Nurse Understaffing in Large-scale Organizations Focusing on Caregiving Service Theory

Application of System Theory in Nursing Shortage
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Application of System Theory in Nursing Shortage
Quality health care requires an adequate number of nursing staff. Despite this, the issue of inadequate nurse staffing challenges many health centers. Resultantly, various activities carried out by this group of health care providers are adversely affected. Fundamentally, the quality of care offered is degraded (Martin, 2015). The issue of inadequate staffing also compromises patient safety. Efforts to curb this by trying to compensate for the high nurse-patient ratio results in occupational burnout, and work dissatisfaction. Consequently, many nurses have opted to leave the profession. Scholars suggest that very few strategies have been implemented focusing on improving the system, although most organizations have insights on the problem of poor quality of care due to understaffing. Mayer and O’Brien-Pallas (2010) review of the nursing service delivery theory suggests that input, throughput, cycles of an event and negative feedback relate to impact how nursing responsibilities are delegated. This paper aims to review the aspect of nurse understaffing in large-scale organizations, focusing on the caregiving service delivery theory by utilizing the open system theory and establish objectives applicable to achieve the preferred result.
Affected Department in The Organization
Large-scale organizations are made up of different departments that are segregated to perform various duties. In this article, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) will be addressed to analyze the impact of nurse understaffing and come up with objectives that are adequate in the sector, according to the open system theory (Meyer & O’Brien-Pallas, 2010). The ICU is a production subsystem of the larger organization. In this context, the Nursing Service Delivery Theory (NSDT) provides the theoretical insights about the organization, shows the role of the nurses in the organization, and unites the structures of the organization for the care giving profession. The NSDT is based on the open system theory that a healthcare provider is made up of a powerful input-output system. Reviews show that the NSDT production system entails input, throughput, output, the cycle of events, and negative feedback. The inputs include the patients, staff, equipment, and financial sources, while the output is comprised of the care giving services as a responsibility of the nurses, and material and resource control (Draper, Fell, Liebhaber, & Melichar, 2008). The inputs result in outputs that are evident in the organization such as the patient volumes, the staff loyalty, and the sustainability of financial resources and maintaining a reputation. The system cycle of events embodies the achievement and preservation of the accreditation and returns. The negative feedback is exhibited in the aspects that indicate the quality of services. The results of understaffing or overstaffing of nurses present challenges in how treatment is offered and subsequently, influence the patient outcomes and the patient satisfaction. Consequently, these factors are significant in the organizational performance.
Goals and Objectives to Drive at The Outcome