The data collected was over four weeks, from May 11, 2015 to June 5, 2015. Ten hours days four days a week for a total of 160 hours. The average patient volume assigned to the nurse was 8-10 per day. The method of recording was checks made on a calendar with brief notations of the conversation between the nurse and the patient care technician. CHECK (C)
Texas is home to nearly 10,000 nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners (NPs) in Texas do not have as many freedoms as NP 's in many other states. In fact, Texas falls at the lower end of the spectrum regarding the freedoms it offers nurse practitioners. House Bill 1885 would grant full practice authority in Texas to all advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), including nurse practitioners (NPs). It would authorize APRNs to evaluate and diagnose patients; order and interpret diagnostic tests; and initiate and manage treatments; prescribing of medications, these are currently job descriptions of APRNs and NPs that they are already doing, however, it would move these items under the exclusive licensure authority of the Texas Board of Nursing.
State-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios remains a controversial topic in healthcare. Sufficient nurse staffing is key to ensure adequate patient care, while scarce staffing effects patients’ safety and puts nurses at risk for burnout. Determining nurse-to-patient ratios in nursing facilities remains a challenge for the nursing profession. There are many factors to consider when determining staffing methods, such as cost, nurses’ satisfaction, patient outcomes and safety. Mandating ratios is one attempt at ensuring nurses’ workloads do not exceed what is needed for adequate patient care and safety.
Decision makers will need to determine how to best utilize nurses, technicians, and other professionals to close the gap in providing services to patients. Nurses require less time to train, are less expensive to train, cost less to employ, and can increase the efficiency and productivity of physicians who provide care to patients. The increase in the use of health care services as well as the increase in the number of venues where health care is provided has also increased the job opportunities for nurses and other members of the healthcare workforce. The demand for primary care services has stimulated the training of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse
Ivy Tech Community College School of Nursing NRSG 128 Practice Issues for the Practical Nurse Discussion Rubric Name: ___Jasmine Liubakka___________ Date: _________10-27-15_______________ Topic of Discussion: Should the impaired nurse be allowed to return to work? Position on Topic: (1) Points ________________ Yes, I feel that as long as the nurse participates in a program that includes requirements of regular attendance at support group meetings, personal and active involvement with a 12-step sponsor, and close contact with a case manager or monitor of an alternative program, she should be allowed to return to work.
Management of Care Case Study Josepha is working on a medical surgical unit with three other RNs and one LPN. There is also a male and a female patient care tech. Josepha has been a nurse for four months, and after completing two months of orientation she takes a full assignment as a registered nurse. Josepha feels that the assignments she receives are not always fair, as she tends to get the most challenging clients.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP): It was formed in 2013 by the fusion of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (founded in1985) and the American College of Nurse Practitioners (founded in 1995). The purpose of this association is to advocate for the issues and performance of the nurse practitioners. AANP’s mission is to lead nurse practitioners in turning the health care system into patient-centered care. According to the AANP website, this organization has more than 60,000 individual members, and 200
Ethical Issues in Nursing: Nurse-Patient Ratios Megan Harvey, Katie McKelvery, Erica Robbins & Cassandra Tingley St. Johns River State College March 2018 Ethical Issues in Nursing: Nurse-Patient Ratios Every day nurses are faced with ethical dilemmas. Challenges in these situations are becoming more and more complex due to increasing workload and sicker patients. When a nursing unit is understaffed not only are nurses more likely to become burnt out, but their patients are far less likely to receive the quality of care they deserve. The problem is that the Federal regulations require hospitals who participate in Medicare to “have ‘adequate’ numbers of licensed nurses (RN, LPN, CNA) to provide care to all patients as needed,” but the regulations
Short staffing decreases the quality of care provided to each patient, as nurses develop burnout with increase workload. Implementing helpful measures can decrease nurse burnout and the affect it has on patient outcomes. For example, PCSN (patient care support nurses) are a useful resource to provide when nursing staff is low. Nurses can also benefit from applying time management measures during their shifts, such as prioritizing and delegating. The impacts of short staffing may be minimal on patient care if these the proper measures are implemented.
Large patient loads combined with a stressful work environment affects nurses’ abilities to provide quality healthcare. Patient safety should never be compromised. It is our responsibility to learn from research and improve our current nurse staffing ratios. Nurse staffing is key and affects all other outcomes. Without nurses administering the right treatment at the right time to the right patients, all other healthcare interventions are not effective.
I am glad to view a schedule and expectations for the clinical setting in the program. I am so excited to get started in the clinical setting as a Nurse Practitioner. I currently work at the Dayton VA Medical Center 8 hour shifts, 5 days a week. When clinical time arrives I plan to go part time and work 20 hours a week, and spend 20-30 hours per week for clinicals. If I am unable to go to part time status, I will continue full time and spend 20-30 hours per week for clinicals.
Nurses play an essential role in the healthcare industry. The nurse workforce is made up of licensed nurses: registered nurses (RNs), licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs), along with nurse aides. Registered nurses are responsible for assessments of patients’ needs, development of care plans, medication administration, and treatments, while licensed vocational nurses perform specific care under the delegation of the registered nurses and supervisions. Nursing aides perform activities of daily living (unskilled attention) to the patient. Adequate nursing staffing is essential to both patient care and outcomes, also to the retention of nurses while inadequate staffing creates problems for both the patients and
Reflecting on the past seven weeks I have acquired countless knowledge, which I will use to further strengthen my profession as an Advanced Practice Nurse. The course allowed me to think beyond my current practice knowledge and acquired innovative ways to evaluate the situation at hand. The learning objective in program outcome four helps set standards that I will use to guide my clinical practice to meet various healthcare needs. Using the case studies has helped to further enhance my knowledge on disease physiological state, using differential diagnosis, disease manifestations, and clinical presentation. It has also taught me the skills on how to differentiate between similar diagnoses to properly identify the problem and treat the patients.
A heavy nursing workload can influence the care provider’s decision to perform various procedures. A heavy workload may also reduce the time spent by nurses collaborating and communicating with physicians, therefore affecting the quality of nurse-physician collaboration” (ncbi). This is important because it tells us that nurses wouldn 't have enough time to perform tasks that can affect the patients’ care. If nurses are being overworked because of a nurse shortage, then patients’ would not have the best quality care they would need, which can be a
Just like a saw needs to stop being used in order to be sharpened, a nurse needs time off to recuperate; it’s as simple as that (Covey, 1989). It is important not to burn the candle at both ends, working more than the designated shifts and longer than 12 hours should be avoided. An example used regarding medication errors and working too many hours involves a nurse working a double shift on a pediatric oncology unit didn’t correctly prime an IV line and caused cardiac arrest in a patient (Kelley, 2004). Although nurses work three days a week, their hours remain the same as other full time employees that work the typical 5 day schedule. A nurse’s time off should be valued because they are the last line for patient care, they are the ones administering the medication the doctor prescribes and the pharmacy makes (Kelley, 2004).
