Developing Organizational Policies and Practices Competing Needs Impacting Nurse Shortage

Developing Organizational Policies and Practices Competing Needs Impacting Nurse Shortage

Mandatory overtime, implementation of staffing ratios, use of unlicensed assisting personnel, and employer reductions of education benefits are examples of practices that might lead to conflicting needs in practice. Leaders can contribute to both the problem and the solution through policies, action, and inaction. In this Assignment, you will further develop the white paper you began work on in Module 1 by addressing competing needs within your organization. Developing Organizational Policies and Practices. To Prepare: Review the national healthcare issue/stressor you examined in your Assignment for Module 1, and review the analysis of the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. Identify and review two evidence-based scholarly resources that focus on proposed policies/practices to apply to your selected healthcare issue/stressor. Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post regarding competing needs. The Assignment (4-5 pages): Developing Organizational Policies and Practices Add a section to the paper you submitted in Module 1. The new section should address the following: Identify and describe at least two competing needs impacting your selected healthcare issue/stressor. Describe a relevant policy or practice in your organization that may influence your selected healthcare issue/stressor. Developing Organizational Policies and Practices.Critique the policy for ethical considerations, and explain the policy’s strengths and challenges in promoting ethics. Recommend one or more policy or practice changes designed to balance the competing needs of resources, workers, and patients, while addressing any ethical shortcomings of the existing policies. Be specific and provide examples. Cite evidence that informs the healthcare issue/stressor and/or the policies, and provide two scholarly resources in support of your policy or practice recommendations.Developing Organizational Policies and Practices.

The two competing needs impacting nurse shortage in a healthcare organization are recruitment of new nurses and retention of current ones. The healthcare organization will incur some costs in recruiting and training new nurses for various care units. According to Peterson (2016), the cost of hiring and training new nurses to work in the surgical unit is almost equal to the 100 percent amount that is paid to a nurse annually. The organization has limited financial resources to fund the process of hiring and training of new nurses. The lack of new nurse practitioners will hinder the organization from addressing the nurse shortage.Developing Organizational Policies and Practices.

Additionally, the healthcare organization will incur the cost of retaining the current nurses. Nurses are primarily motivated to pursue their careers by the passion to provide quality and safe patient care. However, the interest to remain in the healthcare organization for a long period is determined by some factors, including fair compensation, a conducive working environment, and learning opportunities (Drake, 2017). Developing Organizational Policies and Practices.The organization requires money to give fair compensation to all nurses in terms of salaries and bonuses. Also, funds are required to provide a conducive working environment for the nurses such as supply them with PPE and insurance covers. More so, the organization requires funds to facilitate further learning of nurse practitioners. Nurses are motivated to continue working in an organization where they are provided with an opportunity to improve their knowledge and skills (Drake, 2017). The healthcare organization does not have funds to facilitate the retention of the current nurses. Failure to retain the current nurses will hinder the organization from solving the issue of nurse shortage. Therefore, the organization has competing needs to hire new nurses or retain current practitioners.Developing Organizational Policies and Practices.

Practice to Influence the Nurse Shortage

Nurse shortage can be influenced by the practice or policy to strictly adhere to the nurse staffing ratio recommended by nursing associations and other national bodies. First, the policy will require the healthcare organization to adhere to nurse staffing guidelines provided by the American Nurses Association (ANA). ANA developed a legislative model that should guide organizations to create staffing plans that suit each care unit. The nurse staffing ratio should vary depending on departments. Developing Organizational Policies and Practices.For instance, the nurse staffing ratio in the intensive/critical care unit is 1:2 while that of the operating room is 1:1(Kluwer, 2016). A ratio of 1:2 also applies to neo-natal intensive care. This ratio implies that one nurse sho