Discussion Gaps in Practice
Discussion Gaps in Practice
Gaps in nursing practice refer to some of the challenges in practice or some of the areas that require more knowledge, insight, skill, or training. There are several gaps in the nursing profession, some of which are regarding a specific organization, while others affect the entire career irrespective of the location. This discussion is based on some of the gaps in practice and whether it affects the particular organization or healthcare system in general.
The gap I gave identified as a challenge is inadequate staffing. In the organization I practice at, staffing is one of the significant challenges that patients often require adequate attention and timely service delivery. However, staffing is not only a challenge in the said organization as it is also considered one of the significant challenges in several healthcare facilities across the world (Griffiths et al., 2018). Although the gap is still a work in progress, an organization may not always feel staffing, especially when the facility has a low patient turnout. However, staffing affects how nurses deliver services across all practice settings. To achieve better service delivery, it is essential to have adequate nurse staffing that aligns with the nurse-to-patient ratio.
The issue of nurse staffing is addressed in the literature, given it is one of the most common challenges faced by various organizations. Regarding the organization I practice at, the issue is still a work in progress, and thus, the management is aware and working to solve it. However, staffing is a problem faced in the nursing profession and other departments or the supporting staff. For an organization to run smoothly and deliver quality and timely services, it is ideal to have all bodies that help service delivery easier (Dang et al., 2021). For instance, when the laboratory is short-staffed, the effects can be felt by both the nurses and the physicians making service delivery a challenge.
Conclusively, the issue of staffing is addressed by having several practicing professionals who learn through the experienced individuals in the organization. The organization is also committed to making quality healthcare delivery the main point of concern by ensuring that it adapts to the latest technology, making work easier and delivery quicker. The application of information technology is one of the fastest modes of dealing with the challenge of staffing, among many others.
References
Dang, D., Dearholt, S. L., Bissett, K., Ascenzi, J., & Whalen, M. (2021). Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice for nurses and healthcare professionals: Model and guidelines. Sigma Theta Tau.
Griffiths, P., Recio‐Saucedo, A., Dall’Ora, C., Briggs, J., Maruotti, A., Meredith, P., Smith, G. B., Ball, J., & Missed Care Study Group. (2018). The association between nurse staffing and omissions in nursing care: A systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 74(7), 1474–1487.
Now that you have identified your practicum site, you will identify your practice problem and consider how the problem has been addressed in your organization and beyond. After identifying this practice problem, you will begin exploring the problem in the literature.
For this Discussion, consider the problem, and explore whether this is an issue only in your organization or an issue more broadly in healthcare. Consider how the issue is addressed in the literature, and examine how the issue is currently being addressed (or perhaps not addressed) by the management in your organization.
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To Prepare
Review the Learning Resources provided in the module.
Connect with your preceptor, and consider a gap in practice you can explore for the duration of the course.
By Day 3 of Week 2
Post a response detailing your practice focused question. Describe the practice focused question that is an issue for your facility or organization. Gather evidence to support the issue, and consider the following:
Is the issue a common issue in healthcare or nursing practice, or is this issue specific to your organization or facility?
Is this issue addressed in the literature?
Has this issue been addressed by management to date? If so, how?
In your response, be sure to detail your issue, identify the practice gap, and provide evidence for support. You will use this response, and colleague responses, to help you prepare your practice focused question for final submission to Faculty.
By Day 6 of Week 2
Read a selection of your colleagues’ posts, and respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by supporting or expanding on the practice focused question identified by your colleague or sharing additional perspectives on the issue described by your colleague.
Submission and Grading Information
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 2 Discussion Rubric
Post by Day 3 of Week 2 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 2
To Participate in this Discussion:
Week 2 Discussion
This discussion centers on some of the gaps in nursing practice and how they influence the healthcare organization. Identifying gaps in nursing practice brings to light difficulties in performance or areas where knowledge, understanding, skill, or education are lacking, which can make a difference in patient quality outcomes. There seem to be several gaps in knowledge in the health care professions, many of which are specific to an organization and the organization’s culture to make a change that affects the entire profession.
Knowledge gap identified
A challenge identified at the organization based on feedback from staff and patients is the lack of time that providers must address issues that patients have with sleep and depression. The providers have discussed that patients are not filling out screening forms before appointments and that they lack educational material to provide patients with non-pharmacological interventions for sleep improvement. Siniscalchi et al. (2020) endorse early intervention and depression screenings as a high level of measurement of care. To understand and better serve the population, screening tools are essential to have resources available to educate or refer patients to services outside the practitioner’s scope of practice. Han et al. (2019) completed a systematic review of literature that supports patient portals to improve patient outcomes.
Management Response
Organizational culture is frequently considered critical for continued competitiveness in a dynamic and changing world. Organizations are confronted with rising demands for change, yet these are frequently so difficult that they encounter strong opposition and fade out (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). The organization stakeholders have a positive outlook and cooperate to come up with solutions to this gap in practice. Cooperation is vital because the change I would like to make is to have people complete screenings on their patient portals prior to their appointment time to have optimal time with their providers. Currently, the management does not use the portal for screening tools. The portal is used for the communication of lab results and appointment requests. The policy currently is that clerical will call and remind patients of appointments the day before and collect copays. Incorporating a reminder for patients to fill out the depression screening form or insomnia form before the appointment via the portal would help address the issue and improve care.
References
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work
in progress. Routledge.
Han, R., Gleason, T., Sun, A., Miller, N., Kang, J., Chow, S., & Bauer, T. (2019). Using patient portals to improve patient outcomes: a
systematic review. JMIR human factors, 6(4), e15038
Siniscalchi, A., Broome, E., Fish, J., Ventimiglia, J., Thompson, J., Roy, P., Trivedi, M. (2020). Depression screening and measurement-
based care in primary care. Journal of primary care & community health, 11, 2150132720931261