What To Do In Case Of Shortages On Nurse StaffingIn spite of nursing employment growing manifold over the years, majority of nurses still like to work in large city hospitals rather that opting to work in country side community hospitals. As such, some smaller hospitals, despite their size, still experience shortages on nurse staffing. If you own a small hospital that is in need of additional nurse staffing or a nurse manager who is left in charge of solving the problem on nurse staffing, this article can help you plan your course of action to address the shortage. Below are some ideas on addressing nurse staffing shortages: 1. Prioritize, prioritize, and prioritize. Incase of shortage in nurse staffing, you will have to perform tasks in order of priority. Make a list of the tasks to be done, classify them according to your priority into those that require urgent attention, those of medium importance and those that are low in importance. Assign your nursing staff to the tasks that are of topmost priority first like attending to critical patients or doing evaluations. Mid-priority activities like teaching patients and their relatives about proper care can be done when the top priority ones have been accomplished. If possible, you can delegate low-priority activities to medical volunteers or family members of the patients. 2. Teach your nursing staff about workload organization. During down time, if any, teach your nursing staff about organizing their workloads. Instruct them to properly prepare for each task before doing it to save on time. When each task is done in the most efficient manner possible, you can maximize your nurse staffing capabilities. 3. Stress the importance of teamwork. You can stretch your nurse staffing capabilities if you and your nursing staff practice teamwork. Encourage each nurse to perform their duties well and help each other on assigned tasks. Not only will this increase camaraderie among your staff but this can also help them finish their workloads easier. 4. Encourage the participation of family members in caring for patients. Caring for patients who are at low risk or well on their way to recovery can be delegated to responsible family members. Nurses can assume supervisory capacity and check on these low risk patients from time to time. Just keep in mind to delegate only jobs that are allowed by State regulations to unauthorized personnel. Nurse staffing problems can be lessened if the family members share the responsibility of caring for their sick. 5. Implement active hiring procedures. Of course, the only long-term solution to nurse staffing problems is to boost your nursing employment. Formulate active recruitment plans and put them into effect to get more nurses into your hospital. More nurses will mean lesser workload for everybody and more efficient and quality care for patients. If necessary, contact nurses' organizations or regulating bodies to help you in your recruitment efforts. Just remember not to slack off on teamwork, prioritization, and hard work even if you have sufficient nurse staffing capabilities. |