Week 5 HPF discussion

Week 5 Healthcare Policy & Finance discussion

Weekly Discussion: 5 (USLO 5.2)

Nursing practice and health outcomes are typically influenced by fiscal management practices within a healthcare system. Decisions related to cost of supplies, rate of pay, and staffing are often considered based on location, organizational size, and healthcare policy and legislation.

Consider a scenario where due to staffing shortages, a hospital unit is exploring either bringing in contract travel staff or reorganizing staffing teams to help support the staffing demands of a unit.

· In your discussion response, describe the benefits of using travel nurses to increase staffing and improve nurse to patient ratios. Also, describe the disadvantages of using travel nurses to fulfill staffing needs.

· Besides a direct impact to salary budget, what other financial impacts can travel nurses have on unit and healthcare organization budgets?

· What are some alternative ways to improve staffing and retention of full-time nurses within an organization? Describe how these solutions can improve budgetary considerations.