Adjusting the patient-to-staff ratios by improving nurse retention will benefit the patient's safety outcome by reducing patient overload Custom Essay
(1) Adjusting the patient-to-staff ratios by improving nurse retention will benefit the patient�s safety outcome by reducing patient overload. The counterargument of cost effectiveness is another issue that needs to be addressed.
(2)Patient Staff ratios is always a hot topic. Nurses want more help and companies need to look at their bottom line. Hopefully patient safety is always at the top of the priority list! I think a minimum staffing ratio for safety is a must.
(3)Being aware of never events and how to avoid them is the first step in safer health care. Reminding staff that reimbursement is affected and that also trickles down to other corporate expenses such as merits should also motivate staff to care responsibly.
(4)Never events in my inpatient hospice facility are much like those in hospitals. Medication errors and fall prevention top the list of concerns for my facility. We use paper charting so careful administration and triple checking patient rights is vital to safety! Fall scores are part of our initial and ongoing nursing assessments. When a patient has a high fall score we admit alert all staff, use frequent rounding, occasionally patient sitters, bed alarms, floor pads, etc. Never ever are we able to use patient restraints in hospice so we must be creative in keeping patients safe while in our care!
(5)The focus of educating the nurse to better meet these needs is important in preventing these issues. There is also a mandate by JACHO that these instances be reported and investigated. There needs to be a change in nursing effectiveness since this depends on the ability to monitor and evaluate emerging indicators of change of patient status. Therefore there needs to be a staffing plan where the nurse has enough time for the patient to perform the functions needed. There needs to be resource in place to address these needs. Kane, et al (2007) identified that 1 additional patient per Rn per shift was associated with increased risk of failure to rescue, pulmonary failure, unplanned estuation, medical complications and hospital acquired pneumonia
