Description of Root Cause Analysis
Providing secure and efficient patient care is the responsibility of healthcare institutions. Healthcare companies may, however, run into concerns or problems that have the potential to compromise patient safety, just like any sophisticated system. In such cases, it is essential to pinpoint the underlying reasons for the issue to create workable remedies to prevent the similar problems from happening again.
Root Cause Analysis (RCA) determines the underlying causes of problems in medical facilities. RCA is a methodical strategy that entails figuring out the underlying issues causing unfavorable outcomes and avoiding the mistake of concentrating just on specific errors. Therefore, this essay will analyze a current issue affecting a nursing unit, select stakeholders, and conduct interviews with them to ascertain the problem’s underlying reasons. In addition, a root cause analysis graph showing the causes of nurse turnover will be provided.
Identifying a Current Problem at a Nursing Unit
The current issue occurring in nursing units is the high turnover rates. Nurse turnover happens whenever a nurse decides to quit an organization for whatever reason, usually due to retirement, a change in profession, or a desire to seek employment with a different company. In medical institutions, a big issue is high nurse turnover rates (McDermid, Mannix, & Peters, 2019). Increased workloads for residual nurses, a decline in the standard of care, and higher expenditures for healthcare facilities can all result from nurse turnover. It has been demonstrated that a company’s reputation and financial health suffer when there is a rise in nurse turnover.
From an operational perspective, further expenses must be considered between handling nursing turnover and providing excellent patient care, alongside the actual expenses linked to substituting a nurse (McDermid, Mannix, & Peters, 2019). High nurse turnover rates are a challenge that the Medical Centre and the patients it represents must deal with. Poor working conditions, insufficient staffing, low compensation, and an absence of career progression possibilities are just a few of the causes of high nurse turnover.
Stakeholders’ View on the Root Causes of the Problem
Two stakeholders will be interviewed, directly influencing a healthcare setting’s nurse turnover rates. The medical centre’s nurse manager, who is in charge of hiring and retaining nurses, is the first stakeholder. The second stakeholder is a registered nurse who recently departed the hospital for a different career opportunity.
The following fundamental causes of high nurse turnover rates were discovered through interviews involving the nurse manager and the registered nurse who left the healthcare facility. Poor working circumstances are one crucial factor that a registered nurse has discovered. High workloads, lengthy workdays, and a lack of supplies and resources are a few examples of poor working conditions. Insufficient staffing, which can result in higher job stress, lower job satisfaction, and poor quality of care, was another root cause that the nurse manager and the registered nurse mentioned.
The registered nurse also points to the dearth of career progression options as a significant factor in the high nurse turnover rates. If nurses believe there are no career advancement prospects, they may leave the healthcare sector. For healthcare companies looking to address the problem of high nurse turnover rates and enhance the retention of competent and knowledgeable nursing staff, these core reasons offer valuable insights.
Root Cause Analysis: A Fishbone Diagram
An illustration of a fishbone is used to determine the potential reasons for high nurse turnover rates. The fishbone diagram is a visual tool to locate every possible root cause of an issue, in this case, for high nurse turnover, as indicated in the fishbone diagram below. Each of the diagram’s branches, separated into different sections, represents a potential reason why nurse turnover rates are so high.
References
McDermid, F., Mannix, J., & Peters, K. (2019). Factors contributing to high turnover rates of emergency nurses: A review of the literature. Australian Critical Care, 33(4), 1–7. Web.
Stafford, T. (2022). Developing an effective root cause analysis in healthcare. Web.