Healthcare is an incredibly essential field that requires medical workers to strictly follow the rules and guidelines in order to provide patients with the highest quality and safety. At the same time, this field is also known for having numerous errors that appear due to various reasons and can be avoided if enough effort is put in. In my place of work, it is also impossible to prevent some mistakes, especially during this global pandemic that worsens the shortage of specialists and nurses or reduces their ability to be attentive and careful (Letourneau, 2020). In this reflective paper, I will talk about two errors that have recently happened in my workplace, analyze their causes, and discuss how governmental organizations can contribute to the fastest solution.
Overall, the two following situations occurred because of the same significant issue – an increased shortage of nurses in the US. This problem has a rather severe effect on working nurses’ conditions and negatively impacts patient care (College for the People, 2020), which becomes evident from the examples further. The first error that happened in my place of work was when a patient was transferred to a long-term care facility without a nurse doing the last assessment, including checking the vital signs. On their way, the patient quickly deteriorated and was taken back to the hospital. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the patient passed away in the healthcare facility. This situation happened due to the lack of staff nurses, which, in turn, can cause another problem – the increased workload of medical workers (College for the People, 2020). The latter resulted in the second error in my workplace when a nurse mixed up the information. They provided the wrong facility address, and the patient was not transported to the necessary healthcare place.
In my workplace, we use the TeamSTEPPS strategy to enhance patient safety and performance. One of the rules is to monitor the situation and try to make sure that the received information is valid and relevant (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2020). Unfortunately, when there is a lack of working nurses together with a vast number of patients, it becomes incredibly challenging to be careful and avoid mistakes and confusion. The situations discussed above also fall under the Red Rules that require thorough examination and assessment of patients before any severe actions are taken and also oblige nurses to comply with clear regulations for the transportation of patients.
Consequently, the seriousness of the issue requires substantial efforts from the authorities. A number of governmental agencies and organizations admit the need for an effective solution and try to offer different initiatives that can eliminate the causes and the issue itself. For example, some causes of the shortage of nurses are the lack of well-educated specialists and the unwillingness of the youth to consider nursing as a valuable and promising profession. To address these factors, AHRQ offers training grants, supports healthcare research, and commits vast amounts of money to nursing problems, including the staff shortage (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.). At the same time, according to researchers, “the Institute of Medicine (IOM) appointed the Committee on the Future of Nursing” to help find the solution to the issue (“IOM: 80% of registered nurses to have BSN degree by 2020,” 2017). This committee develops specific recommendations and contributes to the recreation of the public image of nursing.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2020). Pocket Guide: TeamSTEPPS. Web.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (n.d.). Funding & grants. Web.
College for the People. (2020). Nursing shortage by state: Which U.S. states need nurses the most and which ones will have too many? Nightingale College. Web.
IOM: 80% of registered nurses to have BSN degree by 2020. (2017). Wolters Kluwer. Web.
Letourneau, R. M. (2020). Amid a raging pandemic, the US faces a nursing shortage. Can we close the gap? The Conversation. Web.