microsoft Office is the software requirement at GCU.
- I can open Word files or any file that is saved with a .rtf (Rich Text Format) extension. I am unable to open .wps files.
- If you are using a “.wps” word processor, please save your files using the .rtf extension that is available from the drop-down box before uploading your files to the Assignment Drop Box.
Grade of Incomplete
- The final grade of Incomplete is granted at the discretion of the instructor; however, students must meet certain specific criteria before this grade accommodation is even possible to consider.
- The grade of Incomplete is reserved for times when students experience a serious extenuating circumstance or a crisis during the last week of class which prevents the completion of course requirements before the close of the grading period. Students also must pass the course at the time the request is made.
- Please contact me personally if you are having difficulties in meeting course requirements or class deadlines during our time together. In addition, if you are experiencing personal challenges or difficulties, it is best to contact the Academic Counselor so that you can discuss the options that might be available to you, as well as each option’s academic and financial repercussions.
Grade Disputes
- If you have any questions about a grade you have earned on an individual assignment or activity, please get in touch with me personally for further clarification.
- While I have made every attempt to grade you fairly, on occasion a misunderstanding may occur, so please allow me the opportunity to learn your perspective if you believe this has occurred. Together, we should be able to resolve grading issues on individual assignments.
- However, after we have discussed individual assignments’ point scores, if you still believe that the final grade you have earned at the end of the course is not commensurate with the quality of work you produced for this class, there is a formal Grade Grievance procedure which is outlined in the GCU Catalog and Student Handbook.