NURS FPX 6008 Assessment 1 Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

Nurses provide exceptional healthcare in facilities, including the Villa Healthcare Center (VHC). Nursing practitioners lead healthcare services, offering diagnosis, treatment, counseling, and medication support. Hospitals face a shortage of Nurses because of their increasing responsibilities and workload.

Overburdened Nurses may experience burnout, which leads to medication and administration errors. VHC is facing a nursing shortage and an excessive allocation of responsibilities. VHH (a healthcare provider in Riverside, California) serves a diverse population of 317,261 with only 59 beds.

The Population includes whites 54%, African Americans 5.89%, Native Americans 0.84%, Asians and Hawaiians 0.30%, with a poverty rate of 16.6%. The Population has varied cultural and economic backgrounds, and despite this, approximately 49% of residents live in rented houses and rely on VHC for healthcare services.

Contributing Factors:

Nursing shortages impact both community healthcare as well as nurses’ well-being. Nurses experience burnout and frustration due to extreme patient care demands. A lot of nurses have to work excessive working hours with low income and frequent on-call shifts. Physicians also face difficulties in managing workload (Bauer, 2019).

These factors can lead to medication errors, undetected deaths, medical harm, stress & depression among nurses. These factors lead to workforce dissatisfaction, and they cause financial and loyalty issues for healthcare institutions.

Insufficient counseling and training hinder the prevention of any economic crisis, and poor patient-centered outcomes lead to inequitable treatment for a diverse population. 16.6% of Riverside County residents lack the necessary clinical care access at VHC (USCB, 2021).

Similarly, the nursing shortages result in low-quality care, causing financial burdens on elderly and retired individuals. Community collaboration is needed to improve the quality of healthcare and its accessibility.

NURS FPX 6008 Assessment 1 Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

The Rationale for Choosing the Issue

Nurse Shortages at VHC contribute to poor healthcare services. I was a part of a healthcare center and practiced as a mainline nurse. In VHC, I have observed dissatisfaction among patients, nurses and management. The main issue has a direct effect on the diverse Population, cost-effectiveness, supply and demand balance, and the return on investment in nursing care.

WHO report (2020) states that the global nurse shortage has reached a number of 5.9 million. As an ER nurse, I have worked beyond the required hours and faced frustration. Mismanagement led to the loss of patient trust, impacting the overall revenue. ER overcrowding has worsened due to frequent patient visits.

Many of the colleagues have to do excessive ER shifts, all this overwork leads to exhaustion. Even the salaries are very low. The staff has to attend to the patients even late at night, which causes a lack of sleep. I have also experienced an overdose case with my colleagues in the ER, creating some major health concerns.

Effects of the Healthcare Economic Issue

Economic issues have created some serious health concerns for healthcare centers. Nurse shortage impacts the overall workload, sleep patterns, and financial budgets of many people. Unable to rest, nurses face burnout, which causes errors in patient care. A lot of my colleagues have been overworked, which has led to medication errors, and they are unable to provide proper care to patients.

It can work for some patients, but…for a diverse population, it may affect the quality of healthcare. Healthcare disparities impact a lot of minorities, particularly African American & Asian communities. There are many limited rehabilitation centers due to the shortage of staff members. The ER capacity restrictions have also worsened the supply and demand issue in the hospitals.

NURS FPX 6008 Assessment 1 Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

Identifying Gaps to address the Issues

The analysis shows that the Nurse shortages lower healthcare quality and must be addressed. The hospital cost-cutting policies impact the overall nursing staff levels (Marc et al., 2018). To cover this, a lot of assistants are hired in place of nurses, which creates a clear gap in the quality control. By 2030, over 1 million nurses will be needed in the US to meet healthcare demands (Behiring 2021).

Conclusion

Nurse shortages have lead to less efficient healthcare services in America. WHO projected a total of 5.9 million global nurse shortage in 2020. This issue is that it causes strains on nurses, ultimately leading to burnout and frustration. If this issue persists, it will lead to challenges in managing a growing population. Addressing the nurse shortage is necessary to improve quality of life.

References

Bauer, U. E. (2019). Community health and economic prosperity: An initiative of the surgeon general’s office. Public Health Reports, 134(5), 472–476.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354919867727

Behring, S. (2021, August 11). What’s causing the American nursing shortage? Healthline.
https://www.healthline.com/health/nursing-shortage

Dewanto, A., & Wardhani, V. (2018). Nurse turnover and perceived causes and consequences: A preliminary study at private hospitals. BMC Nursing, 17(S2).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-018-0317-8

Marc, M., Bartosiewicz, A., Burzyńska, J., Chmiel, Z., & Januszewicz, P. (2018). A nursing shortage – a prospect of global and local policies. International Nursing Review, 66(1), 9–16.
https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12473

USCB. (2021). U.S. census bureau quick facts: Riverside city, California. Census.
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/riversidecitycalifornia

VHC. (n.d.). Villa health care center. Villa Health Care. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from
https://villahealthcare.com/

WHO. (2020, April 7). WHO and partners call for urgent investment in nurses. World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/news/item/07-04-2020-who-and-partners-call-for-urgent-investment-in-nurses

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