Role of Management in Staffing

Nurse need to comprehend the importance of discipline when doing appropriate staffing.  Understanding the role played by each participant in the process is fundamental for enabling nurses to identify who best fits to perform specific task. Some of the discipline that should be considered includes clinical nurse specialists, cardiologists, pharmacists, dieticians, and occupational therapists (Frankenstein, Frohlich & Cleland, 2015). On the other hand, the right skill mix should be based on balanced schedule to help in evaluation of skills of the nurses which can assist in balancing their competencies.

Requirement by Discipline and Staffing Ratios

By discipline, hospitals are required to utilize competence guidelines approved by accredited professional institution, for instance, the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (Frankenstein, Frohlich & Cleland, 2015). At the same time, the most appropriate patient-staff ration should not exceed 5.1. In other words, one nurse should serve up to 5 patients at any given time.

Sample Staffing Schedule

The following is a sample of staffing schedule that can be used to control nurses in a clinic or hospital.

How staffing can be used to meet needs of Diverse Patients

A hospital would meet the needs of diverse patients through engagement of the patient to ensure they understand how diversity impacts their clinical experience and treatment outcome. Further, the approach is imperative as it can allow nurses identify the diverse needs of their clients, for instance, interpreting and attending to them effectively (Frankenstein, Frohlich & Cleland, 2015). Additionally, it would be fundamental for a facility to provide training to its staffs to oversee they are culturally sensitive and competent. The strategies would allow dispensation of enhance care delivery at the hospital.

How delegation, collaboration and negotiation impact Staffing

Delegation impact staffing because the approach result in development of more skills and an individuals can handle more than one role or responsibility (Frankenstein, Frohlich & Cleland, 2015). In other words, delegation help nurses learn to understand role and responsibilities of other professional. Since some of the health care role and responsibilities overlaps, delegation help each member of the team to comprehend the role of more common positions in health care, for instance, physical therapists, physicians, nurses, dietician, dentists and pharmacists and can help when needed (Frankenstein, Frohlich & Cleland, 2015). Collaboration is another aspect that promotes staffing as it allows professional sharing patients to perform complementary task on an ongoing basis. Finally negotiation with one another ensures that various aspects of the patient health care needs are integrated and addressed accordingly.

How Union Contract Impacts Staffing Schedule or Plan

Union contracts can potentially affect staffing plan. The institutions usually try to cap the staffing ratio by establishing limits to the number of hours nurses perform their role and responsibilities (Dube, Kaplan & Thompson, 2016). They show that reduction in hours reduce burnout allowing care providers to concentrate better in their work. Under unions in Colorado, a nurse is required to cater for nine to ten patients at one given moment. The number is significantly large and can result in burnout.  Therefore, union contract need to consider the safe patient-staff ratio to improve processes of delivery of care (Dube, Kaplan & Thompson, 2016).

Nurse Practice in Colorado

Further, in Colorado, the role of a nurse is defined under the Nurse Practice Act. The regulation prohibits nurses from performing medical procedures that are outside their scope of practice or competence. In case an individual violate the law, the person is changed with professional misconduct. As such, the healthcare facilities need to identify and understand clearly the nurse’s areas of competence before handling a patient to prevent lawsuits.

Legal and Professional Standards

The safe staffing for quality care act is one of the regulations in Colorado which oversee hospital increase the number of nurses to address patient care concerns. Healthcare facilities need to adhere to standards set by quality care act (Everhart et al., 2013). Further, an organization would need to comply with staffing regulations as directed by the federal government to be accredited.  Standards are fundamental for governing health care in Colorado since they ensure effective staffing to delivery of quality care to the patients.

Management and Accountability

Optimal staffing lowers nurses’ workload and improved delivery of care services. Research has identified that hospitals with higher number of employees have recorded increased profits and reduction of infections related to procedures such as surgery. Therefore, it is imperative for the institutions to establish cost effective approaches to promote effective staffing plans (Everhart et al., 2013). For example, they can compare the patient period of stay before and after implementation of the policy. At the same time, the organization can consider monitoring impact of profits margins, an important management measure for the success of the plan. Similarly, there need to be institutionalization of measure for evaluating the effectiveness of staffing mixed utilized (Everhart et al., 2013). The goal can be accomplished by instituting quality measures and reports to prove if there is any improvement made. Another fundamental method would be performing a survey using the staff and patients to asses if the staffing mixed implemented has an impact on the motivation of nurses (Everhart et al., 2013). The technique is fundamental as it can help in the development of clear staffing mix on the treatment outcome of the patients.

References

Dube, A., Kaplan, E. & Thompson, O. (2016). Nursing unions and patients’ outcomes. The ILR Review, 69(4), 803-833. DOI: 10.1177/0019793916644251.

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

Frankenstein, L., Frohlich, H. & Cleland, J. (2015). Multidisciplinary approach to patients hospitalized with heart failure. Revista Espanola de Cardiologia, 68(10), 885-891. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rec.2015.05.008