Nurses face various challenges and these problems are getting worse due to lack of proper legislations to address them adequately. One of these problems is hospital staffing crisis where hospitals are understaffed and nurses are overwhelmed with patient care.
There are several reasons to justify why poor hospital staffing is problematic to nursing. Instead of hospital administrations investing in adequate staff levels, most of them are investing heavily in advanced medical technologies. To an extent, corporate greed seems to take priority over safe care of patients. According to Roux and Judith nurses represent the largest professional group in any hospital but their numbers usually match up to the demand of care in the hospital (138). Considering that populations are increasing and more people are demanding healthcare, the number of nurses in hospitals should be maintained at a level high enough to avoid overwhelming the available nursing workforce.
Nurses are highly instrumental in providing healthcare and they should never be overworked. While doctors diagnose treat and prescribe medicine, nurses carry the largest burden of care as they have to follow up on administration of medication, wound treatment, bandaging among other essential aspects of healthcare as the patient recuperates (Roux & Judith, 138). Patients therefore need the attention of nurses during recuperation more than any other healthcare professional. This importance underscores the urgency for hospitals to address the challenge of hospital staffing to avoid overworking nurses and thereby optimize healthcare quality.
Nurses are also easy targets for many dynamics regarding staffing. Due to their significantly high numbers in many hospitals, nurses are usually targeted during downsizing to reduce costs. At times, hospital administrations reduce the numbers of nurses in their staff without considering that they shall overwhelm the few that are left behind (Roux & Judith, 139). Besides being overwhelmed by the work, victimization during downsizing gives nurses a sense of job insecurity further complicating the execution of appropriate nursing care.
These among other reasons justify why a research into hospital staffing in relation to nursing will go a long way in addressing a pertinent nursing problem.
Works Cited
Roux, Gayle M, and Judith A. Halstead. Issues and Trends in Nursing: Essential Knowledge for Today and Tomorrow. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009. Print.
