Assignment: Problems Nurses Face

Assignment: Problems Nurses Face

Assignment: Problems Nurses Face

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Week 1 -Assignment 2 Discussion Melynk and Fineout-Overholt (2011) note that there are seven steps to the evidence-based practice (EBP) process. The first step is to cultivate a spirit of inquiry. To encourage this spirit of inquiry, you are asked in this discussion to: Identify a problem or issue from within your specialty area that you feel needs to be improved upon. The Doctor of Nursing Practice site (http://www.doctorsofnursingpractice.org/resources/dnp-scholarly-projects/) provides many examples of these projects. The list below may help focus your thoughts. Educational program Evidence-based healthcare policy change Evidence-based clinical issue or protocol for specific disease/condition Discuss the relevance of the issue from your perspective (not the literature at this juncture) in relation to your selected advanced role option. What piqued your interest about this issue or problem? How does it relate to your area of specialization? What gave you the idea that evidence exists to support this change? See “note” below. Provide a rationale as to why this will be an evidence-based project to improve outcomes and not generate new evidence (research). Please remember that the project will not be implemented during this course and no data will be collected. The outcome of this course is to complete a project proposal only.

Here are five big issues facing nurses today.

1. Compensation. When it comes to nurse compensation, regional differences are to be expected based on cost of living.

Nurses living in certain regions of the U.S. make much more than nurses in other regions, according to the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses organization.

Nurses in the Pacific region make about $18,000 more than the average staff nurse, for instance. Next is the Mid-Atlantic region, where nurses make $14,800 more than average. Nurses in the East South Central region, however, make $4,300 less than average.

Beyond regional differences in pay, nurse pay gaps also persist between genders.

Male registered nurses earn, on average, upwards of $5,000 more than their female counterparts. The gender pay gap is present in all specialties except orthopedics, according to a study published in JAMA. Among nurse specialties, chronic care had the smallest gender pay gap, at $3,792, and cardiology had the highest gap, at $6,034.

2. Workplace violence. Another major challenge nurses face is violent behavior while on the job, be it from patients or coworkers.

Between 2012 and 2014, workplace violence injury rates increased for all healthcare job classifications and nearly doubled for nurse assistants and nurses, according to data from the Occupational Health Safety Network. A total of 112 U.S. facilities in 19 states reported 10,680 Occupational Safety and Health Administration-recordable injuries occurring from January 1, 2012, to September 30, 2014. There were 4,674 patient handling and movement injuries; 3,972 slips, trips and falls; and 2,034 workplace violence injuries.

This year, North Carolina took a stance against workplace violence. Starting Dec. 1, people who attack hospital workers in North Carolina could be charged with a felony, thanks to a new state law. The News & Observer reported that the new law passed by “large margins” and was signed into law last month.

Other states are also cracking down on workplace violence: In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Nurses Association union is pushing a workplace violence bill that would add enhanced plans around workplace safety.

3. Short staffing. Staffing is an issue of both professional and personal concern for nurses today. In fact, issues related to staffing levels, unit organization or inequitable assignments are one of the top reasons nurses leave a hospital job, according to Karlene Kerfoot, PhD, RN, vice president of nursing for API Healthcare.

Back in June, the Health Policy Commission unanimously approved a mandate on nurse staffing in intensive care units throughout Massachusetts. The regulations require that nurses in intensive care units in hospitals, including hospitals operated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, be assigned only up to two patients at a given time. The regulations apply to all ICUs, including special units for burn patients, children and premature babies.

If staffing is inadequate, nurses contend it threatens patient health and safety, results in greater complexity of care, and impacts their health and safety by increasing fatigue and rate of injury.

Indeed, a Minnesota Department of Health review of literature found strong evidence linking lower nurse staffing levels to higher patient mortality, failure to rescue and falls in the hospital. There was also strong evidence that other care process outcomes such as drug administration errors, missed nursing care and patient length of stay are linked to lower nurse staffing levels.

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