Introduction
Nurses’ well-being significantly impacts patients since they play such a crucial part in the treatment and care of people. The United States has recorded several nurse shortages over the years. The absence of adequate legislation controlling the education and hiring of nurses to care for patients is the root cause of this issue. As a result, many global organizations have been established to promote safer employment practices.
Bartmess et al. state, “The number of patients per nurse, nursing training, patient acuity, and nurse autonomy are the factors to consider when hiring nurses to guarantee patient safety” (2021). Cost concerns frequently add to the difficulty of staffing nurses, which may also become political. The effectiveness of the treatment of patients depends on the condition of the nurses, as this affects the attention and concentration of medical workers.
Stakeholders and Policy Impact
The nurse staffing standards legislation has many stakeholders, among whom the main ones are those it affects. While nurses will not work overtime and be exhausted or deal with burnout, patients will find it easier to access timely medical care. The issuing stakeholders include government agencies and local or international organizations. By increasing patient satisfaction with the services offered, they hope to boost their reputation.
As mentioned in the article, in hospitals, labor and wage costs account for about 56% of operating budgets, with nurse employment costs among the highest (Bartmess et al., 2021). That is why the quality of service and hospital costs can both be directly impacted by nurse staffing policy. Nursing unions advocate for a change in the situation where nurses have an unfair workload that negatively affects the patient.
Addressing the Patient Safety Crisis
The legislation aims to solve a severe nursing shortage and patient safety crisis plaguing nationwide hospitals. According to estimates, 250,000 patients per year pass away from avoidable medical mistakes while receiving nursing care, primarily due to RNs being required to care for many patients simultaneously (Bartmess et al., 2021). A decrease in mortality will be one of the primary and less obvious effects of health policy because a nurse who is not overworked and exhausted will pay more attention to patients and prescribe medication treatment. The nurse’s workload will be determined not only by the number of hours worked. The number of patients and the severity of their conditions will be considered and undoubtedly benefit the medical staff.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Policy
The strength of the health policy is that it benefits all stakeholders involved. Health policy aims to improve performance among all parties involved, including employees, patients, the government, and private and public medical facilities. Nevertheless, there are areas for improvement in the health policy that may deter stakeholders from adhering to it. Hospitals may incur higher labor costs when implementing an ongoing expense like a required nurse-to-patient ratio because they lose some of their budget flexibility (Bartmess et al., 2021). Since the approach necessitates additional costs, at the very least, for hiring additional staff, the expense is its primary weakness.
Personal Support
I fully support the health policy, and I have my full support in terms of how it was planned and will be implemented in practice. The set ratios can make existing workers far less overworked and guarantee an equal effort allocation, encouraging focus on patient care and nurse resiliency. In my opinion, setting minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for every hospital is the most effective solution. According to Bartmess et al., legislation governing the nurse-to-patient ratio can help patients get better results and avoid bad ones (2021). The policy is crucial for all nurses because it provides more legal safeguards and gives medical professionals more influence.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the state should prioritize medical institutions because they are essential to preserving its citizens’ health and quality of life. Changes to the current healthcare legislation are required to improve the experiences of patients and nurses. Nurse-to-patient ratios are required to address the issue of nurse overload. A nurse staffing policy should be implemented to benefit patient outcomes and the well-being of the nursing workforce.
Reference
Bartmess, M., Myers, C. R., & Thomas, S. P. (2021). Nurse staffing legislation: Empirical evidence and policy analysis. Nursing Forum, 56(3), 660–675. Web.