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A severe shortage of nurses has been observed in healthcare facilities across the United States. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has called for immediate action, noting that a shortage of nursing professionals exists due to factors such as burnout, retirements, and high turnover rates, which have led to a rise in demand for these professionals.
This staffing gap means that the remaining staff have a heavier workload, taking longer shifts and being more likely to be short-staffed, which in turn impacts the well-being of the nurses and, consequently, the safety of the patients.
In these challenging environments, the risk of burnout increases, and patient care can be compromised if effective strategies are not in place. To address these challenges, nurses require three key tools: a time management tool, a task prioritization tool, and a resilience-building tool for high-stress shifts.
This blog post will offer practical suggestions for how nurses can navigate these demanding situations, while also ensuring that the patient’s best interests are taken into consideration, and how they can look after their mental health.
Patient Care First: Safety and Critical Needs Lead
With limited staff, prioritize patient safety and critical issues first. Sort the work based on the severity of the patients, determining which patients require immediate attention. For instance, the critically ill or the patients with elevated risk should be seen first, whereas the stable patients with no critical problems can wait for a brief time.
Adopt the “Must-Do, Should-Do, Can-Wait” approach: first focus on the essential tasks that relate to the patient’s safety (for instance, giving medicines), then work on the non-essential tasks, and lastly, deal with the aspects that can be put off if necessary. This strategy helps nurses manage their work demands, especially when there is a high demand for their services.
It is also crucial to effectively delegate work; for instance, requesting assistance from CNAs or LPNs to perform procedures such as checking vital signs and giving baths to patients, allowing RNs to devote more time to caring for patients with complex problems. Additionally, documentation can be completed in a shorter timeframe. It is recommended that safety is maintained through concise and essential nursing notes while delivering quality care.
Time Management in Nursing
It is essential to cluster care in short, staffed settings; for instance, it is more effective to combine several processes during each patient’s visit, such as administering medicines, checking vital signs, and addressing other issues of the day. Having realistic and quantifiable objectives during your shift will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed and increase productivity. You can divide the tasks into hourly parts to make the schedule more manageable and to maintain a steady work rate.
Checklists and other visual aids can also be quite useful in preventing some important tasks from being forgotten. A quick reference list of priorities is useful when time is pressing and helps to maintain focus during busy periods.
Lastly, it is essential to utilize team communication tools, such as group chats or huddles, to effectively communicate with peers. These tools facilitate real-time updates and information sharing, helping to maintain unity even during staff shortages. To get more time management tips, you can try the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Ensuring Patient Safety with Limited Staffing
It is especially important to ensure patient safety when working with reduced staffing levels. First, perform rapid safety checks – quick assessments that focus on the vital signs: airway, breathing, and circulation. These swift assessments help identify potential problems before they worsen, allowing treatment to be initiated on time.
It is possible to improve the situation in a safe environment by engaging patients in the decision-making process. You should explain to patients the basic principles, for instance, that if a patient develops any new symptoms, they should notify the staff immediately. This way, patients are also empowered in their care and lessen non-crucial calls for the nurse, freeing the nurse to attend to the most critical issues only.
Furthermore, it is essential to recognize and report signs of burnout among staff, which include fatigue, irritability, and emotional exhaustion. The symptoms of burnout can be recognized early, allowing for more assistance to be sought to address both the staff's welfare and the patients' welfare.
Preventing Nurse Burnout During Short-Staffed Shifts
Finally, post-shift boundaries are crucial. To prevent burnout, avoid thinking about work and engage in activities like walking, a hobby, or spending time with family after work.
Building a Supportive Team Culture During Staffing Shortages
Support from peers is also helpful in reducing stress. It is recommended to establish a daily routine of greeting colleagues, collaborating, and lending a hand whenever possible. This way, every member of the team realizes that they are valued and are not facing pressure by themselves.
Conclusion
It is essential to strike a balance between optimizing work and promoting self-healing during short-staffed shifts. The staffing crisis remains a significant problem, but nurses can reduce the likelihood of errors by prioritizing their work, timing their actions effectively, involving patients in their care, and taking care of themselves. These strategies help nurses cope with high-pressure shifts with greater resilience.
Nurses’ experiences vary, and it is beneficial to share ideas on positive outcomes with peers and in professional groups to create a community of nurses who can help one another. Therefore, it is possible to develop a stronger and more resilient nursing workforce to meet the current needs.