Reply to Discussion Post Week 3-1

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Reply to Discussion Post Week 3-1

PLEASE REPLY TO DISCUSSION POST BELOW:

 

Competing needs are an essential basis for forming healthcare policy. To appropriately develop any healthcare policies, workforce needs, resources, and patients must be considered. Policies are the base of the care we provide. They provide guidelines that must be followed to remain in our scope of practice. They also assist in preventing errors and improving communication with medical decisions (Mozafaripour, 2022).

   The competing workforce needs, resources, and patients majorly impact the nursing shortage. The shortage is due to multiple factors, especially the lack of nursing educators, increased burnout/turnover, and an unattainable workload (Haddad et al., 2022). The nurse-to-patient ratio has always been an issue, but it has become an even bigger problem since the pandemic. People are sicker, requiring a higher level of care for an extended period which in turn requires more staff. The pandemic also sparked a dramatic increase in turnover rate due to emotional and physical stress. The nursing shortage also raises issues with patient safety and appropriately meeting their care needs. When resources and time spent with patients are decreased, the quality of care and patient satisfaction falls, and patient mortality and medical errors increase (Sadler, 2021).

   Policymakers can begin to address these needs by creating a policy to limit the nurse-to-patient ratio as the ratio is one of the main reasons for burnout, dissatisfaction at work, and increased patient mortality rates (Haddad et al., 2022). Another policy idea to address the needs of nurses can be fair wages and better access to premium health insurance benefits. This job is in high demand but low paying, especially more in rural areas. For example, the hospital where I am currently employed is one of the highest acuity hospitals in the state but the lowest paying for both staff and travel nurses. Better policies and incentives should be put in place to aid this shortage. Otherwise, it is just going to get worse.

 

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