NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
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
Ayeshia Allen-Morris
RE: Discussion – Week 3
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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
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
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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4 months ago
Alejandro Krajewski Asseo
RE: Main Post
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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:
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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4 months ago
Ayeshia Allen-Morris
RE: Main Post
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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:
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
Response #1 to Alejandro
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Hello Alejandro,
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
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/
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4 months ago
Victoria Awuku
RE: Main Post
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Hello Alejandro,
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
NURS 6053 Discussion – Week 3 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO SUPPORT HEALTHCARE ISSUES
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
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
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Also Read: NURS 6053 Discussion 1 Leadership Theories in Practice 1