(American Nurses Association, 2015). In Mr. J’s scenario nursing sensitive indicators were ignored which lead to negative outcomes of family dissatisfaction. When proper education of use of restraints and increasing mobility are in place the patient will heal faster with less negative outcomes. In order to increase quality care for patients and increase patient and family satisfaction a hospital can gather information from each nursing unit for sensitive indicators that lead to patient outcomes. One area of concern is the ratio of RN’s per patient and also this a correlation between patient care and job satisfaction.
Policy Priority: Safe Staffing for Nurses Stephanie Minervini Chamberlain College of Nursing NR506: Health Care Policy July 2013 Introduction Inadequate staffing is becoming an increasing concern for not only nurses but the public as well. Research has found a strong connection between low nurse staffing and higher rates of patient complications. A study from the New England Journal of medicine determined that patient mortality was significantly related to nurse staffing levels. Staffing the right number of nurses with the right knowledge and skill base to meet the needs of patients is essential to achieving optimal nursing outcomes. Sources that can help us plan staffing models or determine appropriate nurse-to-patient ratios include standards defined by professional nursing organizations and regulatory agencies, and benchmarks from the American Nurses Association’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators.
This would be difficult without informing the parents. The patient’s parents must be informed because the patient is at an age where she in not capable of making her own medical decisions. The committee may have been called in to advise the nurse and physician involved as to what steps they should take to inform the parents. Patient confidentiality is vital to maintain patient trust. When a nurse breaches this trust patient outcomes can be jeopardized.
It’s important to observe mental status changes and functional status changes, this can determine how well the patient can take care of themselves and deal with their health promotion on their own. Altered cognition is not a normal part of aging and the nurse may need to pay close attention to the possibilities of the onset of dementia. Activities of daily living include everything we do during our normal day to properly take care of ourselves and as we get older these tasks may become more difficult. Nurses need to assess how well a patient can see or hear, vision and hearing loss can be quite debilitating to performing ADL’s and it’s the nurses job to make sure our patient is in a safe environment and that they have proper vision/hearing care with proper strength prescriptions for their glasses or hearing assessments. It is very important to remember that hearing and vision loss is normal with aging and that when we perform our assessments we should talk slowly and annunciate clearly so the patient can understand any direction or education that is given (GCU, 2012).
Sometimes in most cases a particular family member is trained by nurses to provide hands on care, and to supervise the patient around the clock. Many patients in hospice have been discharge to either home or nursing home if the disease goes into remission meaning if the cancer(s) somehow have subsides. Hospice was not designed to end hope for the patient or their family but to make the expected/unexpected death as comfortable and peaceful as possible. Hospice is not only for the elderly and cancer patients but it is for the young, the chronically ill. Hospice has a huge impact on our health care system the life expectancy is increasing tremendously. This is statement released by a group of physicians who did a research study on hospice.
RTT Task 1 Western Governors University A. Nursing Sensitive Indicators As the medical field becomes more-and-more complex, it is crucial that the nurse does not overlook the day-to-day needs of the individual patients. It is very important that the nurse as a professional does not become so bogged down with the medical aspect that one loses touch with the patient as a person. What may seem very minute to the nurse, can be of great significance to the patient. If the nurse is not sensitive to these minute needs, it can cause the patient to be unable to trust the medical team meeting the needs, and understanding the importance of more serious issues.
There are good nursing homes, and there are some elderly that need them. Another thing that the article mentions is how some senior citizens need regular monitoring due to their conditions that assisted living can not provide. The writer states that “those whose use of blood thinners involves regular testing to adjust the dosage. Assisted living doesn’t provide much health care, so residents risk becoming ‘frequent fliers’ — they’re going in and out of hospitals for conditions that could perhaps be treated in a nursing home.” The main purpose of assisted living is to reduce clients from going in and out of hospitals. If professionals that are involved in assisting the elderly cannot fulfill that need of providing health care, then the best thing for the senior citizens is to place them in a nursing home.
Ethics committees can be useful in this situation, because they can help explain the patient’s situation and provide possible answers to those hard questions. The nurse who neglected care towards the patients, in my opinion, should lose their job. Nurses who neglect care are putting their patients at danger. According to the Code of Nursing Ethics, “The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth” (ANA Code of Nursing Ethics). This nurse neglected the patient, therefore, neglected the responsibility in preserving the safety and integrity of the patient.
One point that I wish to advocate are that the elderly should be carefully watched so that they will take their medication correctly and on time. I chose this because some elderly people are stubborn and really don’t think that they need help. The other point I wish to advocate is that the elderly should be assisted at home for the care that they receive in the hospital. Most elderly people live their independence. Sometimes the hospital depresses them.
Programs that were in place for the care of people who cannot afford to pay are being considered for cuts and many people are uncertain how they will care for themselves when the time comes. Elderly suicide is real and prevalent and some consider this to be a viable option for not ‘burdening’ the system or their families. Identify two key health care-related challenges to this population, such as increases in health care costs, or the need for in-home medical care. “The need for in-home care that will keep people safe and healthy in their own homes is a growing necessity.” (Garrett, N., & Martini, E. 2007) In our society, we will continue to see a rise in the utilization of both of these programs. Many do not realize how cost effective it is to have services in their own home and are quickly moved into an assisted living community by their families without even considering other options.