Post 2: Prudence After Working As A Nurse For Several Years

Post 2 Prudenciaafter Working As A Nurse For Several Years And Pract

Post 2 Prudencia after working as a nurse for several years and practicing as a mental health nurse practitioner during clinical, I believe staffing is one safety issue in my unit. The majority of hospitals face staffing issues that can be detrimental to their patient's safety (Mensik & Sigma, 2017). A good example is working with geriatric psychiatric patients whose safety concerns are falls (Mensik & Sigma, 2017). In a unit of 20 beds with high fall risk patients with mental health issues as common as confusion needing constant redirection, the hospital will sometimes schedule two nurses and one safety attendant. Some of these patients are agitated and are prone to violence when trying to redirect them.

This situation puts both the staff and patients at risk of potential injury. Without proper staffing, these patients have a high risk of falling, leading to other health problems such as physical injury. Poor staffing can also lead to work stress and dissatisfaction in nurses (Senek et al., 2020). I have seen nurses quit their jobs because of staffing issues. Nurses get burnt out during this period, which is also detrimental to the care they administer to their patients.

With low staffing, most nurses fail to follow hospital guidelines while providing care, leading to medical errors. This issue can be resolved by ensuring that nurses take part in staffing their units. Patient census and acuity should also be considered when staffing for any unit (Clarke & Donaldson, 2018). More nurses should be considered when we have an increased number in patients who are confused and are at a high risk of falling. Staffing issues can also be resolved by hiring more nurses, safety attendance, and clarifying job descriptions and expectations during interviewing and every quarter while at work (Clarke & Donaldson, 2018).

Paper For Above instruction

Staffing adequacy is a critical component of patient safety, especially in units caring for vulnerable populations such as geriatric psychiatric patients. The complex needs of these patients, coupled with high fall risk and behavioral issues, necessitate appropriate staffing levels to ensure safety and high-quality care. Inadequate staffing can lead to increased rates of falls, injuries, medication errors, and staff burnout, all of which compromise patient safety and organizational effectiveness. Therefore, a comprehensive approach to staffing—grounded in evidence-based practices and active staff participation—is essential to mitigate these risks.

One of the primary safety concerns in units managing geriatric psychiatric patients involves falls. Older adults with mental health conditions often experience confusion, disorientation, and agitation, making them more susceptible to falls and related injuries (Nunan et al., 2018). Despite universal precautions like nonskid footwear, clear pathways, and alarms, fall rates remain high, partly because these measures do not account for individual patient risk profiles. Evidence underscores the importance of individualized fall risk assessments upon admission to tailor interventions more effectively (Vlaeyen et al., 2017).

Implementing structured fall risk assessments such as the Morse Fall Scale, STRATIFY, or Schmid Fall Risk Assessment can provide crucial data to inform care plans. These tools evaluate various factors, including mental status, mobility, medication use, and environmental hazards, to categorize patients based on their fall risk levels (Lucero et al., 2019). This stratification allows care teams to allocate resources—such as increasing staff, employing safety attendants, or modifying the environment—more efficiently and effectively.

In addition to assessment tools, fostering staff participation in staffing decisions enhances safety. Engaging nurses in workforce planning ensures that staffing levels are aligned with patient acuity and census, contributing to better patient outcomes (Clarke & Donaldson, 2018). For example, higher acuity patients—those with cognitive impairments or multiple co-morbidities—require more intensive supervision and specific interventions, such as hourly rounding or dedicated safety attendants. Nursing leadership should regularly review staffing models and adjust them based on data-driven insights and patient needs.

Moreover, hiring additional nursing staff and safety attendants reduces workload pressures on nurses, decreasing fatigue and burnout, which are significant contributors to medical errors and compromised patient safety (Senek et al., 2020). Clear job descriptions and expectations also facilitate accountability and consistency in care delivery. Institutions should implement policies that promote ongoing staff education in fall prevention and patient-centered care models, fostering a culture of safety.

Beyond staffing, organizational policies must promote integrated fall prevention strategies that go beyond universal precautions. For instance, environmental modifications, such as adequate lighting and the use of bed alarms, combined with individualized risk assessments, create a safer environment. Policies should support continuous quality improvement processes, utilizing data from incident reports to refine fall prevention initiatives continually (Nunan et al., 2018).

In conclusion, ensuring appropriate staffing levels guided by comprehensive risk assessments and active staff engagement is vital for mitigating safety issues such as falls among geriatric psychiatric patients. These measures foster safe, patient-centered care and improve staff satisfaction. Health care organizations must prioritize evidence-based staffing strategies and foster a culture of safety to effectively address these complex safety challenges.

References

• Clarke, S., & Donaldson, N. E. (2018). Nurse Staffing and Patient Care Quality and Safety. In R. G. Hughes (Ed.), Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
• Lucero, R. J., Lindberg, D. S., Fehlberg, E. A., Bjarnadottir, R. I., Li, Y., Cimiotti, J. P., & Prosperi, M. (2019). A data-driven and practice-based approach to identify risk factors associated with hospital-acquired falls: Applying manual and semi-and fully-automated methods. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 122, 63–69.
• Mensik, J., & Sigma. (2017). The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Innovative Staffing (2nd ed.). Sigma Theta Tau International.
• Nunan, S., Wilson, C. B., Henwood, T., & Parker, D. (2018). Fall risk assessment tools for use among older adults in long-term care settings: A systematic review. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 37(1), 23–33.
• Senek, M., Robertson, S., Ryan, T., King, R., Wood, E., Taylor, B., & Tod, A. (2020). Determinants of nurse job dissatisfaction - findings from a cross-sectional survey analysis in the UK. BMC Nursing, 19(1), 1–10.
• Vlaeyen, E., Stas, J., Leysens, G., Van der Elst, E., Janssens, E., Dejaeger, E., & Milisen, K. (2017). Implementation of fall prevention in residential care facilities: A systematic review of barriers and facilitators. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 70, 1–10.