For the longest time, the heavy workload of nurses has been a major issue faced by the American health system. Generally, nurses in the United States suffer from heavy workloads primarily due to population aging and the low supply of nurses. While these issues are unfortunate by themselves, they, unfortunately, result in even bigger problems. Among the consequences noted are the risks to patient safety.
Nurses often work multiple tasks, including housekeeping, transporting, delivering. There is no distinction in work allocated to nurses as they are often in charge of tasks that should have been assigned to CNAs and aides.
Compounding on this problem, nurses often work to the point of exhaustion, which increases the risks of lapses, execution errors, and knowledge errors.
These issues prevent them from focusing their primary role as a registered nurse – to assess, identify, implement, and monitor the patient’s care needs.
Data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shows that low nurse staffing correlates to higher health risks. Some examples include a higher incidence of hospital-acquired pneumonia and failure to rescue.
Over the years, inadequate staffing has led to several medical malpractice lawsuits, claims, and patient dissatisfaction over the healthcare system. With proper access to reliable healthcare staff, both the issues of nurse overwork and patient safety may be addressed, if not eradicated.
As a nurse staffing agency in Houston, Texas, we are dedicated to improving the healthcare capabilities of the country. That said, we have extensive recruitment practices and staff training to ensure that we provide staff who are capable of providing the highest standard of care.
Is your facility or private home health in Texas short-staffed? Give us at Allied Health Services a call. We look forward to hearing from you!
