Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues

Post an explanation of how competing needs, such as the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients, may impact the development of policy.

Then, describe any specific competing needs that may impact the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected.

What are the impacts, and how might policy address these competing needs? Be specific and provide examples.

References

Roszkowski, J. (2017 August 18). How to recruit RNs during a nursing shortage. Retrieved from http://mediakit.nurse.com/blog/recruiting-rns-during-nursing-shortage/

Employing innovative strategies to attract, hire and retain nurses is essential to combating the nursing shortage, (para. 3).

Laura Wightman, system chief nursing officer at Regional Health in Rapid City, S.D., said to retain quality nurses it’s important to have good nursing leaders and a positive culture within the organization. Many nurses leave their jobs due to poor managers and pervasive workplace incivility, she said. (para 13

Having good managers, helping managers grow as leaders, having a strong onboarding process and continuous leadership development are integral to attracting and retaining nurses, (para 19)

Everhart, D., Neff, D., Al-Amin, M., Nogle, J., & Weech-Maldonado, R. (2013). The effects of nurse staffing on hospital financial performance: Competitive versus less competitive markets. Health Care Manage Review, 38(2), pp. 146-155. doi:10.1097/HMR.0b013e318257292b

Although not the primary focus of this study, another consideration is the impact of perceived work environment on hospital financial performance. As previously mentioned, there was a positive relationship between better work environment and firm financial performance in the all facilities model (β=5.11; p=0.052) and the more competitive model (β=13.67; p=0.012). The results of this study indicate that better nursing work environment in hospitals could be an important factor for overall firm financial performance. This may be due to the fact that if the work environment is poor in a competitive market, nurses have more options to work for a competing firm, as opposed to less competitive markets where nurses may be more constrained by their location.p10

Although a greater proportion of RNs may initially contribute to increasing operating costs in hospitals, cost savings and profitability in the long-run are achieved through improved productivity, such as reductions in adverse events (e.g. nosocomial infections), decreased length of stay and more efficient care processes (Dall et al., 2009). Given the importance of nurse staffing on financial performance in competitive markets, managers should be cautious about reducing nurse staffing during times of increasing financial pressures. Also, managers and administrators should develop strategies for both retaining and recruiting nurses, as well as balancing cost containment strategies in competitive hospital markets. Reductions in nurse staffing may not only affect financial performance, but hospitals must also consider the impact on quality of patient care and the nursing work environment, especially in competitive markets where hospitals are competing on quality and pricep10

Kieft, R., Brouwer, B., Francke, A., & Delnoij, D. (2014). How nurses and their work environment affect patient experiences of the quality of care: A qualitative study. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 14(249), pp. 1-10. Retrieved from www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/14/249

p9Connecting the different policies requires the participation and commitment of both nurses and nursing management. Nurses need to be challenged to shape their own environment and create a strong nursing practice [42], which will result in more positive patient experiences [43].

Halter, M., Pelone, F., Boiko, O., Beighton, C., Harris, R., Gale, J., Gourlay, S., & Drennan, V. (2017 June 8). Interventions to reduce adult nursing turnover: A systemativ review or systematic reviews. The Open Nursing Journal, 11, pp. 108-123. doi:10.2174/1874434601711010108

However, it is important to note that a body of moderately high quality review evidence does exist giving a picture of a number of interventions – preceptorship of new graduates and leadership for group cohesion - that are evidenced to decrease turnover or increase retention. A management style by nurse managers that pays attention to a positive work environment and the nurse as an individual within that is also supported by the literature.

“However, it is important to note that a body of moderately high quality review evidence does exist giving a picture of a number of interventions – preceptorship of new graduates and leadership for group cohesion - that are evidenced to decrease turnover or increase retention. A management style by nurse managers that pays attention to a positive work environment and the nurse as an individual within that is also supported by the literature” (Halter et al., 2017, p. 119).