Developing an Implementation Plan: Nurse Shortage

Nurse Shortage
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Nurse Shortage
The nursing profession in America has been experiencing a number of challenges, all of which have impacted the quality delivery mechanisms. Even with the recent developments in health care delivery and patient’s insurance, there have been challenges (The American Nurses Association, 2016). One of the main challenges is the nurses’ shortage in the country. This is shortcoming that has had massive impacts on care delivery, as the hospitals try to keep up with the services demand, government policies and a never ending secondary challenges associated with the same (Erickson, 2001). Due to the fact that, there is a shortage in nurses, this means that the few that are in rotation, are overworked (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2016). This further brings up the issue of fatigue and burnouts. By extension, where nurses feel that they are overworked, they quit their profession or change hospitals, in search of better working conditions. This means that the hospitals, despite the fact that they are struggling with hiring more nurses, they also have the challenge of retaining the ones that they have. What is more interesting to note is that, the demand for nurses is constantly growing (The American Nurses Association, 2016). This implicates the health care delivery negatively and increases the risks of diseases and health complications in the society.
Obtaining approval
To obtain approval for the project this will involve a number of departments. One of the main departments that will have to be consulted is the research and development. This is relative to the evaluation of the research proposal and implications of the same on the organization. The research and development department is also responsible for the resources and the evaluation aspects of the research, to ensure that it achieves the desired goals. It is also crucial to note that this is the department that organizes and implements the various research protocols, as such the research will be done under the guidance of the department officials. The other departments that will be consulted to give their approval on the research include the finance department for the funding of the research, the human resources development department, relative to the interviews that will be conducted and the implications of the same (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2016). The human resources department is one that has been experiencing much of the pressure, due to the low employment rate, the high turnover rate, escalating burnout rates, policies developments and the ever increasing gap between the work that needs to be accomplished and the human resources to work with.
Problem identification
Patient safety and quality of care are constantly being compromised by the fact that there not enough nurses to handle the work load. Most of the nurses on rotation are highly overwhelmed, dissatisfied ad distressed. This is relative to the high ratios that exist between the nurses available and the patients that need care. Due to the fact that there are fewer nurses than the number of patients that need care, most of the nurses end up being frustrated. What&aci...