NURS 6052 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

NURS 6052 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Patient safety and quality care delivery are essential in improving patient outcomes and meeting regulatory requirements advanced by policies like the Affordable Care Act and value-based purchases (Slonim, 2023). However, organizations grapple with different health issues, key among them hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) like catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) (Caparro et al., 2020). The purpose of this paper is to discuss HAIs as a pertinent healthcare issue that impacts healthcare organizations and providers.

Hospital or Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) asserts that healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are among the most prevalent complications in healthcare facilities. On its part, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2019) says that one in every 31 hospitalized patients gets HAI implying that close to 633,000 get infected each year in the U.S. healthcare system. These infections cause morbidities and, in some cases, mortality that can be mitigated. The implication is that over a million infections occur in the U.S. leading to the loss of billions of dollars, lives, and other resources that could be channeled elsewhere.

In our organization, the rate of infections, especially CAUTIs and ventilator-associated ones has been rising with the recent data showing that close to 100 infections occurred over the last year. This is an increase from 60 infections recorded over the same period two years back. As such, the organization asserts that it is critical to address the rising rate of infections to ensure patient safety and quality of care as well as get reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CDC, 2019). These infections should be contained in both the short and long term to attain value-based care for the patients and their families.

Summary of Reviewed Articles

The first article is by Caparro et al. (2020) who propose effective interventions to reduce HAI rates in healthcare settings. Through their focus on adult geriatric patients, the authors assert that infection control practices like strategic methodologies to lower the risk of HAIs are essential. The authors suggest having an effective reporting system and evidence-based practice interventions that include a non-blame culture but focus on the root cause of such incidences as the best way to lower such events.

The sentiments shared in the above article are supported by Bearman et al. (2019) who assert that HAIs are preventable when providers and organizations focus on the tenet of “no harm”, which will allow them to develop prevention programs and interventions that are not only reliable but also sustainable and practical. The article also implores providers and organizations to develop and use evidence-based practice strategies that focus on creating a patient safety environment as the primary tool for excellent care delivery. These articles demonstrate that effective strategies must emanate from providers and organizational safety and quality care policies to reduce the rates of infections.

Organizations across the healthcare industry are addressing infections through effective strategies founded on evidence-based practices and need to meet the value-based purchase requirements by the CMS. As such, these organizations have safety and quality policies and organizational cultures that focus on reporting systems and collaborative efforts to reduce infections and other adverse events like medication errors (AHRQ, 2019). These entities prioritize nurse-led interventions like reporting, feedback, better shift handover as well an organizational safety culture that holistically focuses on patients and providers.

Summary of Strategies and Impact on Organization

Addressing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) entails using evidence-based approaches as demonstrated by the resources used in this paper. These include having a safety culture and reporting policy, using EBP interventions focused on developing prevention programs to meet patient and health population needs, and increased adherence to regulatory requirements based on the Quadruple Aim framework (Puro et al., 2022). Further, providers must work collaboratively to implement strategies that align with the overall quality expectations in the organization for nurses and patients as well as their families.

These strategies may affect our organization positively as they will lead to better care delivery increased patient satisfaction and improved experience. On the flip side, these policies require increased investment in surveillance and resources as well as not pinpointing anyone which may not be practical in any setting (Bearman et al., 2022). As such, the strategies focus on the positive aspects but ignore the possible and critical unintended consequences that may arise from their implementation.

Conclusion

National health stressors like hospital-acquired or associated infections are safety concerns that require effective interventions. As demonstrated, organizations continue devising strategies to help them deal with this stressor and reduce its overall negative effects. As such, implementing evidence-based best practices will help healthcare entities to deal with the stressor in both the short and long-term.

References

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) (2019). Health Care – Associated

            Infections. https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/health-care-associated-infections

Bearman, G., Doll, M., Cooper, K., & Stevens, M. P. (2019). Hospital infection prevention: how

much can we prevent and how hard should we try? Current Infectious Disease Reports, 21, 1-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11908-019-0660-2

Caparros, A. C., & Wyckoff, M. (2020). Infection Control Interventions to Improve Hospital-

Acquired Infection Rates in Adult-Geriatric Patients. Journal Of Prevention and Infection Control, 6(2). DOI: 10.36648/2471-9668.6.1.01

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2019). Healthcare-Associated Infections

            (HAIs). https://www.cdc.gov/hai/patientsafety/patient-safety.html

Puro, V., Coppola, N., Frasca, A., Gentile, I., Luzzaro, F., Peghetti, A., & Sganga, G. (2022).

Pillars for prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections: an Italian expert opinion statement. Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control, 11(1), 1-13.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13756-022-01125-8

Slonim, A. (2023). Top challenges facing healthcare: Back to basics. Physician Leadership

            Journal, 10(2), 12–14. https://doi.org/10.55834/plj.2064149664

A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6052 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Title: NURS 6052 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Nurses should always work in safe and adequately-resourced healthcare settings. Failure to meet these fundamental requirements makes healthcare organizations stressful and threatens nurses’ comfort and ability to provide quality care. Although healthcare organizations strive to provide safe workplaces for healthcare professionals while supporting them in various ways, workplace stressors widespread in the United States are a huge setback. One such stressors is the nursing shortage, which has crippled patient care in many organizations. The purpose of this paper is to inform the management how the nursing shortage affects the work setting and appropriate intervention strategies as applied in other organizations.

Stressor’s Description and Impacts

The nursing shortage is a multidimensional problem in the United States affecting how and when patient care is offered. Its defining element is a supply that cannot match the current demand for nurses. Worse, the national demand for nurses is projected to rise progressively up to 2024, when the demand for registered nurses will rise by 16% (Weaver et al., 2018). Potential causes for this inevitable increment include an aging workforce, workplace stress triggering turnover, and nurses continuously leaving the practice to join other professions.

The impacts are sweeping and regrettable since the quality of care is inversely proportional to the nurse-to-patient ratio. A high nurse-patient ratio increases the nurse workload leading to burnout. The same problem is witnessed in the current setting since burnout stemming from the nursing shortage triggers as high as 30% of turnover in the facility. Other impacts include increased susceptibility to committing medical errors, unhealthy workplace relationships, and lack of time for self-care.

Research Addressing the Nursing Shortage

The criticality of the nursing shortage in the United States has attracted a lot of attention from researchers, healthcare stakeholders, and policymakers. One of the articles from outside resources that have explored the nursing shortage in-depth is by Shah et al. (2018) on the prevalence and factors associated with nurse burnout in the United States. In this article, Shah et al. (2018) analyzed the damaging effects of nurse burnout as a leading consequence of the nursing shortage hampers patient care and professional relationships. The authors further outline the various interventions magnet hospitals use to cope with workplace stressors that can be applied in the current organization.

The second article is by Ten Hoeve et al. (2020) on nurse turnover prevention. The article’s primary theme is that a nursing shortage hampers professional commitment and collegial support is instrumental in enabling nurses to cope with the detrimental effects of a nursing shortage in healthcare organizations. Generally, the articles underscore the importance of transformational leadership in nursing, whose role is changing culture to achieve better patient outcomes (Broome & Marshall, 2021). They demonstrate the need to embrace change and engage the workforce in transforming health practices to optimize patient outcomes.

Summary of the Strategies Used to Address the Nursing Shortage

The articles provide various strategies for addressing the nursing shortage in magnet hospitals and other organizations. Shah et al. (2018) underlined the importance of adequate nurse staffing and reducing workload by limiting the length of shifts. Since hiring adequate staff is usually an enormous administrative and financial challenge, magnet hospitals should maximally focus should be limiting the number of hours per shift. Doing so would give nurses ample time to engage in self-care and other activities that increase commitment.

This approach coincides with the suggestion that improving employee well-being, as witnessed in Anne Arundel Medical Center, increases employee engagement hence reducing turnover (Jacobs et al., 2018). Collegial support helps nurses to overcome negative experiences in the workplace. It is achieved by leaders and supervisors increasing their commitment to improving the work environment to ensure that it is free from adverse events. Nurses should also be supported through professional growth opportunities and a work routine that promotes a positive work-life balance.

Impact on the Organization

The strategies suggested in the research articles may impact the organization both positively and negatively. From a positive dimension, reducing the lengths of shifts, promoting employee well-being, and providing growth opportunities have the potential to increase commitment to work. A highly committed workforce is less susceptible to nurse burnout hence low turnover. However, most of these alternatives require employee training and continuous support with educational resources. As a result, they would be financially burdening. Hiring new staff is equally a huge burden. However, healthcare leaders should increase their reliance of non-physician clinicians since the quality of care does not differ with what physicians provide (Auerbach et al., 2018). The only thing needed is supervision and continuous support.

Conclusion

Healthcare delivery faces many challenges that impede patient outcomes. The nursing shortage is a significant nursing stressor that hampers patients’ outcomes, workplace productivity, and relationships. The problem is prevalent in the current organization, and leaders should implement creative and lasting measures to mitigate its damage. Some of the most effective strategies, as proposed in the explored articles, include manageable workloads, promoting well-being, and providing growth and development opportunities. As highlighted, these practices have both positive and negative consequences, and leaders should adequately analyze them before making a choice.

References

Auerbach, D. I., Straiger, D. O., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2018). Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians-implications for the physician workforce. The New England Journal of Medicine, 378(25), 2358-2360. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1801869

Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). Springer.

Jacobs, B., McGovern, J., Heinmiller, J., & Drenkard, K. (2018). Engaging employees in well-being: Moving from the Triple Aim to the Quadruple Aim. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42(3), 231-245. https://doi.org/10.1097/naq.0000000000000303

Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021). Prevalence of and factors associated with nurse burnout in the US. JAMA Network Open, 4(2), e2036469-e2036469.

Ten Hoeve, Y., Brouwer, J., & Kunnen, S. (2020). Turnover prevention: The direct and indirect association between organizational job stressors, negative emotions and professional commitment in novice nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(3), 836–845. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14281 Weaver, M. S., Wichman, B., Bace, S., Schroeder, D., Vail, C., Wichman, C., & Macfadyen, A. (2018). Measuring the Impact of the home health nursing shortage on family caregivers of children receiving palliative care. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing: JHPN : The Official Journal of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, 20(3), 260–265. https://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000436

Nurses should always work in safe and adequately-resourced healthcare settings. Failure to meet these fundamental requirements makes healthcare organizations stressful and threatens nurses’ comfort and ability to provide quality care. Although healthcare organizations strive to provide safe workplaces for healthcare professionals while supporting them in various ways, workplace stressors widespread in the United States are a huge setback. One such stressors is the nursing shortage, which has crippled patient care in many organizations. The purpose of this paper is to inform the management how the nursing shortage affects the work setting and appropriate intervention strategies as applied in other organizations.

Stressor’s Description and Impacts

The nursing shortage is a multidimensional problem in the United States affecting how and when patient care is offered. Its defining element is a supply that cannot match the current demand for nurses. Worse, the national demand for nurses is projected to rise progressively up to 2024, when the demand for registered nurses will rise by 16% (Weaver et al., 2018). Potential causes for this inevitable increment include an aging workforce, workplace stress triggering turnover, and nurses continuously leaving the practice to join other professions.

The impacts are sweeping and regrettable since the quality of care is inversely proportional to the nurse-to-patient ratio. A high nurse-patient ratio increases the nurse workload leading to burnout. The same problem is witnessed in the current setting since burnout stemming from the nursing shortage triggers as high as 30% of turnover in the facility. Other impacts include increased susceptibility to committing medical errors, unhealthy workplace relationships, and lack of time for self-care.

Research Addressing the Nursing Shortage

The criticality of the nursing shortage in the United States has attracted a lot of attention from researchers, healthcare stakeholders, and policymakers. One of the articles from outside resources that have explored the nursing shortage in-depth is by Shah et al. (2018) on the prevalence and factors associated with nurse burnout in the United States. In this article, Shah et al. (2018) analyzed the damaging effects of nurse burnout as a leading consequence of the nursing shortage hampers patient care and professional relationships. The authors further outline the various interventions magnet hospitals use to cope with workplace stressors that can be applied in the current organization.

The second article is by Ten Hoeve et al. (2020) on nurse turnover prevention. The article’s primary theme is that a nursing shortage hampers professional commitment and collegial support is instrumental in enabling nurses to cope with the detrimental effects of a nursing shortage in healthcare organizations. Generally, the articles underscore the importance of transformational leadership in nursing, whose role is changing culture to achieve better patient outcomes (Broome & Marshall, 2021). They demonstrate the need to embrace change and engage the workforce in transforming health practices to optimize patient outcomes.

Summary of the Strategies Used to Address the Nursing Shortage

The articles provide various strategies for addressing the nursing shortage in magnet hospitals and other organizations. Shah et al. (2018) underlined the importance of adequate nurse staffing and reducing workload by limiting the length of shifts. Since hiring adequate staff is usually an enormous administrative and financial challenge, magnet hospitals should maximally focus should be limiting the number of hours per shift. Doing so would give nurses ample time to engage in self-care and other activities that increase commitment.

This approach coincides with the suggestion that improving employee well-being, as witnessed in Anne Arundel Medical Center, increases employee engagement hence reducing turnover (Jacobs et al., 2018). Collegial support helps nurses to overcome negative experiences in the workplace. It is achieved by leaders and supervisors increasing their commitment to improving the work environment to ensure that it is free from adverse events. Nurses should also be supported through professional growth opportunities and a work routine that promotes a positive work-life balance.

Impact on the Organization

The strategies suggested in the research articles may impact the organization both positively and negatively. From a positive dimension, reducing the lengths of shifts, promoting employee well-being, and providing growth opportunities have the potential to increase commitment to work. A highly committed workforce is less susceptible to nurse burnout hence low turnover.

However, most of these alternatives require employee training and continuous support with educational resources. As a result, they would be financially burdening. Hiring new staff is equally a huge burden. However, healthcare leaders should increase their reliance of non-physician clinicians since the quality of care does not differ with what physicians provide (Auerbach et al., 2018). The only thing needed is supervision and continuous support.

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS NURS 6052 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue:

Conclusion

Healthcare delivery faces many challenges that impede patient outcomes. The nursing shortage is a significant nursing stressor that hampers patients’ outcomes, workplace productivity, and relationships. The problem is prevalent in the current organization, and leaders should implement creative and lasting measures to mitigate its damage. Some of the most effective strategies, as proposed in the explored articles, include manageable workloads, promoting well-being, and providing growth and development opportunities. As highlighted, these practices have both positive and negative consequences, and leaders should adequately analyze them before making a choice.

References

Auerbach, D. I., Straiger, D. O., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2018). Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians-implications for the physician workforce. The New England Journal of Medicine, 378(25), 2358-2360. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1801869

Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). Springer.

Jacobs, B., McGovern, J., Heinmiller, J., & Drenkard, K. (2018). Engaging employees in well-being: Moving from the Triple Aim to the Quadruple Aim. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 42(3), 231-245. https://doi.org/10.1097/naq.0000000000000303

Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021). Prevalence of and factors associated with nurse burnout in the US. JAMA Network Open, 4(2), e2036469-e2036469.

Ten Hoeve, Y., Brouwer, J., & Kunnen, S. (2020). Turnover prevention: The direct and indirect association between organizational job stressors, negative emotions and professional commitment in novice nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 76(3), 836–845. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14281

Weaver, M. S., Wichman, B., Bace, S., Schroeder, D., Vail, C., Wichman, C., & Macfadyen, A. (2018). Measuring the Impact of the home health nursing shortage on family caregivers of children receiving palliative care. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing: JHPN : The Official Journal of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, 20(3), 260–265. https://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000436

From a general perspective, healthcare provision involves identifying health problems affecting the populace and developing practical intervention measures. As this happens, policies are made to streamline care delivery as healthcare providers keep learning to improve outcomes. The overall mandate of care providers is to enhance patient safety while striving to optimize quality always. However, everything does not occur smoothly as envisioned since many healthcare stressors affect care delivery and prevent healthcare providers from meeting the set goals. This paper assesses the impacts of nursing shortage as a pertinent healthcare issue at the organizational level and summarizes evidence-based interventions applied by other organizations.

The Nursing Shortage Problem

In practice, healthcare providers should be kept free from exhaustion. The care providers to patient ratio should be manageable such that healthcare providers are not physically and mentally drained.  Nursing shortage occurs when the number of patients is high to the extent that care providers cannot provide satisfactory services. The problem creates an environment where care providers are highly dissatisfied and ready to leave (Chang et al., 2017). In response, it has been the cause of 25% nurse turnover in the organization, with 10% of the care providers leaving the profession entirely. This data shows a lack of motivation to continue offering healthcare services irrespective of other measures such as rewards the organization applies to inspire employees.

Undeniably, this proportion of turnover is high and implies two things. Firstly, the organization will continue using massive resources to replace the lost workforce. Doing so leads to a scenario where some areas are underserved since resources are used wrongly. Secondly, turnover increases the healthcare burden to the employees left serving. Since the ones left behind are overworked, they are easily frustrated and can quit too. Eventually, a cycle where patients are underserved and dissatisfied ensues. Such instances reduce the overall quality of care and make it challenging to achieve the set objectives.

Summary of Articles

Nursing shortage causes dissatisfaction, which increases the turnover rate. In this case, nurses are overwhelmed, and the reasons to remain in practice decrease progressively. In response, different organizations apply varying and sometimes interrelated strategies to increase healthcare workers’ satisfaction. The primary role of the strategies used is to inspire healthcare providers and give them more reasons to serve. Indeed, motivation makes them embrace crucial healthcare principles, such as empathy and compassion. It is right to deduce that nursing outcomes can improve if such methods were used universally.

The first article I reviewed examines the relationship between career development and healthcare outcomes. According to Price and Reichert (2017), providing healthcare workers with meaningful training and developmental opportunities make them more engaged. The main reason for investing in development is to reduce the cost associated with recruiting a new workforce. Some of the costs that training and development help to avoid include interviewing, onboarding, and orientation costs. Moreover, if given a chance to attain the highest education possible, healthcare providers feel more satisfied and can stay within the organization for a long time.

The other article that I reviewed examined the connection between healthcare workers’ engagement and health outcomes. As Bokhour et al. (2018) posited, healthcare organizations should always align employee and organizational goals. This consideration is based on the premise that healthcare workers are passionate about helping others when they join the practice, but their mindsets change depending on how healthcare organizations treat them. Given this, as Bokhour et al. (2018) insisted, healthcare workers should be set up for success by providing them with the necessary resources and skill development opportunities. Organizations should always recognize the role of workers and consider their personal goals as they develop their goals.

Strategies to Address Organizational Impact

A high turnover rate is detrimental to the achievement of healthcare goals. Situations prompting turnover at whichever level should be avoided by all means. According to Ayanwale (2019), reward systems can be integrated into healthcare practice to reduce turnover. Like other employees, healthcare providers should be highly motivated to work by recognizing their efforts where they excel. For instance, they should be given off days if they meet their weekly targets. Opportunities for promotion should be fair and based on effort. If such practices are persistent, healthcare workers will remain satisfied and remain committed to serving in an organization. Although reward systems are positively impacting, it is crucial to be careful about their sustenance since they can be expensive.

The other way of preventing turnover is by involving healthcare workers in policymaking. Here, as Safari et al. (2020) suggested, organizations must consider employees’ input when making decisions. The main advantage of recognizing employees’ input is that organizational leaders can know where they might be falling short. The feedback they receive from employees helps them to adapt and deliver better results. Eventually, the entire practice makes employees feel valued and wanted. Such a culture prevents turnover as the level of satisfaction is high, but it can be disastrous since healthcare workers may feel entitled to contribute to everything.

In conclusion, nursing shortage is a real problem in healthcare provision. It hampers the delivery of quality care and risks patients’ safety since patients are underserved. As discussed, the problem can be addressed by addressing issues that cause employee turnover. Such strategies include career development plans for healthcare providers, reward systems, and involving healthcare workers in policymaking. 

Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of goals to pursue to maintain and improve healthcare. Within each goal are many issues that, if addressed successfully, may have a positive impact on outcomes. For example, healthcare leaders are being tasked to shift from an emphasis on disease management often provided in an acute care setting to health promotion and disease prevention delivered in primary care settings. Efforts in this area can have significant positive impacts by reducing the need for primary healthcare and by reducing the stress on the healthcare system.

Changes in the industry only serve to stress what has always been true; namely, that the healthcare field has always faced significant challenges, and that goals to improve healthcare will always involve multiple stakeholders. This should not seem surprising given the circumstances. Indeed, when a growing population needs care, there are factors involved such as the demands of providing that care and the rising costs associated with healthcare. Generally, it is not surprising that the field of healthcare is an industry facing multifaceted issues that evolve over time.

In this module’s Discussion, you reviewed some healthcare issues/stressors and selected one for further review. For this Assignment, you will consider in more detail the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. You will also review research that addresses the issue/stressor and write a white paper to your organization’s leadership that addresses the issue/stressor you selected.

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To Prepare:

• Review the national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the Resources and reflect on the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for study.
• Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post for the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected.
• Identify and review two additional scholarly resources (not included in the Resources for this module) that focus on change strategies implemented by healthcare organizations to address your selected national healthcare issue/stressor.

The Assignment (3-4 Pages):

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Develop a 3- to 4-page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following:

• Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).
• Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.
• Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.

Looking Ahead

The paper you develop in Module 1 will be revisited and revised in Module 2. Review the Assignment instructions for Module 2 to prepare for your revised paper.

By Day 7 of Week 2

Submit your paper.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 2 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 2 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
• Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
• Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than 7 days to provide you with quality feedback.

Analysis of A Pertinent Healthcare Issue

The healthcare system encounters a host of pertinent issues that require interventions to improve the quality of care offered to patients and reduce costs. The Quadruple Aim framework focuses on ensuring quality access to care that leads to better patient experience, improvement of population health, reduced costs and enhancing the work life of healthcare providers (Arnetz et al., 2020). However, a pertinent healthcare issue that can impact this framework and public health in general as well as care delivery is personnel shortages, especially nursing shortage. The purpose of this paper is to discuss nursing shortage as a pertinent health issue and its impact on the organization.

Nursing Shortage and Impact on the Organization

Nurse staffing shortage is a critical issue that requires interventions because of its effects. Organizations and evidence from federal agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the American Nurses Association assert that there will be a significant increase in nursing jobs over the next five years compared to any occupation or profession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that over 176,000 openings will be available for nurses in healthcare due to newly created roles as a result of advanced education and the need to address physician shortage, nurses leaving the profession and those retiring because of their age (Broome et al., 2022). The BLS assert that the nursing shortage will continue to bite the healthcare delivery as more Americans with diverse needs get access to care due to reforms through legislations at both state and federal levels.

Nursing shortage has serious implications on the organizations, especially in critical care situations and the need to deliver quality patient-centered interventions. The increased number of patients per nurse means poor quality of care due to strain and associated fatigue. Nurse shortage is a leading cause of burnout and nurse turnover. For instance, figures from the organization’s leaders show that over ten nurses left the facility in the last two years due to working on long shifts. Data also indicates a rise trend of missed nursing care in the facility due to the shortage (Tamata et al., 2023). The implication is that nursing shortage in any facility leads to increased cost of care and high turnover rates. Having limited nurse of nurses also leads to increased risk of patients to adverse events like medication errors and falls which the organization cannot get reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As such, the entity loses funds when patients miss care or experience adverse events that preventable like falls, healthcare associated infections, and medication errors.

Summary of Studies on Nursing Shortage

In her article, Bourgault (2022) focuses on the issue of nursing shortage and work expectation for nurses caring for patients in critical care conditions. The article asserts that the COVID-19 pandemic, especially at its height during the Omicron wave, demonstrated the crisis of nursing shortage due to thousands of missed nursing care moments. Further, the article highlights the long hours that nurses are working, increased workload and patient acuity while others have to endure with mandatory overtime while also nursing health issues like COVID-19. The paper also highlights the unsafe conditions for nurses and other health care workers without protective personal equipment despite the heightened risk of infections. The implication is that the article highlights the current state of nursing shortage and need for innovative approaches to handle the situation. The article explores the need for policies to help organizations manage safe nurse-to-patient ratios.

The second article by Griffiths et al. (2018) identifies the association between nurse staffing and adverse patient events or outcomes, including mortality. The article asserts that by measuring the number and level of missed care, healthcare organizations can determine the adequacy of their nursing staff and develop innovative interventions to address the situation. The findings from the study indicate that low staffing levels lead to increased prevalence of missed care that result into poor patient outcomes.

Organizations Handling Nurse Staffing Shortage

Organizations are employing innovative approaches to deal with the nurse staffing shortage. These include a collaborative approach to ensure that nurses and their leaders can develop innovative approaches to improving care as opposed to all patients coming for physical visits. For instance, the integration of technologies like telehealth and telemedicine can help organizations address the issue. Nurses are on demand because of increased access to care through health care reforms and partly due to an aging population (Spurlock Jr., 2020). Therefore, organizations need effective leadership to inspire nurses to offer better solutions to care provision. Good working conditions as incentives for nurses in any facility are essential to addressing the nurse shortage. More fundamentally, reducing the turnover rates is also an effective strategy to address the issue. Flexible work schedule and shifts can also help alleviate the issue.

Strategies Used to Address Nursing Shortage

The articles are categorical that stakeholders can address the healthcare issue of nursing shortage through a raft of strategies. These include policies that focus on improving the work conditions and organizational efforts to enhance a collaborative approach among healthcare workers. Secondly, the use of technologies like telehealth and telemedicine can help nurses offer care remotely and reduce the current workload burden (Broome et al., 2021). The strategies are impactful to organizations positively since they are evidence-based practice and will lead to quality patient outcomes. These strategies will ensure that the facility has sufficient number of staff to cater to patients based on their needs. However, they require sufficient resources allocated by the management to attain their goals.

Conclusion

Nursing shortage is a serious healthcare issue that needs stakeholders, especially organizational managers and leaders to address to enhance quality patient outcomes. The articles used in this study demonstrate the need for nurses as innovative care providers to develop EBP interventions to improve care outcomes for patients. Policy interventions and other approaches will be important in addressing nursing shortage as a serious healthcare issue.

References

Arnetz, B. B., Goetz, C. M., Arnetz, J. E., Sudan, S., vanSchagen, J., Piersma, K., & Reyelts, F.

(2020). Enhancing healthcare efficiency to achieve the Quadruple Aim: an exploratory study. BMC research notes, 13(1), 1-6. DOI: 10.1186/s13104-020-05199-8

 Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert

            clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

Bourgault, A. M. (2022). The nursing shortage and work expectations are in critical condition: is

            anyone listening? Critical Care Nurse, 42(2), 8-11. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2022909

Griffiths, P., Recio-Saucedo, A., Dall’Orca, C. Briggs, J., Maruotti, A., Meredith, P. & Missed

Care Study Group (2018). The association between nurse staffing and omissions in nursing care: a systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 74(7), 1474-1487. DOI: 10.1111/jan.13564.

Spurlock Jr, D. (2020). The nursing shortage and the future of nursing education is in our hands.

            Journal of Nursing Education, 59(6), 303-304. DOI: 10.3928/01484834-20200520-01.

Tamata, A. T., & Mohammadnezhad, M. (2023). A systematic review study on the factors

affecting shortage of nursing workforce in the hospitals. Nursing open, 10(3), 1247-1257. https://doi.org/10.10

Grading Rubric Accomplished Emerging Unsatisfactory Content Points Range:62.25 (41.50%) – 75 (50.00%) Responds clearly, thoroughly, and effectively to all aspects of the assignment. All content is accurate and/or supported. Points Range:57 (38.00%) – 61.5 (41.00%) Responds adequately to the assignment but may not be thorough. Points Range:0 (0.00%) – 56.25 (37.50%) Does not respond to the assignment. Focus and Detail Points Range:31.125 (20.75%) – 37.5 (25.00%) There is a clear, well-focused topic. Main ideas are clear and are well supported by detailed and accurate information gathered from scholarly sources. Points Range:28.5 (19.00%) – 30.75 (20.50%) There is a clear, well-focused topic. Main ideas are clear but are not well supported by scholarly sources and detailed information. Points Range:0 (0.00%) – 28.125 (18.75%) The topic and main ideas are not clear. Organization Points Range:18.675 (12.45%) – 22.5 (15.00%) The introduction is inviting, states the main topic, and provides an overview of the paper. Information is relevant and presented in a logical order. The conclusion is strong. Points Range:17.1 (11.40%) – 18.45 (12.30%) The introduction states the main topic and provides an overview of the paper. A conclusion is included. Points Range:0 (0.00%) – 16.875 (11.25%) There is no clear introduction, structure, or conclusion. Mechanics and APA Points Range:12.45 (8.30%) – 15 (10.00%) The assignment consistently follows current APA format and is free of errors in formatting, citation, and references. There are no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. All sources are correctly cited and referenced. Points Range:11.4 (7.60%) – 12.3 (8.20%) The assignment consistently follows current APA format with only isolated and inconsistent mistakes and/or has a few grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. Most sources are correctly cited and referenced. Points Range:0 (0.00%) – 11.25 (7.50%) The assignment does not follow current APA format and/or has many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. Many sources are incorrectly cited and referenced or citations and references are missing.

Week 2 Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Healthcare providers like nurses face a host of issues that impact the quality care delivery to patients. One of these issues is scarcity of nurses or nursing shortage. Studies and estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the healthcare sector requires over 200,000 nurses each year till 2025 to bridge the current levels of shortage (BLS, 2019). The lack of sufficient nurses in healthcare facilities affects the quality of care offered to patients. Inadequate nurse staffing levels lead to adverse outcomes for patients and burnout for nurses as well as high turnover rates and leaving the profession altogether. The purpose of this paper is to discuss nursing shortage as a pertinent healthcare issue and a summary of two articles about the problem. The paper also looks at how other organizations are dealing with the issue and strategies to address the organizational impact of nursing shortage.

Nursing Shortage

Many states and hospitals are grappling with nursing shortage that is affecting the quality of care. The emergence of the Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVId-19) pandemic, an aging population and retiring of baby boomers’ generation from work as well as reforms in the healthcare are placing an increased demand for healthcare services. The implication is that more healthcare workers, especially nurses, are needed to bridge the gap. Inadequate nursing levels have significant negative effects on patients. These include increased risk of medication errors, possible burnout and overall mental health issues because of stress and depression associated (Nelson & Wein, 2018). Further, nursing shortage means that nurses have increased workload. With only California having legal mandates on nurse staffing ratios in the country, many facilities require nurses to work long hours or shifts to meet the care demands. Nursing shortage increases a nurse’s susceptibility to adverse patient events like the risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

Our facility faces a nursing shortage issue that impacts the delivery of quality care to patients. The facility has 20 job postings for registered nurses’ positions. Five of these nurses are required in the emergency department. The number does not include five nurses that are at different stages of orientation. The facility and its emergency department have one the highest turnover rates for nurses working in ED. The department has reduced the number of beds because of insufficient levels of nurses, especially during the day. Critical care technicians are short-staffed and are positioned in strategic areas that include triage, and pediatric unit. The nursing shortage issue in the facility has led to a stop on reimbursement due to five recent deaths that many attribute to inadequate number of nurses to serve patients in different departments.

Summary of Articles on How Other Organizations Are Addressing the Nursing Shortage

Organizations across the country are developing innovative and evidence-based interventions to address the issue of nursing shortage. An article by Mattioni et al. (2018) shows how collaboration between the academies and hospitals can tackle the nursing shortage issue by improving retention rates. The University of Pennsylvania had a 20% vacancy rate and five percent turnover rate amidst the rising number of patients. Imperatively, the hospital collaborated with the Drexel University College of Nursing an d Health Professions to develop perioperative nursing program that entailed a 40-hour noncredit internship modeled on the facility’s new staff orientation program. The study notes that the facility reduced the turnover rate and employed half of the participating students to alleviate the nursing shortage.

The second article shows by Kurnat-Thoma et al. (2017) showed that redesigning an orientation program founded on evidence-based practice can lower the one-year turnover rates of newly hired nurses. The study notes that the program led to the development of a ten-point onboarding program to reduce the nurse turnover rate in the facility. The study demonstrated that on-boarding strategic program can lower the one-year turnover rate by 18%. However, the study notes that it is not easy to sustain long-term retention because of different factors associated with the program.

How other Organizations Are Addressing Nursing Shortage

Facilities across the nation are deploying a host of strategies to address the nursing shortage issue. Among these strategies is having collaborations with nursing schools to ensure that they are partners to help the organization attain optimal nursing staff levels. Collaborations and partnerships ensure that facilities can have internship programs to help prepare nursing students for future roles in care settings (Nelson & Wein, 2018). Collaboration leads to better relations between nursing schools and hospitals to offer advanced education to improve quality of care. The second approach is enhancing the orientation process to improve interactions between new nurses and the rest of the team.

Strategies Used to Address Organization Impact of the Healthcare Issue

The first article asserts that these organizations used collaboration and effective communication as strategies to address the organizational effects of the nursing shortage. However, the article by Kurnat-Thomas et al. (2017) recommends the redesigning of orientation program to reduce nursing shortage. The article emphasizes the need to customize orientation program to retain nurses. These strategies can impact the organization positively to attain more nurses and resources required to implement a collaborative approach. The article by Kurnat-Thomas shows the need for organizations to develop motivating orientation program to meet the increased demand for nurses.

Conclusion

Nursing shortage remains a critical issue and impacts the quality delivery of patient care. As such, organizations must find innovate solutions to tackle the problem through collaboration with faculties and nursing schools. The paper demonstrates that nursing shortage will continue to be a critical health concern and must be addressed to attain quality care measures.

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2019, April 12). Occupational outlookk

handbook, registered nurses. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm

Kurnat-Thoma, E., Ganger, M., Peterson, K., & Channell, L. (2017). Reducing Annual Hospital

and Registered Nurse Staff Turnover—A 10-Element Onboarding Program

Intervention. SAGE Open Nursing. https://doiorg.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1177 /

2377960817697712

Mattioni, C. & Wilson, L. (2018). A collaborative approach to creating a perioperative nursing

recruitment and retention strategy: The official voice of perioperative nursing the official

voice of perioperative nursing. AORN Journal, 108(6), 675-678.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1002/aom.1243

Nelson, D., Hearld, L.R., & Wein, D. (2018). The impact of emergency department RN staffing

on patient experience. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 44(4). 394-401. DOI:

10.1016/j.jen.2018.01.001

Assignment: Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Introduction

This paper is determined to analyze Obesity and its impacts as a pertinent national issue in the United States.  It will also explain how the health issue is being addressed in other organizations.  Obesity is a treatable health disease that is a worldwide concern, associated with excess fat in the body. It is genetically and environmentally caused. It is diagnosed by a healthcare provider and is classified as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater (Fryar et al, 2018).

Obesity is a serious healthcare problem associated with reduced quality of life and more impoverished mental health conditions. Similarly, it is also associated with an increase in the number of complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke, and other types of cancers (Cipriani et al., 2016). Moreover, Obesity is a serious healthcare problem associated with reduced quality of life and more impoverished mental health conditions. Similarly, it is also associated with an increase in the number of deaths in the United States. (Chiao et al., 2015). Obesity is a nutritional disorder that is related to unhealthy eating.

There are different risk factors of Obesity, including overeating, overconsumption of junk foods, reduced physical activities, and genetic inheritance (Werneck et al., 2018). The main problem is the increasing cases of Obesity among the population. Among the most concerning chronic health conditions is Obesity. Irrespective of whether an adult or a child experiences the condition, Obesity has been connected to poor life quality and various numerous killer comorbid conditions such as some types of cancer, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes (Chiao et al., 2015). Even though the disease has devastating effects on the population, it remains a complex health concern caused by a combination of individual factors like genetics and behavior and various other causes like physical activity, environment, food, skills, and education. Multiple factors such as exposures, medication use, dietary pattern, and lack of physical activity have also been shown to contribute (Werneck et al., 2018). Even though various interventions have been used to prevent and manage Obesity, the condition seems to be increasing among the population.  (Fryar et al, 2018).

The Impact of Obesity on the Nursing Professionals.

Nursing professionals face different problems in the healthcare system. These problems may be associated with the work environment as well as the treatment issues. Obesity has both mental and physical health complications for people of all ages. The complications related to Obesity range from medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, some types of cancer, stroke, and heart disease. Also, Obesity is associated with reduced self-esteem, social isolation, as well as depression.

The dominance of Obesity was 42.4% in 2017-2018. Moreover, from 1999–2000 through 2017–2018, the bulk of Obesity increased from 30.5% to 42.4%, and the prevalence of severe Obesity risen from 4.7% to 9.2%. Its related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer that are leading causes of preventable, premature death. Similarly, the estimated annual medical cost of Obesity in the United States was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical cost for people who have Obesity was $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. (NCHS 2017-2018). The working adults of non-Hispanic blacks (49.6%) had the highest age-adjusted higher number of Obesity. Similarly, working-age of Hispanic (44.8%) and non-Hispanic White adults (42.2%) (Fryar et al, 2018).

The age-adjusted dominance of Obesity among U.S. adults was 42.4% in 2017–2018. The prevalence was 40.0% among younger adults aged 20–39, 44.8% among middle-aged adults aged 40–59, and 42.8% among older adults aged 60 and over. There were no significant differences in prevalence by age group (Fryar et al, 2018).Among men, the prevalence of Obesity was 40.3% among those aged 20–39, 46.4% among those aged 40–59, and 42.2% among those aged 60 and over. Among women, the prevalence of Obesity was 39.7% among those aged 20–39, 43.3% among those aged 40–59, and 43.3% among those aged 60 and over. None of the differences by age were significant. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of Obesity between men and women overall or by age group (Fryar et al, 2018).

The health problem has had profound financial implications. It has a substantial economic burden on the USA economy and other world’s governments and States. The resulting poorer health outcomes for obese individuals means that such people have to use the health care services more frequently, implying a notable increase in health care costs and burn out of nurses. As of the year 2016, close to two billion adults were overweight. Over six hundred and fifty million were classified as obese globally—implying that close to forty percent of the adult population were overweight, with thirteen percent among them obese. As of 2019, the statistics for children under five were not better as thirty-eight million of this population were classified as obese or overweight.

Strategies Used in the Mitigation of Obesity

The management of Obesity often requires evidence-based practices that aim at increasing safety measures. Currently, there are training processes that aim at reducing the increasing rates of mortalities associated with Obesity. The training processes include management of eating habits, engagement in physical activities, and other healthy behaviors. Educational processes on eating patterns are also undertaken to reduce the cases of Obesity (Cipriani et al., 2016). Besides, the proposed solution to the health problem includes educational programs and behavioral change among the population. Educational and behavioral change interventions are essential in the management of Obesity.

Conclusion

Obesity is a serious healthcare issue associated with reduced quality of life and lower mental health conditions. Moreover, it is related to an increase in the number of complications such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases, stroke, and other types of cancers (Cipriani et al., 2016). There are different risk factors of Obesity, including overeating, overconsumption of junk foods, reduced physical activities, and genetic inheritance (Werneck et al., 2018). The main problem is the increasing cases of Obesity among the population. And this has negatively impacted nursing professionals. The proposed solution to the health problem includes educational programs and behavioral change among the population. Educational and behavioral change interventions are essential in the management of Obesity.

Reference

Cipriani, G., Lucetti, C., Danti, S., Carlesi, C., & Nuti, A. (2016). Violent and criminal manifestations in dementia patients. Geriatrics & gerontology international, 16(5), 541-549. doi.10.1111/ggi.12608

Chiao, C. Y., Wu, H. S., & Hsiao, C. Y. (2015). Caregiver burden for informal caregivers of patients with dementia: A systematic review. International Nursing Review, 62(3), 340-350.doi.10.1111/inr.12194

Fryar, C. D., Carroll, M. D., & Ogden, C. L. (2018). Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity among children and adolescents aged 2–19 years: United States, 1963–1965 through 2015–2016. http://www.publicnow.com/view/57BFCB292A6D12A9A3EE633921C052DED8F0D94B

Werneck, A. O., Oyeyemi, A. L., Gerage, A. M., Cyrino, E. S., Szwarcwald, C. L., Sardinha, L. B., & Silva, D. R. (2018). Does leisure‐time physical activity attenuate or eliminate the positive association between Obesity and high blood pressure? The Journal of Clinical Hypertension, 20(5), 959-966. doi.10.1111/jch.13292

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

The Quadruple Aim provides broad categories of goals to pursue to maintain and improve healthcare. Within each goal are many issues that, if addressed successfully, may have a positive impact on outcomes. For example, healthcare leaders are being tasked to shift from an emphasis on disease management often provided in an acute care setting to health promotion and disease prevention delivered in primary care settings. Efforts in this area can have significant positive impacts by reducing the need for primary healthcare and by reducing the stress on the healthcare system.

Changes in the industry only serve to stress what has always been true; namely, that the healthcare field has always faced significant challenges, and that goals to improve healthcare will always involve multiple stakeholders. This should not seem surprising given the circumstances. Indeed, when a growing population needs care, there are factors involved such as the demands of providing that care and the rising costs associated with healthcare. Generally, it is not surprising that the field of healthcare is an industry facing multifaceted issues that evolve over time.

In this module’s Discussion, you reviewed some healthcare issues/stressors and selected one for further review. For this Assignment, you will consider in more detail the healthcare issue/stressor you selected. You will also review research that addresses the issue/stressor and write a white paper to your organization’s leadership that addresses the issue/stressor you selected.

Resources

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources. 

WEEKLY RESOURCES

To Prepare:

• Review the national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the Resources and reflect on the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected for study.
• Reflect on the feedback you received from your colleagues on your Discussion post for the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected.
• Identify and review two additional scholarly resources (not included in the Resources for this module) that focus on change strategies implemented by healthcare organizations to address your selected national healthcare issue/stressor.

The Assignment (2-3 Pages):

Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Develop a 2 to 3 page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing your selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following:

• Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).
• Provide a brief summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources on the national healthcare issue/stressor. Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.
• Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. Explain how they may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.

Looking Ahead

The paper you develop in Module 1 will be revisited and revised in Module 2. Review the Assignment instructions for Module 2 to prepare for your revised paper.

By Day 7 of Week 2

Submit your paper.

submission information

Before submitting your final assignment, you can check your draft for authenticity. To check your draft, access the Turnitin Drafts from the Start Here area. 

1. To submit your completed assignment, save your Assignment as WK2Assgn_LastName_Firstinitial
2. Then, click on Start Assignment near the top of the page.
3. Next, click on Upload File and select Submit Assignment for review.

Opioid addiction, whether due to prescription medications, heroin, or illicitly manufactured fentanyl, is a national healthcare crisis. Initially driven by increased consumption and availability of pharmaceutical opioids, most opioid overdoses today are related to heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. In 2016, approximately 12 million Americans aged 12 or older reported the misuse of opioids (Lyden & Binswanger, 2019). In 2021, the United States saw over 80,000 deaths due to an opioid (NIDA, n.d.).

Addiction is commonly understood as a disease of the brain where recurrent exposure to a substance alters its structure and function, ultimately contributing to the compulsive drug-seeking behavior seen in opioid use disorder. Characteristics of a use disorder is a problematic pattern of behavior with intense thoughts and cravings that contribute to drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. Addressing opioid addiction involves addressing the stigma associated with opioid use disorders and their treatment, improving access to treatment options such as medications for opioid use disorder, and reducing opioid overdose fatalities with the distribution of naloxone.

There are higher rates of opioid-related mortality in geographic areas with higher poverty rates and percentage of unemployed, increased uninsured rates, and the lowest percent with a college education (Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector, n.d.). Considering the five domains in social determinants of health, all of them can or will contribute to how an individual navigates an opioid use disorder; therefore, it would be challenging to select only one. Economic stability, education, access to healthcare, neighborhood safety, and social or community support are all affected (The Academy, n.d.).

My healthcare system has responded to the demands of the community and is able to reach anyone who may want to make positive life changes. Our staff is educated about choosing language that reduces stigma, collaborates with other community providers who offer additional services, utilizes medication options when appropriate, and makes ongoing efforts to decrease fatal overdoses by enrolling in the Overdose Response Program through our county and state. This allows select staff to dispense naloxone to those that are deemed to be high-risk. Leadership in this healthcare system also have considered expanding the current workforce and hiring new clinical staff to ensure that we have a team member readily available to work with our clients.

Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector. (n.d.). Addressing the Opioid Crisis through Social Determinants of Health: What Are Communities Doing?

Lyden, J., & Binswanger, I. A. (2019). The United States opioid epidemic. Seminars in Perinatology, 43(3), 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1053/J.SEMPERI.2019.01.001

Opioids | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (n.d.). Retrieved May 29, 2023, from https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/opioids

Social Determinants of Opioid Addiction | The Academy. (n.d.). Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://integrationacademy.ahrq.gov/news-and-events/news/strategy-address-social-determinants-opioid-addiction

Rubric

NURS_6053_Module01_Week02_Assignment_Rubric

Criteria	Ratings	Pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Develop a 2-3 page paper, written to your organization’s leadership team, addressing the selected national healthcare issue/stressor and how it is impacting your work setting. Be sure to address the following: · Describe the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected and its impact on your organization. · Use organizational data to quantify the impact (if necessary, seek assistance from leadership or appropriate stakeholders in your organization).	25 to >22.0 pts ExcellentThe response accurately and thoroughly describes the national healthcare issue/stressor selected and its impact on an organization. …The response includes accurate, clear, and detailed evidence/data to quantify the impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor selected. 22 to >19.0 pts GoodThe response describes the national healthcare issue/stressor selected and its impact on an organization. …The response includes accurate data to quantify the impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor selected. 19 to >17.0 pts FairThe response inaccurately or vaguely describes the national healthcare issue/stressor selected and its impact on an organization. …The response includes vague or inaccurate data to quantify the impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor selected. 17 to >0 pts PoorThe response inaccurately and vaguely describes the national healthcare issue/stressor selected and its impact on an organization or is missing. …The response includes vague and inaccurate data to quantify the impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor selected or is missing.	25 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome · Provide a summary of the two articles you reviewed from outside resources, on the national healthcare issue/stressor. · Explain how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations.	30 to >26.0 pts ExcellentResponse includes a complete, detailed, and specific summary of two outside resources (articles) reviewed on the national healthcare issue/stressor selected. …The response accurately and thoroughly explains in detail how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations. 26 to >23.0 pts GoodResponse includes an accurate summary of two outside resources (articles) reviewed on the national healthcare issue/stressor selected. …The response explains how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations. 23 to >20.0 pts FairResponse includes a vague or inaccurate or incomplete summary of outside resources (articles) reviewed on the national healthcare issue/stressor selected. …The response vaguely or inaccurately explains how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations. 20 to >0 pts PoorResponse provides a vague and inaccurate summary of outside resources (articles) reviewed on the national healthcare issue/stressor selected or summary is missing. …The response vaguely and inaccurately explains how the healthcare issue/stressor is being addressed in other organizations or explanation is missing.	30 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome · Summarize the strategies used to address the organizational impact of national healthcare issues/stressors presented in the scholarly resources you selected. · Explain how the strategies may impact your organization both positively and negatively. Be specific and provide examples.	25 to >22.0 pts ExcellentResponse includes a complete, detailed, and accurate summary of the strategies used to address the organizational impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor. …Response accurately and thoroughly explains how the strategies may impact an organization both positively and negatively, with specific and accurate examples for each. 22 to >19.0 pts GoodResponse includes an accurate summary of the strategies used to address the organizational impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor. …Response explains how the strategies may impact an organization both positively and negatively with at least one specific example for each. 19 to >17.0 pts FairResponse includes a vague or inaccurate summary of the strategies used to address the organizational impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor. …Response vaguely or inaccurately explains how the strategies may impact an organization both positively and negatively. …Response may include some vague or inaccurate examples. 17 to >0 pts PoorResponse provides a vague and inaccurate summary of the strategies used to address the organizational impact of the national healthcare issue/stressor or summary is missing. …Response vaguely and inaccurately explains how the strategies may impact an organization both positively and negatively or explanation is missing. …Response does not include any examples.	25 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Resource Synthesis	5 to >4.0 pts ExcellentUsing proper in-text citations, the response fully integrates at least 2 outside resources and 2 or 3 course-specific resources. 4 to >3.0 pts GoodUsing proper in-text citations, the response fully integrates at least 2 outside resources and 1 course-specific resource. 3 to >2.0 pts FairUsing proper in-text citations, the response minimally integrates outside and course-specific resources. 2 to >0 pts PoorThe response does not integrate outside and course-specific resources or no in-text citations are used.	5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Written Expression and Formatting—Paragraph Development and Organization:Paragraphs make clear points that support well-developed ideas, flow logically, and demonstrate continuity of ideas. Sentences are carefully focused—neither long and rambling nor short and lacking substance. A clear and comprehensive purpose statement and introduction is provided, which delineates all required criteria.	5 to >4.0 pts ExcellentParagraphs and sentences follow writing standards for flow, continuity, and clarity. …A clear and comprehensive purpose statement, introduction, and conclusion are provided, which delineates all required criteria. 4 to >3.0 pts GoodParagraphs and sentences follow writing standards for flow, continuity, and clarity 80% of the time. …Purpose, introduction, and conclusion of the assignment are stated but are brief and not descriptive. 3 to >2.0 pts FairParagraphs and sentences follow writing standards for flow, continuity, and clarity 60–79% of the time. …Purpose, introduction, and conclusion of the assignment is vague or off topic. 2 to >0 pts PoorParagraphs and sentences follow writing standards for flow, continuity, and clarity less than 60% of the time. …No purpose statement, introduction, or conclusion is provided.	5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Written Expression and Formatting—English Writing Standards: Correct grammar, mechanics, and proper punctuation.	5 to >4.0 pts ExcellentUses correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation with no errors. 4 to >3.0 pts GoodContains a few (one or two) grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. 3 to >2.0 pts FairContains several (three or four) grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. 2 to >0 pts PoorContains many (five or more) grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors that interfere with the reader’s understanding.	5 pts
This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Written Expression and Formatting: The paper follows correct APA format for title page, headings, font, spacing, margins, indentations, page numbers, running head, parenthetical/in-text citations, and reference list.	5 to >4.0 pts ExcellentUses correct APA format with no errors. 4 to >3.0 pts GoodContains a few (one or two) APA format errors. 3 to >2.0 pts FairContains several (three or four) APA format errors. 2 to >0 pts PoorContains many (five or more) APA format errors.	5 pts
Total Points: 100