Patient Outcomes
Short-staffed nurses may have less time to monitor these, such as blood pressure and oxygen saturation, which can lead to delayed interventions.
What are vital signs?
Short staffing can lead to higher rates of this type of patient harm, which includes falls, infections, and medication errors.
What are adverse events?
The Code requires nurses to honor this principle, which involves supporting a patient’s right to make decisions about their care.
What is autonomy?
Short staffing can result in mandatory extensions of this type of work period, which increases fatigue.
What is a shift?
To address short staffing, nurses may join or form one of these organizations to collectively bargain for better conditions
What is a union?
This term describes the ability of nurses to form meaningful connections with patients, often diminished by short staffing
What is patient rapport?
When short staffing occurs, nurses may experience this state of physical and emotional exhaustion, which affects patient care quality.
What is burnout?
Nurses may face this ethical dilemma when unable to comply with professional standards due to inadequate staffing
What is compromising patient safety?
To mitigate short staffing, hospitals sometimes hire these temporary nurses, which can increase costs.
What are travel nurses?
This type of nursing scheduling system, focused on balancing patient needs and staff availability, can improve staffing levels.
What is acuity-based staffing?
Patients in short-staffed facilities are at higher risk of developing this skin condition caused by prolonged pressure.
What are pressure sores?
This federal act sets minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes but does not apply to hospitals.
What is the nursing home reform act?
Short staffing can lead to a failure to uphold this ethical principle, which requires nurses to act in the best interest of their patients.
What is beneficence?
A common strategy to address short staffing, this practice involves calling off-duty nurses to fill shifts.
what is on-call staffing?
This practice, involving mindfulness and reflection, is recommended to help nurses manage stress and maintain emotional well-being.
What is self-care?
The lack of adequate nurse staffing often results in increased rates of this costly hospital metric, measuring patients returning shortly after discharge.
What is readmission?
Studies have shown that an increase in this nurse-to-patient metric can reduce mortality rates in hospitals.
What is nurse-to-patient-ratio?
The American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics states that nurses must address unsafe working conditions to protect this.
What is patient welfare?
Nurses may leave jobs with persistent short staffing, contributing to this term describing a shortage of skilled healthcare workers.
What is the nursing shortage?
This practice, which includes setting clear limits on workloads and time, helps nurses maintain a healthy work-life balance.
What is boundary setting?
The Joint Commission cites short staffing as a major factor contributing to these preventable, often life-threatening mistakes in healthcare.
What are sentinel events?
A common consequence of short staffing, this term describes when nurses leave the profession due to stress or dissatisfaction.
What is nurse burnout?
Short staffing often forces nurses to prioritize tasks, leading to this ethical conflict where they cannot provide equal care to all patients.
What is moral distress?
High nurse turnover due to short staffing often leads to this financial burden on healthcare organizations.
What are recruitment and training costs?
Nurses can advocate for regular breaks and policies addressing this workplace issue, which affects their physical and emotional health.
What is burnout prevention?