“In nursing, nursing experts that encounter a substantial burden (P) are using techniques to minimize emotional stress and controlling time methodologies (I) compared to giving the profession of theirs (C), a greater choice to boost the individual’s wellbeing (O)”.
Background of Study
A fulfilling work in an appealing job environment is a desire to many professional personnel in various sectors, one that does not leave out the nursing care professionals. Majority of the healthcare settings experience a poor nurse to patients ratio, caregivers are obligated to an overwhelming number of clients which results in increased incidents of burnouts (Nickitas & Mensik, 2015). Several studies have assumed varied opinions in support or in contempt of problems related to shortages of primary care professionals. In the present case study, two qualitative studies were compared for validity over challenges related to inadequate nurse staffing and healthcare outcomes.
Summary
Despite efforts by the federal and the State governments in addressing professional nurse shortages, the problem remains a concern in the United States healthcare system. To aid in understanding the problem, two qualitative studies have been reviewed. In their qualitative study aimed at determining nursing care professionals’ opinion on considerations that ought to be made to achieve desirable maximum nurse staffing in critical care areas, nurses reported that they were unimpressed with staff shortages (Wolf et al., 2017). According to Wolf et al. (2017), the nurses’ concerns were observed to lean towards the safety of the general health care provision given the adverse patient outcomes, as a result of shortages experienced among professionally trained nurses in most hospitals. According to Wolf et al. (2017), this is a particular problem to the nursing care staff working in the shortage areas given the increase of an individual nurse’s workload at any given time. Nurses being at the center of primary care remain particularly on the receiving end of inadequate staffing. Some of their challenges are related to increased chances of patient neglect or delay in attending to patients in good time and, inability to rescue patient situations promptly, therefore increasing the number of hospital re-visits and hospital readmissions for patients.
In another comparative qualitative study determining the importance of nurse staffing, the study reported that proper and technologically assisted nurse staffing corresponds directly with patients quality care. Following nurse technological use, patient safety has been enhanced besides the increased patient outcomes, healthcare providers’ safety, and quality care admission, and the profitable gain accrued to the healthcare organization in terms of profits (Nickitas & Mensik, 2015). Therefore, the objective of this study is to compare the qualitative findings from the two previous scientific reviews to establish whether in nursing, nursing professionals who are understaffed (P), make use of alternatives aimed at revitalizing their psychological needs to increase their effective use of time (I), as compared to utilizing clinical nursing ideologies (C), effects a positive change among the nurses (O).
Scientific Evidence for Adequate Nurse Staffing
These two articles are an essential arsenal in favor of appropriate nurse staffing. They can help address the problem of nurse staffing through approaches and alternatives outside nursing, such as through the use of technology. As a matter of facts, Nickitas and Mensik (2015) advocates for the utilization of electronic scheduling systems and staffing by the determination of patients’ actual time-bound needs. In this regard, the system is set to promptly respond by alerting the individual primary care professional allocated to the patient, thus increasing the care providers’ response time to care, hence enhancing quality and better patient outcomes. It promotes patient centered care in line with evidence from approved scientific practice. As for the interventions and comparison groups, the first study made use of a qualitative exploratory design from primary data obtained by interviewing twenty-six selected acute care nursing staff.
Thus the first study aimed to determine the nursing staff’s areas of concern regarding inadequacies in comparison with actions capable of providing optimal patient and nurse outcomes. The second study, however, made use of technology amidst an under-staffed nursing operational area to see the effectiveness of electronic staffing and the electronic scheduling of nurses over specific patients compared with having the understaffed nurse operate without technological aid. From the second study, the level of nurse satisfaction and patient satisfaction improved with the inception of technology.
Method of Study
In the first study, a qualitative exploratory method over the study theme used a constructivist approach. In the second study, a systematic approach aimed at specific nurses was used to note the outcomes of quality care provision and, patients’ satisfaction. These two methods are related to each other in that they both focused on the interests of the nurse in an understaffed area of operation and aimed at finding solutions to the prevalent nurse staffing problems.
The qualitative exploratory approach is beneficial in that similar concerns are raised in varied environments but limited to the fact that it only focuses on emergency care nursing staff. In the second study, the research methodology is beneficial in that it provides room for comparison and involves the use of technology. However, it is still limited to the fact that it did not purely address the nurse staffing problem. The qualitative exploratory approach is desirable but is limited to a specific topic or problem in the care settings.
Results of Study
In summary, the two studies revealed that nurse staffing problems are prevalent in most care settings, though little is done to address the problems ailing the nurse staffing issue. The two studies also revealed that having an adequate number of nurses holds the potential of changing the healthcare’s negative outcomes to more profitable, safety enhanced and, one blessed with a morally psyched nursing care team. Technology is vital to addressing the effects of nurse staffing shortages and could help achieve quality care even with a low staff number. These two studies add to the voices of nursing practice that advocate for adequate nurse skillful staffing and the possibilities of engaging technology for better healthcare outcomes.
Ethical Consideration
Scientific research thrives on critically approved and analyzed information, as the codes of operation determine the best research practices. Informed consent and confidentiality are some of the critical ethical needs for such studies as individuals’ livelihoods and lives are on the line and should not be jeopardized in distrust. As for informed consent, all the studies sought approval from the various study subjects and allowed them the chance to know what they are up to, what the benefits are for the study and why the study has chosen them and has not chosen other persons in the same cohort.
Scientific validity is another key ethical concern that all scientific research studies must use to make authentic the information contained in the write-up. The studies used scientific styles to determine nurse staffing challenges and inform subjects’ selection and validity. The provided information was reliable, credible and relevant to the topic. The two researchers kept their contacts unknown but made the data from the interviews available to the larger public’s consumption, thus observing the two ethical principles above.
References
Nickitas, J., and Mensik, D.M. (2015). Why nurses matter: A moral imperative. Nursing Savings, 33(3), 181:-87
Wolf, L. A., Perhats, C., Delao, A. M., Clark, P. R., & Moon, M. D. (2017). On the threshold of safety: A qualitative exploration of nurses’ perceptions of factors involved in safe staffing levels in emergency departments. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 43(2), 150-157.