Effects of High Nursing Turnover to the Patients and Shareholders

High Nursing Turnover in a Hospital Affecting Patient Operations

In every healthcare institution, it is the expectation of every patient to receive adequate medical care when he/she visits the health care institution. Often, the hospital management and stakeholders must always ensure that all patients are treated as their health needs require. This will be critical in maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the hospital. However, when the patient is visiting the hospital increases, it will reach an extent that the nurses and other staff working in the hospital are overwhelmed. When the nurses and other staff are overwhelmed, the patients will not receive satisfactory medical care (Bae, Mark, & Fried, 2010). In the end, the hospital's reputation will be severely affected. Since not all the patients will be served as expected, they will opt to visit other near hospitals to seek better services. The hospital will receive stiff competition due the inadequate medical services resulting from nurses, and other staff shortage experienced when the patients are visiting the hospital increase. If the problem is not realized and addressed at an earlier stage, the hospital might close down because of the losses made (Buerhaus, 2007).

All stakeholders suffer when the hospital is in a critical situation occasioned by nurses' turnover. The shareholders will be greatly affected because their return on investment will reduce and might even be zero if the problem is not addressed earnestly. Besides, the decreasing the rate of turnover means that few patients will be served, and the projected hospital growth will stagnate. It is the aim of the shareholders in any business to expand their business using the profits or the turn over received from the business (Hayes, 2012). In this case, the business will remain at the same point while the reputation and turnover are deteriorating.

It will reach a point that the hospital cannot meet its normal operating expenses. For example, the nurses and other staff will not be well compensated or even stay for some time without being paid. The staff will be demoralized, and they might decide to seek employment in other organizations. It will mean that the hospital is collapsing all losses will be on the stakeholders. The staff might sue the stakeholders if they do not have paid their dues for a long period (Bae, Mark, & Fried, 2010).

When such a risk is experienced in the hospital, the first step is to increase the nurses and other staff working in the hospital. Ideally, patients will increase, and they should be attended adequately on time. This strategy will be critical in serving and maintaining a relationship with the patients visiting the hospital because their needs are cared for in time. Besides, the reputation of the hospital will be maintained and even improved because more patients will be attracted to the hospital. Stakeholders should expand the hospital such that other wings to address the patients with an emergency (Buerhaus, 2007). Patients having emergency cases should be assisted directly without queuing for a long time such that their lives are saved from danger. The stakeholders should organize for staffs training on ways of identifying patients with critical or chronic diseases for them to be given priority. In such instances, the patients will value the services and priorities given to patients having critical problems, and they continue visiting the hospital.