Current Issues in Nursing Essay Example

Current Issues in Nursing Essay Example Current Issues in Nursing Essay Current Issues in Nursing Essay Ph. D. and Ann L. Curley, Ph. D. , R. N. The challenges of operating 24/7, focusing on scheduling, training, and staffing. Despite projections that nursing is one of the top ten growth jobs for the next 15 years, our health care system is on the verge of an overwhelming nurse shortage and health care crisis. Adding to the problem is the fact that hospitals and many other health care facilities are extended hours operations that face unique challenges unknown to the 9-5 world. Hazards for nurses discussed in the book: * Health care shows the second highest turnover rate of all â€Å"extended hours† industries * Nursing is one of the ten industries with the highest levels of occupational injury or illness requiring days away from work. * The most prevalent injuries in nursing are musculoskeletal disorders and needlestick injuries. In 89% of needlesticks, the needle was contaminated. * Work related fatigue prompted nearly 20% of nurses to cite â€Å"having an accident while commuting back home† as one of the top three jobs related health and safety risks. * Nurses show high instances of sleep disorders severely affecting productivity. * High failure and short staffing severely affect quality of patient care. ?Problems With Nursing Informatics By: Heidi Cardenas Informatics is the process of advancing in a discipline with a combination of data, information and knowledge. Nursing informatics encompasses the devices, machines, resources, and methods of utilizing information, computers, and nursing science in nursing. Its a recognized specialty for registered nurses, but does present challenges that academics and medical practitioners are working to improve or eliminate. Significance * In 2007, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Nursing Informatics Awareness Task Force estimated that 50 percent of a nurses time is spent on documentation. Because of explosive strides in information technology and the huge body of medical knowledge amassed, controlling medical errors and health care costs are paramount in the health care professions, including nursing. According to RN Journal, handwriting on a piece of paper has been largely replaced by reports from medical devices at the point of care, and nurses have to master electronic documentation. Function * Nursing documentation is complex and situation-dependent. With different technology and medical charting methods in use, consistent education and training on documentation is difficult to achieve, especially electronically. Considerations * There is no single device that generates a comprehensive patient record, stores it and makes it accessible to care providers in different locations. Bar codes on medicines, computerized physician order-entry, automated scheduling systems for nurse administrators, nursing student preparation for IT tools and HIPAA concerns are just a few of the problems in nursing informatics. Potential * Mobile devices, communication technologies, efficient applications, and enhanced workflow and documentation will be the norm going forward and in the future. Ideally, every nurse would learn a universal IT platform for all patient care, but that is an almost unobtainable goal with the rapid advances in research, medicine and information technology. One thing is certainnursing and information technology are integrally intertwined and will remain so in the future. ? Occupational Health and Safety Issues Among Nurses in the Philippines By: A. B. de Castro, PhD, MSN/MPH, RN, Suzanne L. Cabrera, MN, RN, Gilbert C. Gee, PhD, Kaori Fushijiro, PhD and Eularito A. Tagalog, RN, COHN Abstract * Nursing is a hazardous occupation in the United States, but little is known about workplace health and safety issues facing the nursing work force in the Philippines. In this article, work-related problems among a sample of nurses in the Philippines are described. Cross-sectional data were collected through a self-administered survey during the Philippine Nurses Association 2007 convention. Measures included four categories: work-related demographics, occupational injury/illness, reporting behavior, and safety concerns. Approximately 40% of nurses had experienced at least one injury or illness in the past year, and 80% had experienced back pain. Most who had an injury did not report it. The top ranking concerns were stress and overwork. Filipino nurses encounter considerable health and safety concerns that are similar to those encountered by nurses in other countries. Future research should examine the work organization factors that contribute to these concerns and strengthen policies to promote health and safety. ?The National Nursing Crisis: 7 Strategic Solutions By: Jaime Z. Galvez Tan M. D. , M. P. H. Introduction At the rate we are losing monthly our highly skilled nurses to the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, and with the Philippine government, via the Department of Health raising its hands in helplessness, offering no strategic solutions in sight, expect a worsening of the health crisis already plaguing our country. It is not only the nurses the country is losing, our medical doctors are now enrolling in nursing schools offering an abbreviated course for doctors to become nurses. ? Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing By: Jenifer Wilson-Barnett Abstract. Nurses are increasingly realizing that they can offer relevant information and participate in decision-making involving ethical issues. However, inter-professional communications are frequently inadequate, and do not permit exchange of opinions. The consequences are often frustrating and upsetting for nurses whose care is affected by others policies. ? Unemployment * The Professional Regulation Commission estimates the number of jobless Filipino nurses to hit 298,000 this year, to include the 68,000 who took the local licensure exam in December. ? RN Heals Department Order No. 2012-0184 (DO 2012-0184). * The Order speaks of the following interesting points: * RNheals nurses are not ‘employed’ but rather are intended for learning and development. Nurses under the program are not regular employees but pre-service trainees. They are given stipend/allowances not salaries. * RNheals 4 tour of duty will be from January to December 2013. Nurses will be assigned in DOH Hospitals (Hospital Setting) or Rural Health Units (Community Setting). Stipend/allowance for RN Heals 2013 is still 8,000 per month with PhilHealth and GSIS Insurance. * Nurses are to be awarded with Certificate of Completion after satisfactorily completing the RNheals program. * RN Heals 4 Recruitment and selection period will be from October 29, 2012 to November 2012. * Application forms shall be submitted directly to CHDs for community setting and DOH Hospitals for hospital setting. * ONLY NURSES WITH PRC LICENSE are eligible to apply. * Nurses who have previously engaged in RNHeals are not qualified to re-enter the project. * In case of absences, a fixed amount of Php 363. 00 per day shall be deducted. * Stipend shall be given on or before every 10th and 25th day of the month. * Eight training hours per day shall be completed by the nurse.