Practicum Management Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Practicum Management Assignment - Essay Example Nurses are able to focus their attention on fewer patients. They are able to concentrate on their patients’ needs, safety, and individual care. In a study submitted to the Alabama Nurse Journal, it was established that the mandated nurse patient ratio has managed to improve patient safety and has also improved the quality of care given to patients. There has also been a decrease in mortality rates, lesser medical errors, and decreased rates in pneumonia, thrombosis, urinary tract infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, and pressure ulcers. Hospital stay was also shorter for patients. Many hospitals in America argue that the mandated nurse-patient ratio cuts into a large part of the hospital budget. They argue that increasing staffing costs will eventually reduce patient access to healthcare. According to them, this mandate does not take into account the individual needs of the patient or the skills and characteristics of the nurse or the hospital. They also argue that hospitals are very much committed to providing quality patient care while still utilizing safe staffing levels, however, they feel that legally imposing nurse-patient ratios does not ‘allow for fluctuations in the supply of nurses and does not account for new technology’ introduced into healthcare (Lewis, 2005). Hospitals declare that mandated nurse-patient ratios are inflexible impositions on healthcare. Hospitals are forced to finance the obligatory increase in nursing staff and in the end, they may not be able to afford this cost. Hospital closures may follow. Nurses’ associations have a mixed reaction to this mandate. Some associations support the mandate, declaring that their lives have greatly improved. They are less stressed due to the decrease in their caseloads. Some unions have declared that this mandate has helped improve patient safety and has increased the job satisfaction of nurses. Nurses are now able to take