nursing shortage
1-One of the issues that is facing the small community hospital where I live is nursing shortage. Around the world, it seems that larger hospitals are more immune to this problem versus small community hospitals (Cha B. & Choi J., 2015). One way that this affects nurses is in the ED setting. The ED was just added onto to make 23 beds. This is up from 8 beds. Travellers were used for a short time but staff was told that this was not sustainable and the decision was made to only use the correct amount of beds for the amount of nurses that were on shift. The MD’s and other providers insist on filling every room. Two implications for nurses are safety and staff retainability. It is hard for the nurses to feel safe when patient ratios are far above recommended national guidelines. This in turn puts patient’s wellbeing at risk. Secondly, the hospital is having a hard time hiring new staff and retaining current staff. Staff satisfaction has dramatically declined and the word is travelling through the nursing community that it is not a good place to work.
References
Cha B. & Choi J. (2015). A Comparative Study on Perception of Patient Safety Culture and Safety Care Activities: Comparing University Hospital Nurses and Small Hospital Nurses. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration21(4), 405-416. https://doi.org/10.11111/jkana.2015.21.4.405
2-Developing Pediatric Transfer Guidelines based on our available resources and Evidence based practice.
“Additionally, inappropriate transfers to trauma centers may be impacting this finding as well. In a study of patients with orthopedic injuries transferred to Level I trauma centers, Thakur, et al. reported that 52% were inappropriate transfers, and that the majority of inappropriate transfers were uninsured. This transfer effect was not found in Level III or IV trauma centers. Hospitals receiving a larger percentage of transferred patients also have higher proportions of patients requiring critical trauma resources. This is not surprising, as severely injured patients are typically transferred to higher levels of care for specialty expertise and for the management of complex injuries” (Faul, 2015). Nursing staff should be able to ensure the accepting facility has the right resources for the patient.
Developing a Simple SBAR type tool with Standards of Practice for use in outlying facilities and our ED during Transfer Calls. The concept is to improve communication and continuation of care for transferring patients. (ie: if they have give 3 units of RBC, we need to start with plasma.)
“The Joint Commission (2008) has identified effective communication as one of its National Patient Safety Goals. Communication tools like SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation) can help nurses focus communication to improve the effectiveness of information transfer. SBAR is especially important in urgent or high-acuity situations where clear and effective interpersonal communication is critical to patient outcome” In high acuity, fast paced scenarios a lot of information can be lost or forgotten leading to patient harm (Dunsford, 2009).
Implementing PECARN Imaging guidelines for trauma in the ED & inpatient settings. Leadership from Radiology has asked to be a part of this project.
These are the 3 clinical problems our organization would like us to research and gain positive outcomes from. Clear communication plays a big part in all of these.
Dunsford, J. ( 2015). PubMed. Structured communication: improving patient safety with SBAR. retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19821914
Faul, Mark (2015). PMS. Trauma Center Staffing, Infrastructure, and Patient Characteristics that Influence Trauma Center Need. retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4307735/#b34-wjem-16-98
3-During this practicum, the clinical problem identified within the organization is a lack of musical intervention to reduce agitation, anxiety, and aggression associated with dementia. The first nursing implication for this topic is non-pharmacological musical intervention to reduce behaviors in dementia patients to improve their quality of life (Millan-Calenti, Lorenzo-Lopez, Alonso-Búa, de Labra, González-Abraldes, & Maseda., 2016) The second nursing implication is a reduction of negative side effects associated with the use of pharmacological interventions to treat agitation, anxiety, and aggression in dementia patients (Ridder, Stige, Gunnhild, & Gold, 2013). Current research supports positive outcomes when musical intervention is utilized as a non-pharmacological intervention in the reduction of negative behaviors seen in dementia patients and this organization and its residents could benefit from the implementation of this evidence-based practice.
References
Millán-Calenti, J. C., Lorenzo-López, L., Alonso-Búa, B., de Labra, C., González-Abraldes, I., & Maseda, A. (2016). Optimal nonpharmacological management of agitation in Alzheimer’s disease: challenges and solutions. Clinical interventions in aging, 11, 175–184. doi:10.2147/CIA.S69484
Ridder, H. O., Stige, B., Gunnhild, L., & Gold, C. (2013). Individual music therapy for agitation in dementia: an exploratory randomized controlled trial. Aging & Mental Health, 17(6), 667–678. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4685573/
