Working Conditions and Nurses

Nursing Case Studies This case outline a scenario in which it is clear that the effects of nursing fatigue, coupled with inadequate HR procedures, have led to undesirable outcomes in a very specific way. Mr. Patel, a diabetic, is in the process of getting a routine round of insulin injected by Ms. Chang his nurse when a patient needs interrupt her in the process and she is distracted from this task momentarily while she cares for another patient. The case also states that Ms.

Chang is working an "extended shift" for many reasons that are related to human resource issues at the nursing facility. However, Ms. Chang does actually remember to return to Mr. Patel and administer the injection so it is not actually clear to what extent fatigue plays in this particular instance. However, whatever the particular of the incident may have been, nursing fatigue and inadequate staffing are two closely related issues.

The output that is needed is a redesigned workload that effectively covers all of the job requirements without putting any extra stress on the nurses and/or the patients. The family should be provided information about the incident as well as how it is being addressed. The process of cutting staff is a common practice by many nursing facilities which at attempt to control HR costs in hopes to lower the costs associated with healthcare (Eaton-Spiva, Buitrago, & Trotter, 2010).

The problem that arises is that there are many reports of ongoing fatigue, heavy workloads, irregular hours, inadequate staffing, and a general feeling of not being valued and all of these factors can contribute to an extremely stressful work environment, however, even with a reduced staffing level, it has been long known that there are steps that an or organization can take to continue to support its staff and mitigate potential risks (Murphy, 1996).

For example, one study estimated that some nurses spend almost thirty percent of their time on just paperwork and creating systems that allow nurses to more effectively address their routine requirements can have a big impact on safety and efficiency (Eaton-Spiva, Buitrago, & Trotter, 2010). Therefore, redesigning the workload by adding additional employees or by adding time saving processes could help ensure that such instances are not as likely to happen in the future.

Case Study #6 There are many different strategies that an administrator could consider to overcome the particular challenges in staffing that they are currently facing. Even though the location may be prohibitive to some employees, there are many nurses that might be agreeable to making the commute, and some might even be open to relocating, if the incentives to do so justified the burdens that potential employees might encounter. For example, salary compensation and benefit packages are obvious ways to provide incentives to potential employees to consider taking the open positions.

However, there are other incentives that might also be promoted that deal with employee satisfaction or the working conditions. Although nursing shortage in general is a trend that many healthcare HR departments have to deal with, there are many ways in which effective policies can help to overcome issues in staffing requirements. For example, many nurses are dissatisfied with high-stress positions and organizations that have inadequate staff levels that lead to a host of problems that were mentioned in the previous case. The rural nursing facility has.