There are numerous considerations to be deliberated upon while bringing about a change in a healthcare facility. It is a complicated process that incorporates a variety of persons, phases, difficulties, as well as drivers. Methods for executing the intended changes are discussed in this paper. This essay will deliberate the recommended plan for the implementation of mandatory policies that are meant to improve nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.
Healthcare companies all over the world are grappling with significant challenges. For nurses, the complications they face include staff shortages due to cost-cutting initiatives as well as an older population and more complex patients. Evidence shows that having the correct number of nurses on hand helps improve the quality of care provided to clients, while also making everyone on the team more satisfied (Butler et al., 2019). It is still important to have enough people working in the healthcare industry. ANA has worked relentlessly for over two decades to address unsafe staffing levels in order to improve operational conditions for nurses and assure the best patient outcomes.
The nursing profession and the healthcare system as a whole rely heavily on the correct number of caregivers to perform their duties. The ability of these individuals to offer safe and high-quality care in a variety of practice settings is influenced by the quantity of nurses available. For the sake of everyone’s health, the enrolment authorities must abandon damaging recruitment practices and policies (Shin et al., 2018). In order to improve wellbeing and health care delivery, one must ensure the safety of the employees and provide the best in evidence-based policy and preparation as well as professional development.
Setting and Access to Potential Subjectsa
The proposed policies will be implemented in five distinct departments of a specific healthcare facility in the beginning stages. Participants in the projects will choose to select whether or not to take part in the venture. All ethical norms of research shall be carefully adhered to throughout the process. During the next two weeks, there will be extensive advertising to ensure that as many nurses and other healthcare professionals as possible are aware of the projected regulations to enhance the nurse-to-patient staffing ratio in healthcare facilities (Barber et al., 2018). The consent would be sought from all registered nurses as well as other stakeholders who will be arguing for the necessity for the implementation of policies that increase patient-nurse staffing ratios. These opinions will have to be included in the approval of the required policies (Barber et al., 2018). A week before the guidelines are put into effect, the subjects engaged will have to be trained in their respective fields of expertise. In addition, the opinions of healthcare administrators will be solicited to ensure that the project is consistent with the mission, vision, and goals of the healthcare facility.
Required Time
A particular time limit is required to implement mandatory regulations in order to address understaffing in the medical care facilities. In this regard, it will take three months to enforce all the rules that have been suggested in the five departments involved. To ensure that all procedures are applied and assessed to determine the degree of outcomes, the time frame proposed is more than sufficient.
Required Resources
Throughout the execution stage, appropriate resources are required to guarantee a seamless application procedure. Resources are necessary to enable work during the implementation stage. This technique involves the establishment of a budget to cover the costs of essential resources. The enactment step is the costliest and has failed numerous change projects due to resource constraints. To implement the suggested policies, the following capitals will be required: a human reserve to teach nurses on the application process, decent laptops and desktops for presentation, projectors, print-out papers, VGA cables, and projector screens. Additionally, large conference rooms will be necessary to accommodate the number of persons attending the proposed policies’ awareness program. The budget for all essential resources is projected to be $ 35000.If the projected budgeted money is achieved, all the operations will run smoothly.
Data Collection Plan
Throughout the twelve-week duration of the study’s data-collecting phase, a questionnaire will gather data constantly. Participants will provide information on their progress following the intervention. Each week, participants will complete a form containing the outcome of an implemented policy that was incorporated within the department. The results will demonstrate the intervention’s efficiency in increasing the nurse-patient staffing ratio and enhancing patients’ results. Statistics will also be collected and recorded into excel spreadsheets. After the study is completed, the other step will be interpretation and analysis. The information gathering form will be similar to the one used for implementation monitoring.
Methods and Instruments to Monitor the Implementation of the Proposed Solution
The primary tool for evaluating the recommended solution’s implementation will be a questionnaire. These surveys will need to be distributed to nurses and other health care professionals every month (Griffiths et al., 2020). This type of approach is preferred because it facilitates examination. It is also a method that many healthcare organizations’ workers and leaders are familiar with. The feedback form will also be critical because it will help keep the project’s costs down (Griffiths et al., 2020). The price will decrease because the amount of paper photocopied will be restricted. Many of the respondents have either completed or heard of a questionnaire previously in their lives. Since students must mark or cross off the given question, it is combined with simple queries on their development. Additionally, the response ought to be candid, as it will be completed individually and privately.
Process of Intervention Delivery
The policies that have been advocated will be executed in an integrated manner. Several primary interventions will be implemented, including raising awareness of newly developed policies that should be adopted, disseminating printed copies of comprehensive policy documents, applying procedures in departments, and requesting feedback on the policies’ applicability. Participants will get instruction regarding the guidelines as to the way they will be implemented in inpatient care, and how to adhere to them before they are executed. Every week, a group of individuals will be selected to provide an update on the progress of implementation. Using this information, one may determine the effectiveness and credibility of the procedure. In principle, the project is concerned with putting into effect suggested guidelines that, if followed, will likely improve nurse-to-patient ratios and, as a result, reduce the length of time patients spend in acute care hospitals.
Stakeholders Required, Potential Challenges and Strategies to Overcome these Difficulties
The stakeholders included in the implementation plan comprise the qualified registered nurses, experts training people on the policies and other health care professionals such as the physician’s dieticians. These experts will assess for the relevance of increased patient-nurse ratio in ensuring improved client’s outcomes. Moreover, the predicted difficulties during the application process will include resistance from healthcare professionals, as the vast majority of them will see no value in establishing measures to maintain appropriate staffing. It is reasonable to predict a lack of collaboration from non-nursing health care professionals (Wendsche et al., 2017). The high cost of implementation is also anticipated, as raising the necessary funds for project operation is complex. To overcome these obstacles, it will be essential to increase public awareness of the policies. Other health care professionals will be convinced of the critical nature of cooperation in ensuring policy success. Additionally, the implementation cost will be minimized in whatever way feasible to address the cost challenges.
Feasibility of the Implementation Plan
The achievement of the estimated cost demonstrates the feasibility of the execution plan. The anticipated charges shall be distributed in various ways to satisfy the budget requirements. The professionals will have to be compensated in pieces, and rates will be discussed amicably to reduce the amount of work required. The money needed will be borrowed from well-wishers and donation groups that support safe staffing to purchase the other resources. The data-gathering plan that has been established will be monitored to ensure that costs are kept to a minimum. As a result, the strategy is practicable, and it will be successful if the proposed plan is followed to completion.
References
Barber, B., Lally, J. J., Makarushka, J. L., & Sullivan, D. (2018). Research on human subjects: Problems of social control in medical experimentation. Routledge.
Butler, M., Schultz, T. J., Halligan, P., Sheridan, A., Kinsman, L., Rotter, T., Beaumier, J., Kelly, R. G. & Drennan, J. (2019). Hospital nurse‐staffing models and patient‐and staff‐related outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4). Web.
Griffiths, P., Saville, C., Ball, J., Jones, J., Pattison, N., Monks, T., & Safer Nursing Care Study Group. (2020). Nursing workload, nurse staffing methodologies and tools: A systematic scoping review and discussion. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 103, 103487. Web.
Shin, S., Park, J. H., & Bae, S. H. (2018). Nurse staffing and nurse outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nursing Outlook, 66(3), 273-282. Web.
Wendsche, J., Hacker, W., & Wegge, J. (2017). Understaffing and registered nurses’ turnover: The moderating role of regular rest breaks. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(3), 238-259. Web.
Appendix
Time Line
Resource List
- Expert trainers
- Laptops
- Desktop Computers
- Screen projectors
- Printout papers
- VGMA cables
Budget
Methods and Instruments
- Questionnaires
- Google forms