NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Walden University NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue-Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.

How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.

How to Write the Body for NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.

Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.

How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.

How to Format the References List for NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.

Stuck? Let Us Help You

Completing assignments can sometimes be overwhelming, especially with the multitude of academic and personal responsibilities you may have. If you find yourself stuck or unsure at any point in the process, don’t hesitate to reach out for professional assistance. Our assignment writing services are designed to help you achieve your academic goals with ease. 

Our team of experienced writers is well-versed in academic writing and familiar with the specific requirements of the NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue assignment. We can provide you with personalized support, ensuring your assignment is well-researched, properly formatted, and thoroughly edited. Get a feel of the quality we guarantee – ORDER NOW. 

NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

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 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.

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

Patient Falls Prevention

The national issues that the paper explores relate to falls and injuries that occur within the healthcare setting. Falls and injuries to patients result in increased cost of care and a prolonged length of stay in the hospital setting. Falls prevention in the organizational setting remains a pertinent issue that needs to be addressed by the stakeholders and the leadership. It is the role of the healthcare professional to ensure that quality and safe care is delivered to patients in the hospital setting. For this reason, fall prevention remains one of the key objectives and goals of any healthcare setting (Heng et al., 2020). Falls and injuries acquired in the healthcare setting must be prevented as part of the attainment of safe care. Falls have a wide variety of implications, including the absence of an injury to serious injury and even possible death to the patient. The different forms of physical injury to the patient includes bruising, pain, scratches, hematomas, lacerations, and intracranial bleeding. “The purpose of this paper is to implement strategies that aim to ensure the prevention of falls that occur in the hospital setting”.

Patient Falls and Its Impact On the Organization

Patient falls in the hospital setting are a common occurrence, and they mainly affect an estimated 2% to 17% of all the patients during their hospital stay. Falls lead to an increased level of fear of falling and restriction on the ability of the patient to engage in activities. In addition, other implications of falls to the hospital setting include a prolonged stay of the patient in the hospital. This has an implication to the resulting cost and the resources dedicated to the treatment process of the patients (Heng et al., 2020). The hospital is also legally liable for preventable falls that occur to the patients under the care of the hospital. For this reason, it is important to implement strategies that aim to ensure the prevention of falls, and nurse-led falls preventions strategies have the effect of reducing falls that occur in the hospital setting.

Brief Summary of the Two Articles On Fall Prevention

The article’ hospital falls prevention with patient education: a scoping review’ by Heng et al. (2020) illustrates the reason why hospital falls remain one of the most frequent and debilitating issues across the globe. Notably, the article illustrates the reason why hospitals have prioritized efforts and interventions that target to reduce the frequencies of occurrence of falls within the care setting. Notably, the article illustrates the strategies that have proven effective in the care setting in the prevention of falls and reducing the frequency of occurrence (Heng et al., 2020). The strategies implemented include provision for clinician education and modification of the care environment. Other strategies include the provision for assistive devices and the use of hospital systems that aid in coming up with reviews in relation to the performance of the healthcare setting in terms of the prevention of patient falls. However, the article posits that the roles of patients in the prevention of falls is a topic that has been explored less despite the impact that it can bring about to the care setting and the quality and safety of care. Further, the article illustrates the role of education designs and their contribution in reducing the frequency of falls and injuries that take place in the care setting. The second article, titled ‘Preventing Falls in Hospitalized Patients: State of the Science’ by LeLaurin

and Shorr (2019), affirms the reason why hospital falls remains a significant issue in the healthcare setting. Although there has been a reduction in the frequency of falls that occur in the health setting over the past years, it remains a significant problem that needs intervention. Patient falls are the common adverse event that is most reported in hospitals. Annually, the average of patient falls that occur in the health care setting is between 700,000 to 1 million. The resulting effect is that there are 250,000 injuries and close to 10,000 deaths that occur as a result of falls that take place within the care setting (LeLaurin & Shorr, 2019). The inpatient falls have a resulting effect that is physical as well as an economic burden to the patients. It is linked to an increased mortality rate and reduced quality of life. In addition, it results in the increased lengths of the stay and increased medical care costs to the patient in the care setting, including the possibility of litigations. In 2008, the Centers of the Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) put an end to the option of reimbursement to hospitals as a result of the costs related to fall-related injuries. For this reason, the significant financial pressure due to falls has resulted in hospitals seeking alternatives towards the prevention of fall-related injuries.

Patient Falls as Addressed in Other Organizations

Different healthcare organizations have put in place intervention strategies to aid in preventing the frequency of occurrence of injuries and falls in the care setting. The strategies involve input from all the stakeholders, including the healthcare professional and the patients. Notably, one of the measures that the hospital can put in place is to ensure that there is easy identification of patients that are at higher risk of experiencing falls. High-risk patients must be identified to ensure that close attention is given (LeLaurin & Shorr, 2019). Some of the methods for easy identification of high-risk patients include ensuring that they wear unique clothing or socks. In addition, they can also wear armbands to ensure that the healthcare professions can easily identify them. Another effective strategy used by healthcare organizations entails the use of bed alarms. Bed alarms can be sounded within a short period after the patient is out of bed. This will aid in reducing the length of time that the healthcare professional takes before coming to attend to the patients after a fall

Click here to ORDER an A++ paper from our Verified MASTERS and DOCTORATE WRITERS: NURS 6053 Week 1 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

 

Strategies Used to Address the Organizational Impact of Patient Falls

The staff must be aware and intervene in preventing incidences involving falls in the healthcare setting. In addition, the hospital setting can implement universal fall precautions. The universal falls precautions are the safety measures that are implemented as a way of reducing the chances that falls can occur to the patients in the healthcare setting. All the patients are subject to the universal falls preventions precautions regardless of the risk level of the fall for the patient (LeLaurin & Shorr, 2019). Universal precautions are the safety measures applied in the hospital setting and vary from one hospital to another. One of the measures under the universal fall precaution is multidisciplinary responsibility

Conclusion

Fall prevention is not only the role of the nurses but also involves all the other professionals such as the physicians, therapists, and pharmacists. There is the need to review the medication process and provide appropriate discontinuing medication that is associated with the high risk of falls in the care setting (LeLaurin & Shorr, 2019). Also, there is a need to provide continence management, including frequent assistance to the patients. 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 Heng, H., Jazayeri, D., Shaw, L., Kiegaldie, D., Hill, A., & Morris, M. (2020). Hospital falls prevention with patient education: a scoping review. BMC Geriatrics, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01515-w LeLaurin, J., & Shorr, R. (2019). Preventing Falls in Hospitalized Patients. Clinics In Geriatric Medicine, 35(2), 273-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cger.2019.01.007 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.

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

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. My healthcare system has undertaken various strategies toaddress the challenge posed by the nurse staff shortage. One of these has been the prioritization of the work culture; offering a platform through which we can air our grievances with the managers and supervisors. This has led to the introduction of counseling services; for those experiencing depression, there has also been a day set for exercise in which we all participate. These have contributed to some satisfaction that our feelings and opinions are valued. The other strategy integrated into the organization has been promoting scheduling flexibility. The intervention has enabledus to juggle between busy work schedules and home life besides pursuing our educational opportunities. It has also created aplatform through which we can decompress between emotionally draining and stressful shifts, which has positively impacted job satisfaction rates.

References

Gottlieb, L., Fichtenberg, C., Alderwick, H., & Adler, N. (2019). Social determinants of health: what’s healthcare system to do?.