IntroThe purpose of the article was to evaluate different factors in staffing that affect thequality of resident care in nursing homes. Through the use of data gathered from anumber of surveys and research articles (the majority of which use data from officiallysanctioned databases), several possible conclusions about quality nursing care havebeen drawn and considered. These conclusions are based upon three different factors:staffing measures, quality measures, and risk adjustment variables. For the most part, itseems that a higher licensed nursing staff has the greatest positive impact on quality ofcare with a direct a correlation suggesting that a larger staff will, on average, allow for ahigher quality of care. I would think that this is …show more content…
The researchers in the article were able to use thisinformation to come up with 4 tables based on the themes of staffing measures, qualitymeasures, and risk adjustment variables. The first table reviews all staffing measuresfound to be used throughout the documents, the second lists all nursing home qualitymeasures that were used, the third describes various risk adjustment and controlvariables used, and the fourth identifies the data sources from which staffing or controlmeasures were obtained.The first theme, staffing measures, is used to refer to nurse staffing calculationsand range from number of staff per resident to overall staff turnover rates. The mostemphasis was placed on staff ratios (number of staff per resident), being that almosthalf of the total studies used some measure of staff-to-resident or staff-hours-to-residentratio in their findings. The studies were also split up between RNs, LPNs, CNAs, LVNsand total nursing staff to categorize differentiate what types of caregivers wereresponsible. Several studies show that higher total staffing levels had an associationwith a higher quality of care. There are a few inconsistencies in the study, as the staffingratios used consisted of staff per resident and staff per bed. However, varying resultsincluded, when compared to the second theme, quality measures, show that more staffusually resulted in fewer cases of pressure ulcers, losses of functional ability,inappropriate …show more content…
The thirdtheme, risk adjustment/control measures, is used as a measure of adjustments made toattempt to control resident, facility, and economic statistics that could serve asextraneous factors influencing quality of care. These include facility characteristics, casemix, and market/economic characteristics.For Further StudyTo build upon the information found in this article, I would suggest to look into theindividual studies that were used and reviewed to make this article. One could alsoperform a study of their own if they have the means to access to similar statistics usedin the individual documents and articles used in the making of this article (though mostpeople will not have such opportunities).ConclusionFurther studies such as the ones mentioned in this article need to be conducted in thefuture to reinforce the findings of this particular research team. The work done was verythorough and it made an attempt to account for what they saw as the major factors innursing care related to staffing. Validation of accuracy is very important to a study suchas this, so more studies should be performed and reviewed in the same way this articlewas done. The findings of the team seem to make sense in how a higher number oflicensed staff would result in a higher quality of care, so it should be an easy topic tofollow up on using national databases and informational documents. I like the
There are many concerns the scenario illuminates for practicing nurses. Prior to going out on placement to a healthy facility,
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.
The Joint Commission is involved in making sure the health care facilities are providing the patient and family members of patients the effective and safe care that the patient needs and deserves. There is a close relationship between the National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) and the results of the Joint Commission survey. If the facility were following the NPSG’s then the facility would have more of likelihood that the organization will receive a good survey results from the Joint Commission. There are serious consequences for the health care organization if the organization does not meet the benchmarks set by the Joint Commission. Multiple tools out there will aid this author in determining if the organization that this author works in is
Hospitals frequently enhance their quality of care by improving their best practices. Bedside reporting is a best practice that has numerous benefits including a decrease in the potential for mistakes, increased patient involvement and understanding of their care, increased teamwork among nurses, and an increased accountability of nurses (AHRQ, 2013). A review of the literature was run and showed several studies and literature reviews on bedside reporting. The majority of these articles were conducted on adult medical-surgical
Throughout the semester, I have learned so much about the different aspects of a long-term health care facility. From textbook readings, class lectures, case studies, to group projects, my knowledge and understanding of what it takes to run a long-term health care facility has grown immensely. With the percentage of the population above the age of 60 about to increase rapidly, long-term facilities will become more prevalent and important. The five main aspects I would focus on as an administrator in a long-term care facility are following regulations, making correct care plans for patients, ensuring there is enough qualified staff at all times, providing stimulating activities, and ensure a comfortable and home-like atmosphere for the residents. The first consideration is following regulations.
These facilities can be improved to reach higher expectations and tremendous rewards, but in order to do so, these events taking place in nursing homes and assisted living centers need to stop immediately. One way these facilities can improve is to require further education for the employees to complete so there will be an increased amount of suitable crowds hired to work. These facilities are already unbearably expensive so it would be an easy fix to use part of that money to raise the employee’s pay. Once there is a better group of employees with higher education and better pay, then there should be improvement in the care the residents receive. Superb quality nursing homes start with a superb quality administrator.
Reasons for safe staffing ratios From the early beginnings of nursing to present day, safe nurse staffing ratios have been a heated debate. High patient to nurse ratios have been the norm for over a century throughout the United States. As time went on nursing care, technology, cost containments and patient acuity changed drastically further fueling the need for safer staffing levels. Safety in numbers has been the battle cry of nurses across the United States since the 1990’s when cost containment strategies changed the way hospitals managed costs by regulating patient admissions, lengths of stays, patient acuity and training requirements for patient care.
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
This semester, I was placed in a long-term care facility for my pre-graduation course. On my floor, I work with an RN, an RPN, and 6 PSWs. Our floor consists of 60 residents and 30 residents are assigned per nurse. The PSWs are divided into 6 teams and 10 residents are assigned per PSW. For the past 2 months that I have worked for facility X, there is one thing that I constantly notice; that is the shortage of staff on the unit.
Understaffing in hospitals is a major problem that has been affecting healthcare workers and patients for many years. I have chosen to highlight understaffing as a patient safety issue because of the consequences that can arise from it. Shortages in staffing can result in an increase of infection rates (Stone et al., 2007) leading to complications and poorer patient outcomes (Needleman et al. 2002). This particular issue is of interest to me because I have experienced and witnessed it myself. As a midwifery student in a busy maternity hospital, I can appreciate the hard work and dedication each midwife gives to their patients.
This is important evidence because it gives us conditions and results of what can happen if patients get lower quality care. Patients’ are not having enough time getting checked up by a nurse, and nurses would miss some diagnostics. Patients are getting sick because of the poor care they are receiving from nurses. The care patients can get is affected by a nurse shortage, “Nursing workload definitely affects the time that a nurse can allot to various tasks. Under a heavy workload, nurses may not have sufficient time to perform tasks that can have a direct effect on patient safety.
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
A recent study by Griffiths (2008) showed the fundamentals of patient care may have been lost and patient focus was diminished. He explained that nursing had become too technical due to the healthcare environmental crisis and the focus was taken away from the fundamentals of patient care. Although the ward on clinical placement was evidently over stretched, the fundamentals of patient care was still upheld due to the regiment implementation of the RLT model of nursing. Initial assessment allowed nurses to plan and implement measures from early admission which inevitably made all aspects nursing care
Short staffing is one of the many challenges nurses encounter in the work environment. The impacts can be detrimental primarily to the patient’s outcome. To examine the effects of short staffing, research was conducted on 36,539 hospital inpatients to evaluate the amount of those exposed to an understaffed shift and how many patient outcomes resulted in a NSO (Twigg, Gelder, & Myers, 2015). NSO’s are nurse sensitive outcomes based on the nursing care provided to the patient. Patients exposed to short staffing had an increase of greater than one chance of NSO’s compared to patients not exposed (Twigg et al., 2015).
Improvement of nurse staffing levels will improve the quality of care our patients receive. Memorial Hospital should adapt a staffing grid for each unit. According to the guidelines followed by California there should be a minimum number of patients per nurse. This number will vary