In every organizational setup, there is often a requirement to balance the organization’s needs and the customers’ needs. As a result, the employees usually act as an intermediary between the two entities. The functionality of the workers is likely to be compromised as the institutions strive to strike a balance. Healthcare systems are the main affected establishments, and critical nurses usually face ethical dilemmas when performing their duties. Currently, the US healthcare system is faced with numerous medical errors attributed to the long working hours that institutions have initiated.
Due to the high demand for nurses in the US, several clinics have prolonged the nurses’ shifts to retain them in their organizations. However, according to Kelly and Porr (2018), nurses often experience frustrations; hence they are prone to making medical errors.
This, therefore, implies that they compromise the health of their patients in an attempt to meet the needs of the employer. Also, Milliken (2018) illustrates that patients are crucial stakeholders in the healthcare system. Without them, the hospitals would not exist, and the nurses will never be hired. Therefore, the patients’ interest should always come fast when it comes to the provision of services. Besides, a hospital loses its reputation when associated with numerous medical errors that can jeopardize a patient’s health. However, if the clinic provides quality healthcare services due to minimal medical errors, it will attract many patients, leading to its success.
The need for an increased workforce will, therefore, impact the development of a policy. In most cases, institutions are regularly concerned about themselves than other stakeholders. The policy will, therefore, protect all the entities that are affected by the workforce. In most cases, policies are meant to improve the clients’ service quality and protect the employees and healthcare facilities from unfavourable working conditions. For instance, the need for a workforce can impact the regulation by influencing the working hours that the hospitals usually put into protecting the nurses who are usually fatigued from working long hours. Due to this action, the quality of services being given to the patients will improve due to minimum medical errors associated with the nurses’ exhaustion, thus promoting human dignity (American Nurses Association., 2015).
The policy can also protect the hospitals from losing their employees because it can indicate that nurses are only required to work for specific healthcare for a stipulated time. In other words, the workforce’s need can create a policy that protects all entities’ interest, thus eliminating the fear of losing an employee to other facilities, which will lead to health improvement.
Succinctly, healthcare organizations must improve their quality of services they give to the patients. Patients mainly visit hospitals with the hope of getting better; however, this can only be possible if their interests are catered for by the caregivers. But due to a limited number of nurses, the hospitals ensure that they enhance the working hours to retain their employees. As a result, numerous medical errors ae experienced, and this affects the health of the patients.
To eliminate all these issues, policymakers should come together to create protective laws. The protective laws will ensure that hospitals are protected from the unfair competition resulting from losing their employees to other organizations. They will also protect the nurses from long working hours; hence they will concentrate on their duty during their entire shift. Moreover, the patients will be spared from low-quality services that affect their health negatively. Therefore, policy impacts the healthcare workforce positively by controlling the sector and taking care of every party’s interest.
References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Silver Spring, MD: Author. Web.
Kelly, P., & Porr, C. (2018). Ethical nursing care versus cost containment: Considerations to enhance RN practice. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1).Manuscript 6. Web.
Milliken, A. (2018). Ethical awareness: What it is and why it matters. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1), Manuscript. Web.