Sorting Three D's

1 Pages 250 Words

The RN shortfall reached six percent in 2000, and it’s expected to swell to twenty nine percent by 2020 unless some major changes occur. There’s little doubt that difficult working conditions are affecting the welfare of both patients and nurses. One study has shown that a high nurse-patient ratio results in more complications, higher mortality rates, and greater levels of nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction. The RN shortfall can also put you at risk for liability. Lets assume you are a staff RN on your hospital’s Med/Surg unit. You work the day shift caring for six patients. At two p.m. your supervisor asks you if you can work the evening shift, floating to the Intensive Care Unit, because a staff nurse has called out sick. Although you would be willing to put in the extra hours, you are unfamiliar with the ICU. If you make a mistake while working the shift you, the nurse, are accountable.
Short staffing endangers patients and nurses. I agree with this article because after all, If you, as a nurse makes a medication error or another mistake while your unit is understaffed, your hospital as well as you could be sued for Malpractice. While hospitals, and state and federal legislators have begun to address these issues, safe guarding patients, and steering clear of liability remains your responsibility. This article was published in RN 210?Magazine, December 2003, page 67....