NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Walden University NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment  Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue-Step-By-Step Guide

 

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6053 Week 2 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 2 Assignment  Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

 

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6053 Week 2 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 2 Assignment  Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6053 Week 2 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 2 Assignment  Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue                     

 

After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6053 Week 2 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 2 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 2 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.

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NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

NURS 6053 Week 2 Assignment Analysis of a Pertinent Healthcare Issue

Among the responsibilities of nurses in the care setting is to offer safe and acceptable patient care. However, offering safe and appropriate care is never straightforward as various obstacles face such efforts. The implication is that these obstacles have to be addressed by applying various strategies that can help in effectively removing them. One of such problems is the heavy workload (Molero et al., 2018). The heavy workload in the care setting has been associated with various adverse impacts such as nurse burnout, high turnover, medical errors, and poor patient services (Sturm et al., 2019).

Therefore, this paper aims to explore heavy workload as a healthcare issue. Therefore, the issue will be described and its impacts on the organization. In addition, a brief summary of two articles that address the issues will be given and how other entities address the issue. Besides, this paper will summarize the strategies used in the literature materials to address the impact of the issue and how such strategies might positively or negatively impact the organization.

Heavy Workload and Its Impact

The heavy nursing workload is among the common healthcare problems usually caused by a shortage of nursing staff. Heavy workload occurs when the hours that a nurse has to work caring for patients exceed the ideal duration that they can serve to effectively offer quality patient care. Whenever there is a high workload, various adverse impacts can result (Sturm et al., 2019). For instance, there are increased incidences of patients’ death in some cases due to poor care. In addition, recent data also shows that when there is a heavy workload, the nurse spends less time observing and taking care of the individual patients as they have to strive and offer the same care services to other patients as well within the same time period.

Indeed, the heavy workload was at some duration associated with a 20% increase in medical errors, which negatively impacted the organization, the staff, and the patients.  Heavy workload also leads to higher incidences of nurse turnover as the current staff may experience nurse burnout; hence they try to seek lighter duties in other organizations. The end result is that the organization has to spend more money in recruiting new staff to fill the vacant positions.

Summary of Articles on Heavy Workload

Holland et al. (2019) conducted a study that focused on examining the connection between nurse workload, nurse well-being, and intention to leave the occupation. These researchers used an online survey as the methodology where they prompted close to three thousand responses from various participants to get their view of the high nurse workload. From the analysis performed on the responses, the researchers realized that a high workload is closely connected with the nursing staff’s desire to leave the nursing occupation. Such a desire to quit the nursing profession was also shown to be mediated by the work-life balance satisfaction among the nurses (Holland et al., 2019). The analysis also indicated that the use of organizational supports as offered through a high involvement work practice are key in mitigating the intentions by the nurses to quit the profession due to heavy workload. Therefore, human resource management strategies should be aligned to offer such support since the aspects are within their control.

Another literature that addresses the issue of heavy workload is an article authored by MacPhee et al. (2017). This study explored the relationship between various workload factors and the nurse and patient outcomes. The researchers employed a cross-sectional correlational study of four hundred and seventy-two acute nurses working in Canada. Some of the workload factors explored include patient dependency and patient acuity, perceptions of heavy workloads, compromised standards and pending pieces of work, medication errors resulting from nurses’ actions, urinary tract infections, and patient falls.

The researchers noted that task-level interruptions and heavy workloads substantially impact the nurse and patient outcomes from the analysis. In addition, pending tasks were shown to mediate between the patient and nurse outcomes and heavy workloads and between the patient and nurse outcomes and interruptions (MacPhee et al., 2017). Besides, the researchers also noted that the compromised professional nursing standard mediates the correlation between nurse outcomes and heavy workloads and between nurse outcomes and interruptions. The researchers suggest that administrators need to collaborate with the nurses to foster the process of identifying work environment strategies to address the effects of workload.

Various organizations have employed different strategies to address the heavy workload. One of the strategies is that the organization focuses on planning, implementing, and evaluating staffing and workload practices at various levels, such as tactical, logistical, and strategic. Such a step helps in having staff that can facilitate the delivery of ethical, culturally sensitive, competent, and safe patient care (Muabbar & Alsharqi, 2021). The other use methods include using a strategic nursing staffing process by aligning the budget with the required staffing levels that meet the patient needs.

Summary of Strategies Used To Address the Organizational Impact of Heavy Workload

From the articles summarized, the researcher suggested various strategies that can be used in addressing the organization’s impact of high workload. One of the strategies is the use of a high involvement work practice to mitigate the impact. The other strategy is the use of collaboration between the administrators and the nursing staff to formulate strategies that can substantially address the problem within the context (MacPhee et al., 2017). These suggestions can also be effective in our organization as appropriate use of the strategies is likely to lead to the desired improvements. On the other hand, these strategies may impact our organization negatively. For example, aligning the budget to the staffing needs may mean that the funds will have to be taken off other important projects, impacting negatively on the organization.

Conclusion

High workload as a healthcare problem is a major problem that adversely impacts patients, nursing staff, and the hospitals. Therefore, efforts should be focused on lowering it down or addressing the adverse impacts. This write-up has therefore explored the high workload among the nurses. In addition, two research articles addressing the issue have also been explored, and the findings presented and discussed.

References

Holland, P., Tham, T. L., Sheehan, C., & Cooper, B. (2019). The impact of perceived workload on nurse satisfaction with work-life balance and intention to leave the occupation. Applied nursing research, 49, 70-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2019.06.001.

MacPhee, M., Dahinten, V. S., & Havaei, F. (2017). The impact of heavy perceived nurse workloads on patient and nurse outcomes. Administrative Sciences, 7(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci7010007.

Molero, M. D. M., Pérez-Fuentes, M. D. C., & Gázquez, J. J. (2018). Analysis of the mediating role of self-efficacy and self-esteem on the effect of workload on burnout’s influence on nurses’ plans to work longer. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 2605. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02605

Muabbar, H., & Alsharqi, O. (2021). The impact of short-term solutions of nursing shortage on nursing outcome, nurse perceived quality of care, and patient safety. American Journal of Nursing Research, 9(2), 35-44. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajnr-9-2-1

Sturm, H., Rieger, M. A., Martus, P., Ueding, E., Wagner, A., Holderried, M., … & WorkSafeMed Consortium. (2019). Do perceived working conditions and patient safety culture correlate with objective workload and patient outcomes? A cross-sectional explorative study from a German university hospital. PLoS One, 14(1), e0209487. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209487

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.000000000000043

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.

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.

Also Check Out: NURS 6053 Week 3 Assignment Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

     Hi Fatmata, great discussion post. I agree with your statement opioid crisis, and its consequences present a significant and ongoing public health burden to our nation. The opioid crisis is one of the most definite challenges we face in nursing, especially when dealing with patients with surgery. The ultimate purpose of a patient care provider is to improve the patient’s condition and assist them in reaching their health objectives. I had a situation at my work where a patient had back surgery who refused to get his Patient-controlled Analgesia (PCA) pump discontinued. I realized he wasn’t given proper education on the side effects and consequences of the extended usage of opioids. Finally, he understood, and we were able to discharge him in a timely manner. Nadeau et al. (2021) state that surgery has become a gateway to opioid addiction in the United States.     

Pain management clinics and prescriber guidelines have helped to reduce opioid drug overuse to some extent, but the drive for opioid use prevention and rehabilitation continues. It is horrifying to learn that Americans consume eighty percent of the nationwide opioid produced. One of the strategies used at my hospital is using natural alternatives (relaxation, listening to music, etc.) can aid the body in releasing its painkilling endorphins. But accordingly to Bakker et al. (2020), complementary and alternative therapy is routinely used for chronic musculoskeletal pain, but its effectiveness postoperatively has not been established.

References

Bakker, C. J., Wise, K. L., Williams, B. R., & Swiontkowski, M. F. (2020). Complementary and alternative medicine for postoperative pain. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 102(Suppl 1), 36–46. https://doi.org/10.2106/jbjs.19.01439Links to an external site.

Nadeau, S. E., Wu, J. K., & Lawhern, R. A. (2021). Opioids and chronic pain: An analytic review of the clinical evidence. Frontiers in Pain Research, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2021.721357Links to an external site.

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.

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ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.

Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.

One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.

I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.

In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.

Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).

Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).

Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.

I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.

As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.

It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

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

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