Nursing Assignment 2



Nursing Assignment 2

Consequences of heavy workload in nursing home on nurses and patients

More than 250,000 nurses work in a variety of roles, from point of care to senior administration, in all health-care sectors across the country. Nurses wield a significant voice related to key issues prevalent in our health-care system today and to looming challenges for the future. One of these challenges is the threat to patient safety precipitated by unprecedented levels of fatigue in nurses (Deans, 2005). A further challenge is the threat to the nursing workforce as the health of nurses is affected by unhealthy work environments and unsafe scheduling practices.

Nurses strive to provide safe and quality care in the context within which they work. From a nursing perspective, patient safety means being under the care of a professional heath-care provider who, with the patient's informed consent, assists the patient to achieve an optimal level of health while ensuring that all necessary actions are taken to prevent or minimize harm (Dorrian & Lamond, 2006). Providing safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care to patients within the health-care system is a shared responsibility of all health-care professionals, health-care organizations and governments.

Patient safety is fundamental to nursing care and health care; it is not merely a mandate, it is a moral and ethical imperative in caring for others. Providing for patient safety involves a wide range of actions at the level of the individual nurse, the nursing profession and the health-care system. However, the ability to provide safe patient care is currently challenged by a myriad of factors, not the least of which is the consistent understaffing within health care, especially of registered nurses (RNs). Consistent understaffing contributes to nurse fatigue, compromising nurses' health and patient safety (Dean & Scott, 2006).

This research report documents, through a broad environmental scan ...