Current Health Issue
Name
Academic Institution
Current Health Issue
Nurse workload is a critical issue in healthcare settings due to long working hours, burnouts and lack of adequate support. Statistics indicate that over 3,000 nurses are overworked and stressed according to a 2014 survey (Bittner & Bechtel, 2017). During the survey, there were 3.9 million licensed nurses. 64 percent of the nurses indicated they hardly get sufficient sleep due to workload in their healthcare facilities (Swiger, Vance & Patrician, 2016). Workload issues reduce motivation, undermine performance, and increase turnover. It increases the risk of harm to patients since medical errors occur mostly due to stress and poor patient outcomes.
The nurse workload issue may affect my healthcare settings by negatively affecting the performance of healthcare workers. Nurses may lack the motivation to work hard since they do not have sufficient time to rest (Swiger, Vance & Patrician, 2016). It may also undermine the work-life balance of nurses since they have little time with their families. Lack of sufficient sleep may also increase medical errors and thus lead to a poor reputation for the healthcare facility (Bittner & Bechtel, 2017). For example, cases of misdiagnosis and hospital-acquired infections may arise.
The organization has responded by employing more staff to reduce the workload. It has also adopted technology to automate booking appointments with nurses (Subramony, Chadwick, Gowen, McFadden & Vogus, 2018). Nurses are thus able to organize and prioritize their work efficiently. The facility also provides mandatory annual leave to nurses to reduce the pressure on them (Swiger, Vance & Patrician, 2016). The changes that may be implemented include the adoption of technology to reduce workload. For example, Smartsense is a technology used to organize and simplify work to avoid repetitive tasks. It helps nurses to focus on the primary goal of caring for the patients.
References
Bittner, N. P., & Bechtel, C. F. (2017). Identifying and describing nurse faculty workload issues: A looming faculty shortage. Nursing Education Perspectives, 38(4), 171-176.
Subramony, M. V., Chadwick, C., Gowen, C. R., McFadden, K., & Vogus, T. J. (2018). Hospital workload, nurse turnover, and patient mortality: A moderated mediation model. In Academy of Management Proceedings (1), 17734.
Swiger, P. A., Vance, D. E., & Patrician, P. A. (2016). The nursing workload in the acute-care setting: A concept analysis of nursing workload. Nursing Outlook, 64(3), 244-254.
