NRS 433 Topic 1 DQ 2
DQ: Nursing research is used to study a dilemma or a problem in nursing
A problem that has always plagued nursing is staffing, and it is still a problem 25 years later. Of course, COVID19 has played a part in the recent issues but more so by shinning a larger spotlight on it (Kerfoot, 2022). Inadequate staffing has caused turnover, burnout, nurses feeling unappreciated and dissatisfied with their job. This problem is not just here but in other areas of the world as well (Kerfoot, 2022). I remember in the late 80’s to 90’s when they brought nurses over from the Philippines, the hospital that I worked in housed them in apartments a few blocks away. They worked double shifts throughout the week assisting with staffing shortage but more so to send money back home. Today about 4% of the nurses in the United States are Filipino and very sad to say 26.4% of nurses who died from COVID19 were Filipino (Econar, 2021).
This issue must be researched to promote positive health outcomes with positive people working in the healthcare industry. Educated in new trends, confident in themselves, feeling self-worth and appreciation. Kerfoot, 2022 sees it as a reset starting with leadership, and advancing through investment in frontline staff, viewing all as an interest and not putting a value on it. They need to provide training, support, and show loyalty. Training in technology, providing efficiency and effectiveness to ensure patient safety and last but very important, how nurses are viewed in the industry with positively, competence and appreciation. There is a data management system that could give some relief to already over worked and stressed nurses, it is called the POCT – Point of care testing. It provides rapid testing and could possibly make patient outcomes better, and as staffing shortages continue all available resources are welcomed (Nichols, 2003).
Another area to address when looking at staffing shortage of nurses would be job satisfaction. It is important for staff to feel appreciated. If leadership cold invest in ways to reduce stress, improve the work environment it could boost morale. Leadership also needs to take notice of the effect of patient satisfaction on the workforce to initiate improvements and improve patient outcomes (Lu, 2019).
References:
Econar, F.C. (2021, October 8th). For generations, Filipino nurses have been on America’s frontlines. CNN.
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/10/health/filipino-nurses-cnnphotos/
Kerfoot, K. M. (2022). Leadership and the Great Reset: Rethinking Possibilities for the Future of Nursing. Nursing
Economic$, 40(1), 38–41. file:///F:/GCU/NRS%20433/Leadership%20and%20the%20great%20reset.pdf
Lu, H., Zhao, Y., & While, A. (2019). Job Satisfaction Among Hospital Nurses: A Literature Review. International
Journal of Nursing Studies, 94, 21–31. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.01.011
Nichols, J. H. (2003). Quality in point-of-care testing. Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 3(5), 563.
https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=6a797e17-94f8-426e-bbb5-
5ddd85075157%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edsgcl.236164262 &db=edsgao
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Topic 1 DQ 2 (Updated)
Nursing handoff is a process of exchanging vital patient information between nurses in an effort to ensure safe continuity of care. When health care workers fail to communicate comprehensive, consistent information, ineffective communication methods create
opportunities for mistakes (Tacchini-Jacquier et al., 2020). I’ve seen an issue with insufficient hand-off communication in nursing. In the healthcare field, effective communication is critical. When passing a patient from one caregiver to another, effective communication is required to ensure that vital information is shared. I frequently receive handoffs from the OR nurse and anesthesiologist while working in the recovery room. I regularly receive incomplete and brief handoffs. When it comes to exchanging responsibility for a patient’s care, details like whether the patient is diabetic or has dementia are critical. When information is inaccurate or missing, the patient’s safety is jeopardized.
Ineffective handoffs should be researched since successful communicated handoffs is needed to maintain continuity of care and patient safety. Nurses work in environments where maintaining patient safety necessitates continual attention. Nurses employ surveillance to gather, analyze, and synthesize a large quantity of information during a patient interaction (Rhudy et al., 2019). Interruptions in communication and activities that prevent a nurse from doing a critical task cause a shift in concentration, which can result in errors and adverse outcomes. As a result, when communication is disrupted during a handoff, it has an influence on patient safety and care quality. To minimize medical errors and threats to patient safety, it is critical to understand the challenges surrounding handoff communication and determining risk strategies. Reduced interruptions, standardized handoff communication, and effective handoff communication training are all factors that can contribute to good handoff communication. The SBAR instrument is used in hospitals (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation). The SBAR is a valuable communication tool; however, it must be taught to all employees so that communication is clear, and it must be embraced as a standardized communication style, which requires a willingness to change.
There are many different dilemmas and problems in the nursing world. As I read my peers’ responses I notice that many people have experience and have definitely seen problems first hand. I just recently graduated from my ADN program and will start working my first job shortly, as a new nurse. With this being said, I have seen some things as a student and as a CNA at my hospital. One of the more recent problems that the nurse management team brings up is development of pressure ulcers which can be reduced by turning total care patients. The problem is that patients who are not able to turn themselves self are at risk for developing pressure ulcers as I sit in bed all day. Pressure ulcers are developed on skin that has prolonged contact, especially in areas, where there are bony prominences. Through research, it has been shown that changing the patient’s position at least every two hours can help reduce this risk. Protocols are in place but nurses continue to not follow them which doesn’t help the issue towards pressure ulcer development. An article that I read stated that repositioning a patient has been proven to not only decrease the risk of pressure ulcers, but also heal the progression of ulcers that have already been developed and prevent them from getting worse (Cortés, 2021). It has been proven through research that turning your patient every two hours can help with this nursing issue. My hospital has made an effort towards this problem and implemented a turn team for the floor where every two hours two people are assigned at the start of shift to turn the total care patients on the floor. With this being done the last 3 months, their numbers of pressure ulcer development has reduced tremendously.
Cortés, O. L., Herrera-Galindo, M., Villar, J. C., Rojas, Y. A., del Pilar Paipa, M., & Salazar, L. (2021, July 5). Frequency of repositioning for preventing pressure ulcers in patients hospitalized in ICU: Protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial – BMC nursing. BioMed Central. Retrieved March 10, 2023, from https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-021-00616-0