Introduction
Healthcare in the United States faces a range of challenges that affect the effective management of patients. The high workload of nurses due to their low number compared to the number of patients seeking care is one of those healthcare problems. Nurse leaders and policymakers have essential roles in helping to reduce this disparity in service delivery. Moreover, nurses need to adopt professionalism in agitating for reasonable nurse-to-client ratios in the different care settings. Hence, this paper will look at the impacts of the inadequate number of nurses on the care of the sick plus nurse leaders’ role and professionalism in rectifying this menace.
Impacts of Nurse Staffing on Quality Care and Safety of Patients
Effective patient management requires an adequate number of nurses in relation to the number and acuity of hospitalized patients. Nurses’ ratio to a patient in the United States is at its all-time low (Driscoll et al., 2018). This is attributable to the aging population and cost-cutting initiatives by hospitals. Also, the number of individuals seeking treatment following substances and opioids abuse has considerably risen, further complicated by the growing number of retiring nurses (Griffiths et al., 2018). Research by Paulsen (2018) found that the void left by the nurses leaving services in the rural areas is hard to be filled due to the low number of newer nurses interested in working in these locations. Therefore, these factors contribute to the mismatch between the available service providers to the workload.
Consequently, the low number of care providers compared to patients, impairs holistic around-the-clock care by primary care providers. A study found out that many nurses felt that they did not have the adequate time required to offer individualized psychological and physical care to patients. Also, these nurses thought that they did not have time to give health education to patients and their families due to an increased workload (Griffiths et al., 2018). Furthermore, according to Driscoll et al. (2018), patient safety is greatly hindered due to a high incidence of nursing errors following a high number of patients in relation to the available nurses. Hence, additional nurses are needed to provide optimal client management.
Professional Standards in Nurse Staffing
The nursing profession has guidelines on the standard nurse-to-patient ratio tailored according to the hospital departments. The federal and the state government’s regulations, supported by the American Nurses Association, provide for nurse managers’ empowerment to control the nursing staff plans in the different units. Professionalism in nurses’ staffing requires the allocation of nurses according to the nurse’s experience, patient acuity, and the availability of support staff. The nurse-to-patient ratio in the intensive care unit, newborn units, and the emergency department should be one nurse per patient (Driscoll et al., 2018). The recommended nurse to patient ratio in the medical and surgical wards is 1:5 (Driscoll et al., 2018). In the psychiatric unit, the balance is one nurse for six patients (Paulsen, 2018). These suggestions need to be adhered to for optimum patient care.
Roles of Nurse Leaders and Managers
Nurse leaders and managers play a critical role in influencing nursing practices and patient care policies, including nursing staffing. Studies by Cope & Murray (2017) show relational-focused leaders concentrate on promoting interpersonal relationships at the workplace. On the other hand, task-oriented nurse leaders work through giving the objectives to their followers and supporting their needs during the accomplishment of these expectations. Furthermore, nursing relational leaders have a more significant impact in promoting improved nursing staffing due to their excellent human resource management (Cope & Murray, 2017). Similarly, nurse managers need to have practical communication skills to present inadequate nurse staffing to policymakers.
Furthermore, the caregivers’ leaders and managers have other roles in addressing staffing issues in the profession. They can adopt the advocacy role by forming political parties to campaign for nurses’ fair hiring to meet the patient population requirements. Transformational leaders in nursing mentor and support the junior nurses in the hospitals to prepare them to agitate for more staffing (Cope & Murray, 2017). Through supportive supervision and adequate salaries, they empower nurses with the motivation and experience for ensuring quality patient care (Driscoll et al., 2018). Nurse leaders and managers can influence policy changes in healthcare.
Promoting Professionalism in Healthcare
Maintaining professionalism in times of crisis is a necessary quality in nursing practice. The problem of inadequate nursing staffing is a pertinent concept that may arise even when there are enough nurses to patient ratio secondary to shift changes. Therefore, nurses should assume a teamwork approach through working collaboratively to achieve effective patient management (Paulsen, 2018). Also, professionalism calls for nurses to follow the available communication channels in airing their concerns about nursing staffing. Nurses need to practice integrity and honesty in all their dealings while putting their needs at the forefront. In summary, professionalism is a precious virtue to adopt during advocacy for nursing staffing.
Transformational Leadership in Addressing Nurse Staffing
Transformational leadership style is effective in fighting for adequate staffing of nurses in hospitals. These leaders provide the organization’s goals to their subordinates and offer them a platform to carry out the required actions. Transformational leaders also apply effective listening skills to identify the challenges nurses undergo in caring for patients (Cope & Murray, 2017). Transformational leaders create a good rapport with other nurses and other healthcare practitioners, thereby enhancing the odds to reach the organization’s goals. Hence, transformational leaders can utilize their interpersonal skills to promote adequate staffing of nurses.
Conclusion
The issue of inadequate nurse staffing is a pertinent healthcare problem affecting patient care. It requires interdisciplinary collaboration initiated by nurse leaders to agitate for its resolution by the policymakers. Transformational leaders are instrumental in promoting the actualization of this goal. Professionalism should be employed during the advocacy process by nurses. A review of the current nurse to patient ratio is required to ensure it meets the international recommendations.
References
Cope, V., & Murray, M. (2017). Leadership styles in nursing. Nursing Standard, 31(43).
Driscoll, A., Grant, M. J., Carroll, D., Dalton, S., Deaton, C., Jones, I., & Astin, F. (2018). The effect of nurse-to-patient ratios on nurse-sensitive patient outcomes in acute specialist units: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 17(1), 6–22.
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.
Paulsen R. A. (2018). Taking nurse staffing research to the unit level. Nursing Management, 49(7), 42–48.