Resource allocation remains a challenge to nurses in their care delivery. Nurses need to allocate resource in consistency with the ethical and moral requirements. They should ensure quality delivery of care taking respect for the individual patients. The allocation of resources in most cases presents the nurses with ethical dilemmas (Nursingworld.org, 2014). The dilemmas lead to conflict between moral obligations of the profession and moral obligations of their practice. Competent nurses need to have the skills in the allocation of resources because this ensures the success of healthcare delivery.
Ethical principles exist in nursing to help the nurses make effective decisions. Nursing managers are responsible for drafting of budgets in the hospital setting. There are factors that influence the budgeting of resources in the healthcare. The medical needs of the patients will determine the budget. Urgent needs will require immediate attention. The manager needs to consider the patients that need attention in order to save lives. Decisions happen after involving the physicians who will give the appropriate information regarding the patient needs (Ama-assn.org, 2014). Decisions regarding the purchase of drugs and equipment should follow the appropriate criteria relating to medical needs. The criteria followed can include the duration of benefit, urgency of need, quantity of resources needed for treatment and change in quality of life. Prioritization of patient needs should happen according to their needs in order to avoid loss of lives and poor outcomes.
Allocation of beds to patients should occur in a manner that does not bring conflict in the facility. Nurses work with people from diverse languages. The allocation of rooms to patients that do not speak the same language brings conflict. Non-English speaking patients should live in the same room to allow easy communication. Charge nurse should ensure that room assignment happens correctly. Patients that understand English should reside in one room (Fry et al., 2011). Patients that speak the same language in the room allow the nurse to administer care easily. Availability of the rooms determines if the charge nurse can allocate them the rooms separately. Limited resources present the nurses with ethical dilemmas in making the decisions.
References
Ama-assn.org. (2014). Opinion 2.03 - Allocation of Limited Medical Resources. [Online] Retrieved from: http://www.ama-assn.org//ama/pub/physician-resources/medical- ethics/code-medical-ethics/opinion203.page [Accessed: 13 Apr 2014].
Fry, S. T., Veatch, R. M., & Taylor, C. (2011). Case studies in nursing ethics. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Nursingworld.org. (2014). Administrative Ethics and the Allocation of Scarce Resources. [Online] Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/ OJIN/TableofContents/Vol31998/No3Dec1998/ScarceResources.html [Accessed: 13 Apr 2014].
