The Organization Background
Florida hospital has faced the problem of low staff-patient ratio for several decades now. There has been a shortage of qualified medical health workers especially nurses. Nurses under this hospital have also been working under poor standards. The problem of low staff-patient ratio in this hospital started a few years ago after many nurses left the profession to other fields.
The high rate of turnover by nurses was attributed to the prevailing poor working conditions. According to Smith (2012), turnover for nurses rapidly accelerated starting from 2011 when Florida had a nursing shortage of 11,000 nurses by the end of the year. To a certain extent, it was also attributed to overworking, job stress, and burnout. Employee burnout resulted from the low staff-patient ratio.
This case has been evidenced by the report that was produced by Florida Centre for Nursing. According to this report, there has been an accelerated turnover for nurses from 2011 (Smith, 2012). It is also clear that the region of Florida where the hospital is located has a shortage of 6,750 nurses. Nurses could not withstand the bad working conditions that were provided by their employer: the government.
In fact, majority of them left the field of nursing for good and entered into other careers. Temple, Dobbs, and Andel (2009) confirm that it was due to poor working conditions in the hospital that most of the nurses decided to leave the nursing profession for other jobs. It is therefore worth noting that the working environment in most of the hospitals within Florida is wanting.
Key Policy Events (Regulatory and Legislative)
There were legislations that preceded this issue. For example, the HB795 bill that was aimed at coming up with an act referred to as Florida Hospital Protection Act was shot down at the subcommittee stage.
The Health and Human Service Quality subcommittee voted against the bill on March 9 2012. No proposals from this bill were accomplished. This bill was reintroduced again in the Senate on January 2012. These events preceded this issue.
Financial Data
The high rate of turnover of nurses from Florida hospital has resulted to severe financial complications. In fact, this situation may grow worse as years go by if the situation is not arrested. The hospital is forced to hire private practitioners and nursing students who are either overly expensive or who offer substandard services, which end up costing the hospital even more money.
The cost making out for the damage that student nurses may make in the process of treatment is dire. In fact, this concern raises the cost of medical care to even higher heights. Compared to the cost of provision of better working conditions, hiring private nurses or using armature nurses is far much expensive.
For example, if the projection by La Mendola (2012) that south Florida had a 6,750-nurse shortage is anything to go by, compensating this gap may have dire financial implications on both patients and the hospital. The number of patients visiting the hospital facility continues to rise by day as the number of nurses continues to decrease due to the high turnover.
Largely, many people also prefer accessing health services elsewhere especially in the private hospitals. This case makes the cost of healthcare in Florida become even more expensive to citizens.
The government is also likely to spend more on health care with the current trends in nurses’ turnover because patients will shift their attention from public hospitals, which are equipped with various modern and high quality facilities for the private hospitals, which may not be well equipped for treatment of some illnesses.
Main Stakeholders
The main stakeholders of the health sector in Florida are the Senate, Florida house of representative, and the federal government. All these stakeholders influence the way health sector is managed. Largely, the success of health facilities such as the Florida hospital depends on the success and proper coordination of these institutions.
The Florida Senate influences the health sector in that the senate is given the power to allocate national funds to different projects in the state (The Florida Senate, 2012). It is worth noting that there cannot be proper staffing in the hospitals without enough funds. Nurses require remuneration for them to sustain their lives and that of their families.
It is also important that the hospital staff members be paid dignified salaries so that they can also live a comfortable life such as other professionals do. The senate can therefore make alterations on to how much funds it will allocate to the health sector within the state.
If the majority of the senators in Florida are not for the improvement of the health conditions and/or increase of the nurses, the problem of understaffing and poor working conditions will be hard to eliminate. On the other hand, the senate can make decisions that can completely alter health conditions in Florida. This goal can only be achieved through proper understanding of the health conditions on the ground.
The officers in the senate need to be informed and updated on the prevailing health conditions in the state. With proper information, senators may not shoot down bills that are presented in the house to regulate and to improve the hospital conditions in Florida. Senators can therefore pass bills to allocate funds to the health sector.
With such funds, the hospitals will be able to hire qualified nurses hence reducing the workload that may have prompted the resignation of the previous nurses. This strategy will also attract more experienced hospital staff. With enough funds, the health sector can also improve the working conditions of nurses and other hospital staff. The hospital will have funds to pay for its wage bill for both casual and permanent employees.
Various areas and departments that may have been neglected will also be reenergized. The hospital will also acquire modern health facilities and equipments to enable the staff people do their work efficiently and effectively without straining. The working environment shall also be made better when funds are available.
Cleaners and other support staff will be well paid. Hence, they will work well to keep the hospital clean. The senate has powers to influence the condition of the health sector through its mandate to regulate the state’s funds.
The House of Representatives also has powers to influence the conditions of health facilities such as the Florida hospital. Members are charged with an oversight responsibility. It is the role of every member of the house of representatives to see to it that all health facilities in his area of jurisdiction are well managed and maintained. Members can therefore pass legislations to regulate the management of hospitals in the federation.
The house of representatives has its main mandate in making and amending laws. They can regulate the qualification and skills that a hospital manager should possess. The house of representative can also set the standards under which the country‘s health facilities must operate.
For example, it can pass bills on the minimum wages for nurses and other hospital staff, it can pass legislation on the cleanliness of health facilities, the equipments that health facilities should have, and other factors that affect the conditions of the hospitals.
It is also possible for the House of Representatives to prevail over the federal government to allocate funds for employment of more nurses and for the allocation of more funds to the hospitals in order to improve the working conditions of the hospital’s staff. In addition, the House of Representatives can also pass legislation on licensing of various health facilities.
Such issuance of licenses can be regulated by the capacity and facilities that the hospital has in store. The legislation can also mandate the invocation of operation licenses from hospitals that do not meet the minimum standards for the provision of quality health care services. It worth noting that the first bill on increasing the number of hospital staff in Florida died in the committee state of the House of Representatives.
This case is an indication of how powerful the house can be in controlling the working of hospitals in Florida and other states. If more members of the house were for the staffing, it could have passed in the committee stage.
Members of the House of Representatives are also close to people and to the facilities than the senate and the federal government because the representatives are in charge of a smaller geographical region compared to the senators and the executive. This fact gives them an upper hand in obtaining information that is more authentic from citizens.
For example, the representative of Florida can access more information about the conditions of health facilities and staff from the citizenry. With more information, the representative understands the problems that nurses and other hospital staff face. The federal government will also be affected by the idea of improving the working condition and the increase of staff members in Florida hospital.
The national government will authorize legislation that is passed by the parliament and the senate concerning the two issues. The president of the federation may refuse to assent to the bills hence limiting the amount of funds and the number of staff to be employed.
Social, Economic, Ethical, Legal, and Political Factors
Various factors may influence the process of implementing key decisions concerning hospital staff and improvement of working conditions. The factors may be demographic, economic, ethical, legal, and political in nature. These factors are also likely to influence how various stakeholders in the health services industry make their decisions.
Social factors that may influence the wellbeing of hospital staff and the facilities therein may include the beliefs of the people around the facilities. For example, if the community around the hospital believes that family planning is wrong, the health facility may be required to have a long struggle in educating masses about contraceptives and the need to have manageable families.
The hospital also needs to prepare well in advance in the acquisition of more maternity, prenatal, and anti-natal facilities. Various stakeholders such as the senate and members of the House of Representatives will be affected by such social factors.
For example, just as the Obama care health bill, senators will be required to allocate more health finds and specifically to the maternity facilities and children department in hospitals (Bailey, 2008). Members of the House of Representatives will also be required to enact laws that enable civic education to the community on family planning.
The house can also enact legislations that will regulate the number of children that families are supposed to raise and the conditions necessary for this deliverable. The legislations may also include inceptives for those with smaller families.
Demographic factors such as age and sex are also likely to influence the implementation of the working conditions and staffing of hospital facilities in Florida. If there is increased number of children that require medical treatment in the hospital, it will imply that more pediatrics nurses be employed. The hospital will also require more facilities that are required for treatment of children.
The composition of the population will influence the senate and the house of representative through legislation that it will make and the allocation of funds. Sex will also influence staffing patterns and conditions of the hospitals. If the population around Florida comprises more women than men, the hospital will require more facilities for women. There will be a need to employ more nurses that are qualified birth attendants.
The legislators will also be required to regulate maternity fees to enable more women to access services in hospitals. Ethical issues such as provision of a clean environment for all patients will also necessitate stakeholders to provide the required facilities and staff. It is also worth to note that decisions in both the House of Representatives and the senate are likely to be politically influenced.
A health bill may be important to this cause. However, if a minor political party sponsors it, the opposition may shoot it down in a bid to pin its opinions down as it was witnessed in the Obama era and Obama care (Bailey 2008).
Policy Intervention Options
Various policy intervention measures have been proposed, for example, increment of the number of registered nurses with an increase in patients in hospitals, allowing independent staffing plans for each hospital, and increasing the ratio of staff to patients.
These proposals are likely to improve the working conditions of employees in hospitals besides increasing the number of nurses who are the majority workers in health facilities. The alternative to these proposals will be for the House of Representatives to enact legislations to allow employment of more nurses and hospital staff in every hospital.
The senate can also allocate funds for employment of staff and improvement of working conditions to the health sector. These will be the most effective methods since they are the major stakeholders in the welfare of the health facilities.
Proposed Recommendation
Based on the issues discussed above, this report recommends that the House of Representatives in Florida should reconsider adopting and passing the health bill. The government of Florida should also move fast to raise the number of nurses operating in hospitals as the number of patients increase.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the prevailing working conditions in Florida are wanting. The ratio of nurses to that of patients is also wanting. Moreover, the working conditions in Florida hospitals are not conducive for employees and patients. This report recommends that the senate, the representatives, and the federal government enact legislations to improve staffing patterns and working conditions in this hospital.
Reference List
Bailey, L. (2008). Obama and McCain On Health Care Reform. Business & Economic Review, 55(1), 24-29.
La Mendola, B. (2012). South Florida will need 6,750 more nurses this year. Web.
Smith, B. (2012). Florida is facing another nursing shortage. Web.
Temple, A., Dobbs, D., & Andel, R. (2009). Exploring correlates of turnover among nursing assistances in the National Nursing Home survey. Health Care management Review, 34(2), 182-90.
The Florida Senate. (2012). HB 795: Health Care. Web.