Economic in Nursing, Article Critique Example

Introduction

Nursing staffing is a complex process with significant economic challenges for healthcare organizations. Staffing ratios must be determined to fill available positions, candidates and current employees must be experienced and productive, and the work that is performed must be efficient and of the highest possible quality. Nursing staffing strategies must emphasize cost effectiveness and adhere to budgetary guidelines while also achieving quality of care and treatment at all times. It is important for staffing ratios to be indicative of the patient population across nursing units.

Analysis

The quality of nursing care is often impacted by staffing ratios and experience levels. Staffing is indicative of a positive patient care experience and improved quality of care across healthcare settings (Anderson et.al, 2011). Staffing tools to make important decisions regarding patient care are critical to achieving success in these objectives (Anderson et.al, 2011). Furthermore, staffing levels contribute to effective outcomes with respect to quality of care and cost effectiveness on a given nursing unit (Duffield et.al, 2010). These findings suggest that models of nursing care are contributing factors in improving quality and efficiency, as well as subsequent cost effectiveness (Duffield et.al, 2010). Healthcare organizations must consider which model is most appropriate when considering the needs of the patient population, in addition to the staffing mix of nurses that is readily available for employment in these settings (Duffield et.al, 2010).

Healthcare organizations must develop methods of achieving cost savings whenever possible without disrupting the quality of nursing care and treatment that is offered. Therefore, many organizations adopt nurse-to-patient ratios as a means of reducing costs over the long term and in improving patient safety mandates (Shamliyan et.al, 2009). By reducing the length of stay that is required, the organization will likely experience improved cost savings and economic growth (Shamliyan et.al, 2009). Mandated nurse-to-patient ratios are important because they provide an adequate number of nurse staff members, particularly for ICUs and other more complex nursing units (Serratt et.al, 2011). In addition, some experts argue that information technologies may play a role in improving efficiency across nursing units in the form of time savings for nurses, particularly in the retrieval of electronic health records (Harper, 2012).

Nurse staffing concerns are a constant issue for healthcare organizations and must be evaluated in the context of quality of care for all patients. Therefore, nursing unit budgets must be developed to accommodate staffing needs in the appropriate manner to improve patient safety outcomes (Bobay et.al, 2011). Under these conditions, it is expected that healthcare organizations will evaluate staffing needs on the basis of patient care concerns, including the types of patients that are admitted (Bobay et.al, 2011). Effective staffing strategies also support the ability to discharge patients and feel confident that their needs have been met and recovery will proceed as planned, which generates important cost savings for organizations (Bobay et.al, 2011. For many nursing units, the implementation of minimum nurse staffing ratios is an important tool which provides patients with optimal quality of care and will achieve cost effectiveness over the long term by reducing length of stay and improving post-discharge care and recovery levels (Bobay et.al, 2011). Many healthcare organizations support minimum nurse staffing ratios as a means of promoting cost savings and improving efficiency by having sufficient numbers of nurses on staff to treat patients without delays and without gaps in care (Buerhaus, 2010). On the other hand, some experts argue that nursing staffing ratios are not a good idea because they place considerable restrictions on the ability of nurses to provide care in the manner that they choose and are instead required to treat patients under different circumstances (Buerhaus, 2010).

One area of importance in nurse staffing is medication errors, and the belief is that if there are sufficient nurses on staff on a given shift, there is a reduced likelihood of medication-related errors (Frith et.al, 2012). If sufficient staffing is in place, then nurses are less likely to administer medications incorrectly or inappropriately to patients (Frith et.al, 2012). In addition, other factors play a role in staffing models, such as patient readmissions and the potential for limited staffing under these scenarios (Hines et.al, 2010). Therefore, nursing units must be adequately staffed so that patient care under any circumstances is maximized and that errors of any type are minimized. Nursing units must incorporate adequate staffing measures into their budgets so that patient care is not compromised under any situation.

Conclusion

For all healthcare organizations, it is the intent of nurses to provide the highest quality level of care under optimal working conditions. This includes the utilization of sufficient resources and other tools that will support effective outcomes and expansion of quality of care for all patients. These circumstances support the development of new ideas and opportunities to improve patient care and treatment under a variety of conditions, particularly when an adequate number of nurses are available on a given shift. In addition, patients with more severe health concerns will be treated by nurses with fewer patients per shift so that their focus is properly given to each patient. These efforts are important because they provide considerable support in achieving effective outcomes for all patients. At the same time, nursing units must increase their cost effectiveness and effective nurse staffing models play a critical role in this process and in the ability to achieve desirable outcomes for all patients at all times.

References

Anderson, E.F., Frith, K.H., and Caspers, B. (2011). Linking economics and quality: developing an evidence-based nurse staffing tool. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 35(1), 53-60.

Bobay, K., Yakusheva, O., and Weiss, M. (2011). Outcomes and cost analysis of the impact of unit-level nurse staffing on post-discharge utilization. Nursing Economics, 29(2), 69-87.

Buerhaus, P.I. (2010). It’s time to stop the regulation of hospital nurse staffing dead in its tracks. Nursing Economics, 28(2), 110-113.

Buerhaus, P.I. (2010). What is the harm in imposing mandatory hospital nurse staffing regulations? Nursing Economics, 28(2), 87-93.

Duffield, C., Roche, M., Diers, D., Catling-Paull, C., and Blay, N. (2010). Staffing, skill mix and the model of care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(15-16), 2242-2251.

Frith, K.H., Anderson, E.F., Tseng, F., and Fong, E.A. (2012). Nurse staffing is an important strategy to prevent medication errors in community hospitals. Nursing Economics, 30(5), 288-294.

Harper, E.M. (2012). Staffing based on evidence: can health information technology make it possible? Nursing Economics, 30(5), 262-267, 281.

Hines, P.A., Yu, K., and Randall, M. (2010). Preventing heart failure readmissions: is your organization prepared? Nursing Economics, 28(2), 74-85.

Serratt, T., Harrington, C., Spetz, J., and Blegen, M. (2011). Staffing changes before and after mandated nurse-to-patient ratios in California’s hospitals. Policy Politics Nursing Practice, 12(3), 133-140.

Shamliyan, T.A., Kane, R.L., Mueller, C., Duval, S., and Wilt, T.J. (2009). Cost savings associated with increased RN staffing in acute care hospitals: simulation exercise. Nursing Economics, 27(5), 302-314, 331.