Nursing Shortage In LTC Facilities and the Applicable Nursing Theory

Nursing Shortage In LTC Facilities
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Introduction
An LTC facility is where medical assistance is provided to patients for a long period of time. Sometimes the long-term care is sometimes offered at home, and sometimes nurses serve the patient in specific facilities months after months. Most often, patients suffering from chronic diseases like cancer, HIV/AIDS, mental disorders (stress, depression, and anxiety) and others are kept under supervision for quite a long time. People with disabilities are also provided with health care or treatment facilities (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013, p. 10). However, due to the shortage of nurses, the overall LTC system is being greatly impacted. It is a common observation that the number of patients in any long-term care center is more than the total number of doctors and nurses required to serve them. The problem takes a serious form when the on-duty nurses are asked to deal with hundreds of patients at a time. They often complain about a lot of work and unreasonable salary packages. In this project, we will provide some solutions to the problems associated with the LTC facilities (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013).
Background
The subject of the shortage of nurses in the LTC facilities is critical to ensure patient care and safety. It is the responsibility of the management to hire a sufficient number of doctors, lab technicians and nurses to serve patients in a better way. For example, if there are a total of 2,000 patients in a single LTC facility, then a minimum of 200 nurses are required to provide them with timely treatment and medications. Their working hours can be divided into two to three sections depending on their availability, experience, and qualifications. A large number of cases of patient falls, sudden deaths, infectious diseases and heart attack are reported in the LTC facilities where there is a shortage of nurses. The existing ones are assigned a lot of tasks (Trossman, 2002). A study conducted by Russell C. Coile reveals that over 50 percent of nurses working in the LTC facilities are tired of their jobs. They claim that they are required to take care of numerous patients during their working hours and that insufficient staffing could cause serious problems for not only patients but also the LTC facilities. Even the expectations of the management with the intern nurses are high. They are asked to work in the emergency departments and a lot of pressure is put on them. It leads them to lose their interest in the job. The issue can be addressed if the state and federal governments take some steps and show more interest in the healthcare field (Coile, 2001).
Problem Statement
It’s safe to say that nurses are an integral part of the society and that immediate nursing staffing is the only solution to all the health-related problems at LTC centers. There is a strong need to hire as many nurses as possible to improve the quality of care. Nurses who do not perform their duties well should be replaced by the new staff, and no extra burden should be put on existing nurses, whether they are interns or experienced/senior ones (Trossman, 2002).
The Purpose of the Change Proposal
The aim is to immediately hire nurses to fulfill the requirements of ...