Poor Care Or Lack Of Management

Anne Christelle Moudindo

Jeffrey Moore

English 121

[Date]

Oral Care

Introduction

Health care facilities are facing intense pressure in order to maintain the quality of health care services. It is notable to mention that nurses have a vital role to ensure the quality and safety of health care. Like other professions, the nursing profession is also facing certain problems that they have to deal with on a daily basis. As a future nursing professional, it is noteworthy to mention that there are a number of issues that usually affect the practice. Poor care or lack of management is one of the most critical issues that have a significant impact on the nursing profession. Poor care has been one of the major issues that have greatly impacted the nursing profession over the years. There has been an increasing rate of complaints that have all caused as a result of poor care. Poor care in the nursing profession is associated with the workload and perceived quality of care. Low nurse staffing levels in hospital is increasing the prevalence of care left undone by nurses. Here, the focus is to determine the association between low staffing levels and poor care in a healthcare setting.

Discussion

Provision of better health care services is highly necessary to maintain high standards of health and care. It is notable to mention that better healthcare services are of utmost importance in order to minimize the potential economic burden on a country. In the modern world, patients are relying on HCAHPS (the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) score. Higher HCAHPS score ensures the effective quality of care in a hospital. However, lack of management and poor care by nursing are significantly impacting HCAHPS score of a hospital. Poor care can be described as a situation where the Nurses neglect, abuse and act incompetent when delivering care to their patients (Ball 117). It normally occurs due reasons that are beyond error committed in practice. Almost every nurse has at one point heard about the concerns that have come up over the period on the standard of care in both health and social setting.

A critical evaluation of poor care indicates that it is strongly associated with inadequate staffing and managerialism. It is noteworthy to mention that inadequate staffing or lower nurses staffing levels are the areas in which the healthcare system has higher needs and can are considered to be above that of individual patients. A systematic review of previous studies indicates that poor care is associated with low staffing levels of registered nurses in the hospital. Higher registered nurses staffing in intensive care units reduces the odds of death in emergency or intensive care units. However, many hospitals are experiencing low nurses staffing levels, which is crucial in terms of quality of care (Stanton 13). The issue holds great importance because it can impact some of the important things in nursing. It is important for nurses to ensure that the patient is able to have the best experience when it comes to receiving care. Lack of time is a critical factor in terms of quality of care. Work overload usually makes it difficult for nurses to provide quality care in a given timeframe (Ball 118). It is notable to mention that nurses usually fail to provide optimum health care due to the lack of time. Nurses usually tend to miss certain activities such as educating patients, comfort/talking with patients, and updating nursed care plans. These activities are of utmost importance as they contribute to the effective care of patients. However, low staffing levels make it hard for nurses to complete these activities in an effective manner.

In the United States, the prevalence of poor care is increasing at an alarming rate due to the unavailability of sufficient nurses in the hospital. It has been found that there is a small percentage of Americans who will be in a position to suggest that they have received care that they understand well. Despite paying huge amounts to cater to care, most of the population has not been well taken care of. There are a number of reports that have linked most of the registered nurses to spend the least time with the patients. It is true to assert that most of the patients have received medical treatments that are below standards. The basic reason behind this poor care is low staffing level of nurses. Poor care can also be referred to as ‘care left undone'. Nurses are unable to complete their tasks and routine activities regarding patient care due to low staffing levels. Nurses are usually "working on shifts with a high number of patients per RN” (Needleman, 1717). It is important to consider the fact that the US is spending a major portion of its economy on the health care sector. Despite providing for 17 percent of GDP, the patient care in the US is acutely broken. It has resulted in soaring costs, co-payment, and reimbursement of insurance and low-quality healthcare in the nation. This makes it clear that the problem of poor care is a crucial issue that needs immediate attention.

The number of activities that are left undone contributes to poor care of patients. It is the core responsibility of nurses to provide adequate care to patients by completing every task in an effective manner. Workload due to low nurses staffing levels ultimately compels the staff to behave in a way that suggests a lack of that caring attitude and empathy that the patients always want to feel when they are under care. The high workload is a serious issue in terms of quality care that needs serious attention from government officials.

There are a number of methods that those involved in the nursing profession have used to ensure that they are able to curb poor care and issues related to it. First of all, it is highly necessary to increase nurses staffing levels in the hospital as it will reduce workload. A sufficient number of nurses in the hospital will ensure that each patient is given proper care and consideration. It is important to consider the fact that low-quality care is placing a high financial burden for a country. If hospitals are unable to attain the services of more nurses, then the quality of care will ultimately decrease due to high workload during shift times. Nurses have to perform various activities to ensure that patients are provided with better health care services. This is only possible if nurses complete each and every assigned task. However, low staffing levels discourage nurses to complete their assigned tasks. Furthermore, increased patients waiting time is also a problematic factor when it comes to poor care. Due to the lack of management and low staffing levels, patients have to suffer from long waiting times. Most of the patients usually complain that they usually spend too much time waiting for nurses to give them care and attention. In order to solve this, the nurses have come up with a schedule for each and every patient with an accurate timeline through which they will deliver care to them. It has played a big role in preventing complaints and instances of dissatisfaction. These steps are of great significance in reducing poor care. Furthermore, hospital management needs to ensure that an adequate number of nurses are available to complete specific tasks regarding patient's care and safety.

It is important for hospitals to increase the number of nurses in busy shift times. Hospitals are well aware of the flow of patients in the hospital at a particular time. Enhancing staffing levels of nurses during peak hours will make it easy for them to cater to each and every patient. It will provide significant help in terms of providing patient-centered care. In order to improve the care and take it to the most desired level, it would be of great importance if the nurses are able to adopt a culture that will focus entirely on the care of patients. The culture will also move them closer as they will be in a position to take part in care decision making. Despite the fact that most of the providers still focus only on the service of customer training or some of the gimmicking services instead of adopting a patient-centered approach, there is still a chance that the strategy and culture will have a great impact on patient care (Stanton 16). The nurses should focus closely on the patients rather than the electronic health records and other office desk works. This strategy can only be achieved when hospitals make an immense solution to cater to the issue of nurse staffing. It is important to understand the fact that an increased number of registered nurses in a hospital will provide them an opportunity to have an in-depth chat with the patient on issues of treatment and health options. The best reason for having the above strategy as an effective solution is because it is the right thing that one can do. It is supported by scientific, expertise and experience since it has always led to improved care outcomes.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, poor care has been an issue of great concern in the nursing profession and will affect the outcome of care in negative ways. Most of the care facilities have received a complaint on poor care. Poor care is highly associated with an inadequate number of staffing levels in hospitals. Work overload makes it difficult for nurses to provide better attention and care towards patients.

Works Cited

Ball, Jane E., et al. "‘Care left undone’during nursing shifts: associations with workload and perceived quality of care." BMJ Qual Saf 23.2 (2014): 116-125.

Needleman, Jack, et al. "Nurse-staffing levels and the quality of care in hospitals." New England Journal of Medicine 346.22 (2002): 1715-1722.

Stanton, Mark W., and Mark W. Stanton. Hospital nurse staffing and quality of care. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2004.