Nurse Under-staffing Case
You are a staff nurse at Islander Regional Hospital (IRH) The hospitals patient census and acuity have been very high for the last 6 months. Much of the nursing staff have resigned; a coordinated recruitment effort to fill these positions has been largely unsuccessful. The nursing staff is demoralized, and staff frequently call in sick or are no-call no-show. Today, you arrive at work and find you will be the only RN on a unit with 30 patients. Although you have two Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN) and two certified nursing assistants (CNA) assigned to work with, you are concerned about patient safety, as well as your license. A check with the central nursing offices confirms that there is no additional help. 1. What is your first action in this situation? 2. What are the immediate concerns regarding this staffing situation? 3. What nursing modality would work best in this situation and why? 4. Is there anything that you can do (as a staff nurse) about the level of staffing? 5. What are the long-term concerns regarding understaffing?