Question
In this assignment, you will be writing a paper describing the differing approaches of nursing leaders and managers to issues in practice. To complete this assignment, do the following:
Select an issue from the following list: bullying, unit closers and restructuring, floating, nurse turnover, nurse staffing ratios, use of contract employees (i.e., registry and travel nurses), or magnet designation.
Describe the selected issue. Discuss how it impacts quality of care and patient safety in the setting in which it occurs.
Discuss how professional standards of practice should be demonstrated in this situation to help rectify the issue or maintain professional conduct.
Explain the differing roles of nursing leaders and nursing managers in this instance and discuss the different approaches they take to address the selected issue and promote patient safety and quality care. Support your rationale by using the theories, principles, skills, and roles of the leader versus manager described in your readings.
Discuss what additional aspects mangers and leaders would need to initiate in order to ensure professionalism throughout diverse health care settings while addressing the selected issue.
Describe a leadership style that would best address the chosen issue. Explain why this style could be successful in this setting.
Use at least three peer-reviewed journal articles other than those presented in your text or provided in the course.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for assistance.
This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competencies:
RN to BSN
1.1: Exemplify professionalism in diverse health care settings.
1.3: Exercise professional nursing leadership and management roles in the promotion of patient safety and quality care.
3.4: Demonstrate professional standards of practice.
Solution
Effects of Nurse Turnover on Quality of Care and Patient Safety
Nurses are an essential component of the healthcare sector; they are at the frontline when it comes to patient care. Despite being a critical part of the system, the nursing profession faces a significant shortage of employees due to high nurse turnover. Nurse turnover is the act of nurses voluntarily or involuntarily leaving their jobs. Therefore, Nurse shortage can lower the quality of patient care and compromise their safety; thus, necessitating the nurse managers and leaders to intervene by adopting the professional standard of communication and collaboration, playing the roles of supervisors and mentors respectively, and using transformation leadership style to help promote nurse retention.
A growing literature suggests that nurse turnover correlates to lower quality of patient care and safety. For example, Nowak et al. opine that increased turnover rates in the hospital environment threaten the primary core function of providing safe, quality-driven patient care (cited by Kurnat-Thoma et al., 2017). Notably, when the number of nurses leaving a facility increases, hospitals experience a shortage in the capacity of nurses needed to attend to patients. Therefore, with a reduction in nurse-patient ratio, nurses tend to spend minimum time on each patient to meet the demand for the service. This phenomenon translates to poor quality of care, since patients are not served adequately. Moreover, nurse turnover may lead to extra work among the remaining workforce and burnout that may translate to errors in practice and subsequently compromise patient safety. As such, nurse turnover is a significant issue in healthcare that can adversely affect the quality of patient care and safety.
Given the adversities associated with nurse turnover, professional standards of practice, such as communication and collaboration, should be effected to facilitate nurse retention. As studies reveal, communication is a significant variable that affects job satisfaction and nurses’ turnover (Vermeir et al., 2017). Notably, if nurses are not satisfied by the nature of interaction in the facility, especially with their supervisors, they may lack the commitment to continue working and probably leave the organization. Furthermore, considerable evidence shows that physician-nurse collaboration affects job satisfaction and consequently, turnover among nurses (Zhang et al., 2016). Thus, when nurses are not involved in critical aspects of healthcare, such as solving problems and formulating plans for patient care, they may experience job dissatisfaction and develop intentions to leave a facility. Therefore, professional standards of practice, such as the promotion of effective communication among caregivers and encouraging physicians to integrate the ideas of nurses into patient care, can help rectify the issue of nurse turnover.
Apart from the professional standards of practice, nurse leaders and managers can assume managerial and leadership roles to reduce nurse turnover and promote patient safety and quality care. Nurse managers and leaders assume different roles in healthcare. As opined by Fernandez et al. (2018), nurse-managers focus on the operational needs of the services and often distance themselves from elements of the team. On the other hand, nurse-leaders “do not impose themselves and their knowledge, experiences and attitudes make them professional mentors for the rest of the team” (Fernandez et al., 2018, p.4). Therefore, in the context of nurse turnover, nurse managers can play a managerial role to ensure proper identification of shortages in the workforce and recruitment of further personnel to fill the vacant positions. Similarly, nurse leaders can take up a leadership stance in the issue to mentor nurses to remain committed in their roles within a facility. Through their unique leadership and managerial positions, nurse leaders and managers can help address the issue of nurse turnover.
Furthermore, nurse leaders and managers can take the supervisory and mentorship approach to help promote patient safety and quality care. As noted, nurse managers are more focused on operational needs, which may include supervising work in a facility. Therefore, nurse managers can take a supervisory approach to manage the workforce in a manner that promotes a sustainable nurse-patient ratio. In return, a balance between the two variables can help foster patient quality care and safety as each unit in the facility would have enough workforce to deal with patients. On the other hand, nurse leaders can take a mentorship approach to guide nurses into developing evidence-based practices to enhance the quality of care. When coupled, the supervisory and mentorship strategies used by nurse leaders and managers can help promote patient safety and quality care.
In addition, while addressing the issue of nurse turnover, managers and leaders should initiate the value of respect to ensure professionalism in healthcare settings. Occasionally, nurses may voluntarily leave a facility due to factors other than job dissatisfaction. For example, some may leave to enhance their careers. Therefore, while addressing the issue, nurse managers and leaders should promote respect for nurses who wish to leave an organization voluntarily.
Besides promoting communication and collaboration, the adoption of a transformation leadership style can help address the issue of nurse turnover. As scholars suggest, transformational leaders; seek out the needs of the nurses, listen to their problems, and promote a healthy work environment for continuous development (Asif et al., 2019). This form of leadership would be successful in addressing the issue since majority of the nurses leave their jobs due to the failure of the management to seek out their needs. Therefore, if transformational leadership is adopted, nurses’ issues can be well-addressed, and facilities can retain their workforce.
In conclusion, nurse turnover is a critical issue that affects healthcare facilities. The prevalence of the problem affects the quality of care and jeopardizes patient safety. Nurse leaders can address the issue by; promoting physician-nurse collaboration, communication, adopting supervisory and mentorship approaches, and transformational leadership to foster retention of the nurse workforce.
References
Asif, M., Jameel, A., Hussain, A., & Sahito, N. (2019). Linking transformational leadership with nurse-assessed adverse patient outcomes and the quality of care: Assessing the role of job satisfaction and structural empowerment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(13), 2381-1386. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph16132381
Fernandez, R., Araujo, B., & Pereira, F. (2018). Nursing management and leadership approaches from the perspectives of registered nurses in Portugal. Journal of Hospital Administration, 7(3), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.5430/jha.v7n3p1
Kurnat-Thoma, E., Ganger, M., Peterson, K., & Channell, L. (2017). Reducing annual hospital and registered nurse staff turnover- A 10-element onboarding program intervention. Sage Open Nursing, 3, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2377960817697712
Vermeir, P., Degroote, S., Vandijck, D., Mariman, A., Deveugele, M., … & Vogelaers, D. (2017). Job satisfaction in relation to communication in health care among nurses: A narrative review and practical recommendations. Sage Open, 7(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2158244017711486
Zhang, L., Huang, L., Yan, H., & Li, X. (2016). Nurse-physician collaboration impacts job satisfaction and turnover among nurses: A hospital-based cross-sectional study in Beijing. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 22(3), 284-290. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijn.12424
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
