Quality Care Leading to Better Patient Health Outcomes

Quality Care Leading to Better Patient Health Outcomes
Background of the study
Research studies have presented evidence that increased staffing levels of nurses can significantly improve safety and quality care leading to better patient health outcomes. The research article by Dunning (2021) explores individual nurse values, value unity, and the potential ramifications of workplace safety, patient care, and wellbeing for organizations and individual nurses. The nursing profession prioritizes morality and values, which is understandable (Dunning, 2021). The study by Huston et al. (2017) presents a literature review and an analysis of existing tactics for bridging the gap between academic and practical cooperation. The authors looked at the discrepancies in result potentials for new graduates between academia and nursing practice. Due to the importance of this study in demonstrating the factors that lead to burnout in nurses, more research on the effect of burnout on service quality becomes necessary (Huston et al., 2017). As a result, the research question is whether or not an increased nurse staffing levels, compared to low staffing levels, improve patient health outcomes on day 7 of hospitalization?” Some departments in the hospital are usually quite labor-intensive. Any hiccup in the availability of this labor can be quite disastrous (Haegdorens et al., 2019). For example, any second means everything for the patients brought in and those attended to in the emergency department. When that constant presence is absent, these patients can easily and quickly deteriorate and even die. An understaffed hospital can sometimes be borderline equated to a death trap; too many patients need treatment while very few attendants do so (Griffiths et al. 2016). Therefore, they end up waiting in line, either for medical attention or to worsen their respective conditions. There is a need to address this nursing shortage issue to achieve the best patient outcomes.
Literature review
Nurses working in the acute care unit of a teaching hospital emerge as the primary focus of Dunning et al. (2021) and Huston et al. (2017) research, representing a standard group in the profession. The studies emphasize the need for cooperative or collaborative efforts, effective communication, and the implementation of a psychological program to assist individuals in relaxing and relieving the stress that comes with working long hours. The results indicate that the leadership of these institutions can avert overburdening of the nursing staff with excessive work, triggering a beneficial influence on the patient experience. As a result, these findings will be fundamental in answering the PICOT question by illustrating the gradual impact of the increased number of nurses on the recovery rate among inpatient clients in acute care settings. Huston et al. (2017) allude to the value of progressive empowerment of healthcare providers to ensure that nurses satisfy clinical needs leading to enhanced quality and excellence in clinical services. Both Dunning (2021) and Huston et al. (2017) articles demonstrate that working for long hours under severe pressure invariably results in weariness, anxiety, and depression, all of which are precursors to burnout and are associated with a higher risk of developing burnout. One can use this awareness to explain how reducing burnout through expanding a workforce fast-tracks patients’ recovery due to focused attention from their nurses.
Haegdorens et al. (2019) note that nurses comprise the largest group of hospital employees and are responsible for most patient care. This is why it is crucial to investigate their work environment and staffing to ensure they can provide quality care to patients. Additionally, Haegdorens et al. (2019) note that inadequate nurse staffing in acute hospitals is connected to increased hospital mortality rates, medical errors, and healthcare-related infections. Therefore, improved nurse staffing and employing a large proportion of nurses with a bachelor's degree could reduce mortality in a hospital within 30 days. Consequently, Haegdorens et al. (2019) state that adequate nurse staffing levels influence patient quality of care. This is because nurses have adequate time to spend with patients and understand their needs. On the other hand, Griffiths et al. (2016) note a connection between low nurse staffing levels and increased death rates in hospitals. After examining all the factors, Griffiths et al. (2016) concluded that nurse staffing levels determine patients’ quality of care in the hospitals. Due to these reasons, the management should always be cautious about the staffing of nurses. The four articles have provided adequate evidence on the importance of increasing nurse staffing levels in improving the health outcomes of patients in acute care units.
Method of Study
Dunning et al. (2021) use semi-structured telephone interviews. Barrett and Twycross (2018) indicate that the main benefit of semi-structured interviews is that they permit participants to provide open-ended answers for more comprehensive information. The researchers enrolled fifteen nurses working in an acute medical facility around the United Kingdom to collect their data, which is limited based on the small sample size. Although the recruitment technique appears purposing rather than randomized, it suits this method, leading to incorporating a sample that meets all the inclusion criteria. The study by Huston et al. (2017) represents the literature review findings and analysis of current practices, which built a bridge between academic and practical partnerships and served as the foundation of this work. More specifically, it investigates the disparities in outcome outlooks for new graduates between academia and nursing practice and the ramifications of this mismatch for recent graduates, patients, and prospective managers. The research by Haegdorens et al. (2019) was a longitudinal observational study whereby a control group of 14 medical and 14 surgical wards in seven hospitals in Belgium were analyzed. All the patients admitted to the hospital during the research period were included in the research. Additionally, children below 17 years and pregnant women were excluded from the study. The authors collected data on unplanned admissions in the Intensive Care Unit, unexpected death, and ward mortality rates in this study. They also examined the number of nurses assigned to various patients in the hospital. On the other hand, Grif...