MEMORANDUM
RE: Over worked staff due to decreased staff
In the past three months, a total of 64 heavy workload reports have been filed by nurses. Nurses working on the following units have complained of work load related difficulties; the obstetrics, neonatal and gynecology units. The nurses from these units have complained of working on double shifts, forced to forego breaks as well as feeling overworked. This is due to the overcrowding of patients due to the decreased staff members as compared to the number of nurses available. The available staff members have reported cases that may jeopardize the well being of the patients. Most nurses have indicated that they have failed to notice patients’ vital signs. They have also failed to provide psychological and social support as well as several mistakes in delivering medications. These issues in the patient care are mostly caused by the insufficient staff members. Therefore there is a need to address the decreased staff members.
There is an imbalance between the capacity and demand for patient care. If the situation is not solved, well being of patients is likely to be compromised. This will impact negatively on the services as well as the general image of our hospital if not contained in time. The hospital is estimated to handle at least 700 births per year, but it currently delivers between 200 and 300 babies. This has been a big disappointment for the staff members for failure to meet the expected number of new births. The patients themselves have reported cases where by they felt there was not time for them to receive services due to the seemingly busy staff.
The staff members that they are overworked and I see their complaints getting worse if a solution is not found. It is supposed that one of the best solutions to this issue of decreased staff would be employing more nurses. This would reduce cases of nurses going on double shifts, forgoing breaks as well as feeling overworked. Consequently, the medical errors for patient care will be minimized. Enough nurses may not be employed on a one time basis, but arrangements can be made such that, at least two new nurses are employed after every four months until the number is sufficient.
The staff members often became overloaded if they cannot put up with number of patients they serve per given period of time. They will therefore continue to deliver mistakes on medication as well as fail to support the patients psychologically and socially. It will impact negatively on the reputation of the hospital and loose trust of the community on us. The suggested ideas could be implemented to solve the situation and eliminate the instances of over worked staff.
