Effective Approaches of Nursing Leaders and Managers to Inadequate Patient-Nurse Ratio
In this assignment, you will be writing a 1,000-1,250-word essay describing the differing approaches of nursing leaders and managers to issues in practice. To complete this assignment, do the following:
1. Select an issue from the following list: nursing shortage and nurse turn-over, nurse staffing ratios, unit closures and restructuring, use of contract employees (i.e., registry and travel nurses), continuous quality improvement and patient satisfaction, and magnet designation.
2. Compare and contrast how you would expect nursing leaders and managers to approach your selected issue. Support your rationale by using the theories, principles, skills, and roles of the leader versus manager described in your readings.
3. Identify the approach that best fits your personal and professional philosophy of nursing and explain why the approach is suited to your personal leadership style.
4. Identify a possible funding source that addresses your issue. Consider looking at federal, state, and local organizations. For example: There are many grants available through the CDC, HRSA, etc.
5. Use at least two references other than your text and those provided in the course.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
References :
1. Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Program
Read "Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) Program," located on the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) website.
https://bhw(dot)hrsa(dot)gov/fundingopportunities/?id=eace6eab-4e7f-4436-8569-e89abbc62f98
2-Verbal Communication Model
Read "Verbal Communication Model," located on the VTAide website.
http://www(dot)vtaide(dot)com/lifeskills/verbalC.htm
3-Guide for Written Communication
Study "Guide for Written Communication," located on the Northeastern University website.
http://web(dot)archive(dot)org/web/20080211140854/http://web(dot)cba(dot)neu(dot)edu/~ewertheim/skills/writovv.htm
4. Are You the Best Leader You Can Be?
Read "Are You the Best Leader You Can Be?" by Hassmiller and Truelove, from American Journal of Nursing.
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://gateway(dot)ovid(dot)com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltext&D=ovft&AN=00000446-201401000-00030&PDF=y
5. Financial Literacy as an Essential Element in Nursing Management Practice
Read "Financial Literacy as an Essential Element in Nursing Management Practice," by Talley et al., from Nursing Economic$ (2013).
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://search(dot)ebscohost(dot)com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=2012069789&site=ehost-live&scope=site
6- Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts
Read "Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts," by Obuchowski, from the Harvard Management Communication Letter (2005).
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://search(dot)ebscohost(dot)com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=17515580&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Filtering Out Ineffective Communication
7-Read "Signal-to-Noise Ratio: Filtering Out Ineffective Communication," by Middaugh, from Medsurg Nursing (2013).
https://lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login?url=http://search(dot)ebscohost(dot)com(dot)lopes(dot)idm(dot)oclc(dot)org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=2012214647&site=ehost-live&scope=site
8. Human Resources and Services Administration
Explore the Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) website.
https://www(dot)hrsa(dot)gov
Textbook
Textbook
1. Leadership and Nursing Care Management
Read chapters 7, 8, 9, 11, and 19.
http://evolve(dot)elsevier(dot)com
Notes:
The Issue I would like to work on : Patient -Nurse ratio
My personal : leadership style is "Democratic Style"
Effective Approaches in Leadership and Management
Your Name
Subject and Section
November 12, 2018
Introduction
Every healthcare professional knows that aside from the stress of treating patients, other non-medical related issues frequently arise in the workplace. Some of these problems might be caused by administrative or technical issues that affects almost every other aspect of work process. Nevertheless, in any of these cases, the value of leadership becomes a crucial factor in determining whether the workforce could resolve or succumb to these issues. In this article the issue that arises from inadequate ‘patient-nurse ratio’ would be discussed. This includes its relationship to leadership, and how effective administration could resolve this problem. Additionally, the author of this article would also discuss how leadership personality (esp. his personality) could affect the decision-making process. All in all, he believes that just like in any other issue that could arise in the medical setting, the consideration and the proper utilization of different skills (medical and non-medical) could provide the most optimal way answer.
Inadequate Patient-Nurse Ratio
During peak hours, the number of patients could easily overwhelm the staff through their sheer number. Adding to this, each patient might have different circumstances that needs to be put into consideration. Circumstances that could even mean life or death, if not handled properly. Due to this, inadequate patient-nurse ratio is one of the most daunting problems known to healthcare providers as it could to fatal problems such as “higher rates of patient falls, infections, medication errors and even death” CITATION ANAnd \l 1033 (Carlson, Keith, 2017). To solve this, some administrators might think that the solution lies in adding more nurses and staffs to the workforce. However, doing so poses different other problems such as (1) underutilization of nurses and (2) frequent turnovers, among others. In turn, this microcosm of different factors makes it difficult for nurse administrators to determine the best solution to address the persistent issues with patient-nurse ratio.
Role of Leadership
As stated earlier in this article, addressing the problem on short-staffing needs the guide of a leader. It must be noted, however, that ‘leaders’ differ from ‘managers’, in more ways than one. As according to Hassmiller (2006), a nurse leader educates, collaborate, negotiate, provides compassion, as well as determine every opportunities that could help solve the issue at hand. From this statement, it follows that nurse-leaders must be able to solve the problem systematically. This starts with looking behind the imminent issue and identifying its root cause. For example, in the case of short-staffing, some of the potential problems could be staff tardiness, inefficient queuing system, lack of information about number of customers, or even financial constraints. In doing this, nurse-leaders must always be aware of all factors that could affect their decision making, including legal and administrative ones. One example of this is the knowledge about the required ‘patient-to-nurse ratio’ in different departments (i.e., “one-to-three nurse-patient ratio limit for pediatrics”) as allowed by the policy-making bodies CITATION ANAnd \l 1033 (Carlson, Keith, 2017).
After identifying the main issue, a nurse-leader must then take appropriate actions, while minimizing negative effects to all the stakeholders. If the root cause of the shortage in staffing is due to an improper allocation of nurses, then a manager could create a more flexible and appropriate staffing schedule and hire additional staffs on a ‘part-time basis’ during peak hours. In...