Redundant, Unnecessary or Repetitive Work, Essay Example

In no organization is redundant, unnecessary or repetitive work efficient or cost effective, especially if—whether necessary or not—it is carried out by better trained and higher rank employees than the work requires. That certainly holds true in the hospital where I am employed as a registered nurse (RN).

There have been times when a patient care assistant/associate (PCA), a certified nursing assistant (CNA), a licensed practical nurse (LPN) have not been available; and I have had to bathe and groom a patient as well as make up the bed, something that periodically happens to other RNs as well.   Such instances detract from an RN’s assigned duties and are not cost effective.  It is also important that the administration and the nursing staff fully understand the scope of practice of all nursing staff and try to make certain that the duties that fall within the scope of lower trained and paid employees be assigned to them and not to higher level employees.  A case in point would be determining whether the measuring and recording of intake and output could not be done by a CNA or PCA.

Furthermore, it seems redundant to spend at least half an hour getting a complete case history on a patient being admitted to a ward if (s)he is accompanied by a fairly detailed one from the ER   Also, most hospitals now consider the shaving of pubic hair—once considered mandatory—not only unnecessary, but even somewhat harmful.  The elimination of this task has saved nurses considerable time.  Most nurses experience some repetitive patient moving and lifting tasks, some more so than others.  It is important that these nurses observe the best body positions when carrying out these tasks and have some helpful equipment, such as patient lifts.