CC Corporations Should Be Responsible for Providing Safe Staffing Discussion – Description
Hey friend, I have to reply to 2 of my peers on there post. Would you be able to do it? I can pay extra on the next assignment?
Response Posts— Application of Ethical or Legal Concepts Both response posts contributed information related to ethical or legal concepts. Support by 1 credible source on the reply
1. Safe Nurse Staffing MW
Corporations should be responsible for providing safe staffing. Hospitals are expected to provide safe, quality care, and safe staffing contributes to that. Jolicoeur (2021) mentions the increase in hospital acquired infections, longer wait times for pain medications, lack of patient turning and increased pressure ulcers, all due to lack of staffing. The loss of revenue alone, due to hospital-acquired infections and pressure injuries should make hospital corporations more aware of the issue. Hiring additional staff and decreasing workload could lead to increased revenue for the corporation. Oklahoma (where I live) has laws requiring hospital systems to have quality improvement committees and quality improvement plans in place to ensure quality of care through ongoing evaluation of services provided to patients (Okla. Admin. Code 310:667-11-2, 2003, Okla. Admin. Code 310:667-11-3, 1995). Hospitals are also required to have adequate nurse to patient ratios to provide appropriate patient care (Okla. Admin. Code 310:667-15-3, 1995). If patients are acquiring infections and injuries in the hospital due to heavy workloads, then hospitals are not meeting these standards required by law.
Legally, walking out could be seen as patient abandonment, but ethically, it is walking out so that patients can have better care, so I do not believe it should be viewed as such. I think there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes when a walk out takes place and when organizations are made aware prior to the walk out, it allows them to fill in with temporary staffing. The Oklahoma Nurse Practice Act states that nurses can be disciplined for leaving their patients without notifying a supervisor (Okla. Admin. Code 485:10-11-1, 2019). So, technically, if the organization knows about the walk-out, and management is aware that they need additional staff, I believe that it is not patient abandonment.
Unsafe staffing absolutely violates our rights as nurses. We are told repeatedly in nursing school to never violate the nurse practice act and not to provide unsafe care. Unsafe staffing levels provides unsafe care. If I cannot properly care for and chart on each patient, provide a thorough assessment due to time constraints, then I am not providing safe care. If patients are acquiring infections and injuries because nurses and nurse aids are too busy to check and turn them, then we are hurting our patients and not helping them. It is a violation of Oklahoma’s Nurse Practice Act to administer unsafe patient care (Okla. Admin. Code 485:10-11-1, 2019). Therefore, we are putting our licenses on the line when we are put in unsafe staffing situations.
2nd Post:
O’Sullivan, IP:
I personally feel it is the responsibility of the nation to enact safe staffing ratios for safe, quality care. Individual corporations and hospitals should enact ratios, but in my opinion that is unlikely to occur. Individual states can mandate safe staffing ratios. I worked in California in the ICU during Covid-19, and I was amazed by the staffing ratios there. In 2004, California implemented the California RN Staffing Ratio Law. This law laid out specific nurse to patient ratios in each area of the hospital. My personal experience with these mandated ratios was incredible. If we did not have the staffing required for each unit, the hospital would offer time-and-a-half or double time pay to get staff to pick up shifts. I truly felt so appreciated and not stressed during my time in California, despite working everyday in a Covid ICU in full PAPR and PPE. I had breaks and resources and help – what should be the bare minimum in our type of work.
No, a walk-out should not be viewed as patient abandonment. Protesting and walk-outs should be protected rights of nurses and healthcare professionals. While it is our responsibility to take care of our patients, we also have an obligation to protect ourselves and our profession. The hospital will cry and complain that there isn’t enough money to pay the nurses for safe ratios, yet I implore you to lookup what the CEO, CMO, and CNO of the hospital makes per year in salary and then tell me they don’t have the money to provide us with safe patient ratios. The National Labor Relations Act supports a worker’s right to strike to “seek better working conditions without fear of retaliation,” U.S.C. § 29.7.2 (1935).
Yes I believe unsafe staffing levels violate the rights of nursing and healthcare providers as employees because we, as employees, deserve the right to provide safe patient care, the right to a safe working environment, and the right to fair working conditions. We, as nurses, have a professional obligation to provide safe patient care but staffing and ratios are out of our control. How can we provide safe patient care when we are set up to fail every shift?
It just have to be 1 paragraph. Not too long. I will pay for these
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