Part 2

Running Head: FIXING NURSING SHORTAGE 1

Fixing Nursing Shortage

Monique Cleckley

Traci Wilmoth

English 315-Professional Communications
January 23, 2017

Transmittal Letter

Fixing nursing shortage requires the establishment of satellite nursing colleges in hospitals. The method has high-cost effectiveness because it would attractive the participation of federal government and partners in the private sector. While the use of technology has a high-efficiency rate, the method attracts high costs and complicated process of integration.

Executive Summary 4

Problem Statement 5

Terminology 5

Overview of alternatives 5

Criteria 5

Cost effectiveness 5

Efficiency 5

Quality of care 5

Durability 5

Ease of integration 6

Research Methods 6

Evaluation of Alternatives 6

Cost Effectiveness 6

Efficiency 6

Quality of Care 6

Durability 7

Ease of Integration 7

Findings and Analysis 7

Recommendations 8

References 8

The nursing shortage is the prevailing problem in Carolinas Health Systems. The research utilized a qualitative approach to evaluate the existing alternatives to curb the shortage of nursing staff in the organization. The researcher utilized five criterions namely, cost effectiveness, durability, ease of integration, efficiency, and quality of care. The evaluation utilized the criteria to judge two alternatives by way of primary and secondary resources. The investigation proposed the establishment of satellite nursing colleges in hospitals and using technology. The report concludes that establishing satellite-nursing colleges would mitigate shortage in terms of cost, efficacy, ease of integration and durability. The report recommends further research on the sustainability of satellite nursing colleges for non-profit health institutions.

Fixing the Nursing Shortage

An institution offering medical care should have enough nursing staffs. The number of staff working in each department should complement the demand for quality care needed by the various demographics. Incidences of staff shortage require immediate management action. An established institution should have a number of alternatives.

Carolinas Healthcare Systems has an alarming shortage of nurses in primary and specialty care. The staffing gap in the institution has elicited fears and uncertainties among patients and physicians. The problem reflects the overall national nursing shortage. The nurses have to work longer hours than scheduled, which leads to exhaustion. Research would help find alternatives to solve the nursing shortage. The investigation would help the reader implement long-term strategies to ensure consistent nursing care. The report offers multi-faceted solutions that take into account the capacity of the institution in implementing the solution.

Specialty Nurses-Nurses who specialize in certain area of care delivery, for example, emergency nurses and oncology nurses

Research showed the need for the establishment of satellite colleges for nursing to curb the concern. The colleges would require the institutions to collaborate with the university to boost nursing capacity and meet the demand for quality care. In addition, the investigation suggested the use of technology to overcome the nursing shortage. Technology has become the driver of innovation and efficiency within the healthcare system.

The research used the following criteria for judging the alternatives:

The cost of implementing the solution should inform the planning and the management of the nursing shortage in future.

Efficiency underlines the capacity of the solution in ensuring smooth workflows in the institution.

The ability of each alternative to maintaining and boosting quality healthcare informed the investigation.

The short-term or long-term effect for each alternative in shaping the healthcare outcomes helped in the judgment

The evaluation considered the ease of implementing the solutions within the existing nursing service framework.

The investigation used a qualitative method to analyze primary and secondary sources that relate to the proposed alternatives. The researcher determined the relevance of each source guided by the data and scope of information relating to the solution under scrutiny. Each source affirmed the feasibility of the alternatives in solving the existing nursing shortage.

Setting up satellite colleges

Carryer, Gardner, Dunn, and Gardner (2007) argue that setting up nursing units would require the participation, which can reduce costs. Cost efficacy would require relevant institutions to contribute to the budget. According to Casey (2007), partnership in non-profit clinical service would offset the costs of setting up colleges.

Using technology

Lucas (2008) identified information technology in nursing as the future of healthcare delivery but noted that the setting up systems would involve high costs. While and Dewsbury (2011) affirmed the need to incorporate ICT in care systems. However, the costs of installing relevant systems would be high.

Establishing satellite colleges

Yun, Jie, and Anli (2010) found that nursing schools are efficient in reducing staff turnover. Findings by Bae, Mark, and Fried (2010) showed high retention capacities by hospitals when they establish an additional educational facility for nurses.

Using technology

According to While and Dewsbury (2011), ICT-based care systems have a high-efficiency rate despite being expensive in terms of procurement and installation. Similarly, Price and Kricka (2007) found that using technology would ensure easy accessibility and reduce the demand for a high number of nurses.

Establishing Satellite Colleges

According to Bae, Mark, and Fried (2010), additional nursing educational centers boosted outcomes and met the demand of the nurses within the hospitals. You et al. (2013) found that comprehensive resources in hospital nursing centers would bridge the nursing shortages in China and Europe.

Use of technology

Price and Kricka (2007) found that technology in the home and institutional care environment would provide a point of care service. The service requires the input of specialized nurses. Kelley, Brandon, and Docherty (2011) argue that electronic systems can replace the manual care procedures overseen by nurses in various departments.

Establishing satellite colleges

Findings by You et al. (2013) showed hospital nursing units as long-term measures for high staff turnover. Leung, Lee, Tai, Liang, and Lin (2011) showed that broadening nursing practice would curb shortage by increasing exposure to potential and junior nurses.

Using technology

Research by Lucas (2008) showed the need to implement ICT because innovation in the healthcare system has a long-term effect on staffing and delivery of care. Lucero, Lake, and Aiken (2010) reported a reduction in adverse events in U.S hospitals that used technology. The long-term effect was high because technology reduced the number of nurses who can make clinical errors.

Establishing satellite colleges

According to Leung, Lee, Tai, Liang, and Lin (2011) broadening educational programs for nurses was easy because nurses would use existing resources. Aiken et al. (2014) found out easiness in the implementation of nursing educational centers to curb staffing gaps in Europe.

Using technology

Carryer, Gardner, Dunn, and Gardner (2007) contended that integrating technology to curb shortage would increase complications. Ammenwerth, Rauchegger, Ehlers, Hirsch, & Schaubmayr (2011) noted complicated procedures of implementing healthcare systems including using a specialized non-nursing staff.

The analysis shows that setting up satellite nursing colleges would have an all-encompassing effect on the shortage of nurses. Using technology is costly due to the need to employ additional non-nursing staffs and integrating it within the existing systems in the hospital. The following table summarizes the feasibility of establishing satellite-nursing colleges versus the using technology to curb nursing shortage:

Table 1: Feasibility of alternatives in curbing shortages

Table 1 shows that satellite nursing colleges would solve the nursing shortage in the institution. Using technology can provide efficiency and boost the quality of care, but an institution should not be dealing with high costs and complicated integration procedures amidst demand for delivery of care during emergencies.

Setting up satellite nursing colleges is easier than installing relevant technology within the nursing department. The colleges would ensure that the hospital has resources to train extra nursing staff. Further research would be necessary to determine the viability and sustainability of establishing nursing colleges for non-profit institutions.

Aiken, L., Sloane, D., Bruyneel, L., Van den Heede, K., Griffiths, P., & Busse, R. et al. (2014). Nurse staffing and education and hospital mortality in nine European countries: a retrospective observational study. The Lancet, 383(9931), 1824-1830. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736 (13)62631-8

Ammenwerth, E., Rauchegger, F., Ehlers, F., Hirsch, B., & Schaumberg, C. (2011). Effect of a nursing information system on the quality of information processing in nursing: An evaluation study using the HIS-monitor instrument. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 80(1), 25-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2010.10.010

Bae, S., Mark, B., & Fried, B. (2010). Impact of Nursing Unit Turnover on Patient Outcomes in Hospitals. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 42(1), 40-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2009.01319.x

Carryer, J., Gardner, G., Dunn, S., & Gardner, A. (2007). The core role of the nurse practitioner: practice, professionalism and clinical leadership. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16(10), 1818-1825. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2007.01823.x

Casey, M. (2007). Partnership – success factors of inter-organizational relationships. Journal of Nursing Management, 16(1), 72-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2934.2007.00771.x

Kelley, T., Brandon, D., & Docherty, S. (2011). Electronic Nursing Documentation as a Strategy to Improve Quality of Patient Care. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 43(2), 154-162. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2011.01397.x

Leung, T., Lee, C., Tai, C., Liang, Y., & Lin, C. (2011). A Retrospective Study on the Long-term Placement of Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters and the Importance of Nursing Care and Education. Cancer Nursing, 34(1), E25-E30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/ncc.0b013e3181f1ad6f

Lucas, H. (2008). Information and communications technology for future health systems in developing countries. Social Science & Medicine, 66(10), 2122-2132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.01.033

Lucero, R., Lake, E., & Aiken, L. (2010). Nursing care quality and adverse events in US hospitals. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(15-16), 2185-2195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03250.x

Price, C. & Kricka, L. (2007). Improving Healthcare Accessibility through Point-of-Care Technologies. Clinical Chemistry, 53(9), 1665-1675. http://dx.doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2006.084707

While, A. & Dewsbury, G. (2011). Nursing and information and communication technology (ICT): A discussion of trends and future directions. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 48(10), 1302-1310. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2011.02.020

You, L., Aiken, L., Sloane, D., Liu, K., He, G., & Hu, Y. et al. (2013). Hospital nursing, care quality, and patient satisfaction: Cross-sectional surveys of nurses and patients in hospitals in China and Europe. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 50(2), 154-161. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.05.003

Yun, H., Jie, S., & Anli, J. (2010). Nursing shortage in China: State, causes, and strategy. Nursing Outlook, 58(3), 122-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2009.12.002