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Managing Resources in Nursing

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Managing Resources in Nursing

Nurse managers face complex challenges in managing resources effectively, particularly in balancing cost, quality, and safety while addressing patient care demands, staffing, and budgeting. This discussion will explore key areas such as organizational budget impact, staffing plan considerations, and strategies for addressing staffing inadequacies.

Nurses’ Impact on Organizational Budgets

Nurses are critical in influencing an organization’s budget, particularly how resources are allocated and utilized for patient care. One way through which nurses contribute to the budget is by participating in the decisions concerning the direct patient care costs, which are associated with patient results. For instance, strategies used in nursing to reduce readmissions, early discharges, and hospital-acquired infections all result in lower overall healthcare expenditures. The results also have implications for supplying knowledge of how nurses’ compliance with best practices can enhance patient well-being and reduce expenditure in health organizations. The constant care and assessment of conditions, early intervention, and efforts to prevent complications result in quicker discharges and lesser resource consumption (Yoder-Wise, 2019).

Additionally, nurses significantly influence the budget by managing medical supplies and equipment. By practicing efficient inventory management and minimizing waste, nurses ensure that resources are utilized optimally. For instance, avoiding unnecessary tests and medications can help reduce costs while maintaining the quality of care. Moreover, nurses’ participation in quality improvement initiatives aligns care delivery with cost-effective practices, as they often identify areas where procedures can be streamlined or improved to save money (Lasater et al., 2020). Through these actions, nurses directly contribute to the financial health of healthcare organizations.

Nurses also impact the budget by influencing patient satisfaction, tied to reimbursement rates under value-based purchasing systems. Paying particular attention to nursing care and being sensitive to the patient’s needs enhances patient satisfaction levels, which equals an increase in insurance company and government reimbursement. Therefore, patient and family relations, which are an important component of the organization’s overall rating, are managed by the nurses and impact the organization’s financial performance indirectly by focusing on patient satisfaction.

Variables in Staffing Plans

Staffing is a critical aspect of resource management, and several variables influence how managers create staffing plans. One of the primary factors is patient acuity, which refers to the level of care and attention patients require. The nurses caring for more complicated or serious cases require more attention, so the nurse-patient ratio should be enhanced. Staffing needs, for example, are higher in an intensive care unit (ICU) than in a medical-surgical ward where patients are very sick and require frequent and continuous monitoring. Managers should also consider the census or the number of admitted patients to determine the number of nurses needed to ensure understaffing or overstaffing (Griffiths et al., 2020).

The skill mix of the nursing staff is another essential variable. The staffing plan should have a nurse staffing mix of experienced nurses and those with less experience, as this can effectively deliver outcomes. Comprehensive care needs senior nurses who have specialized knowledge, but newly trained nurses or health assistants can provide simple care. Staffing plans also need to meet requirements specified by regulations and governing bodies, such as the required number of nurses per patient, to guarantee safe staffing. Additionally, budgetary constraints are a significant factor in staffing plans. Managers have a huge challenge of staffing within the personnel budget without negating the quality of care offered.  Another crucial factor is how the float or agency nurses work a shift, either during high-traffic times or when some regular workers are off the job on vacation or sick. Managers must consider this while framing shift scheduling to be selectively flexible in case of staff availability.

Strategies to Address Inadequate Staffing

Inadequate staffing is a common challenge in healthcare settings, particularly during high patient admissions or unexpected staff shortages. To address this issue, managers can implement several realistic strategies. Some of the measures that could be implemented include using a float pool of nurses who are deployed to address the challenges in several units. Such a strategy enables more flexibility for staff and ensures improvements in staffing deficiencies without a negative impact on the patients. Managers can also provide incentives for extra overtime opportunities depending on the number of staff who wish to take extra shifts.

Cross-training staff is another useful strategy to mitigate the effects of inadequate staffing. When it comes to staffing needs within the context of the unit, managers can train the nurses for multiple roles in order for them to cover various positions where needed. This means that the adopted approach can easily be adapted and optimized for patient care even with limited staff. Moreover, the use of effective information technology, such as automated dispensing systems or electronic health records, can inevitably lessen the workload for nurses. This can free up their time to attend to patients rather than administrative tasks (Patel et al., 2021).

Long-term solutions should also be considered, such as hiring more nurses or adjusting the unit’s staffing model. Consulting with employees is essential for addressing the aspects of the organization that require adjustments and upgrades so that existing resources can be used effectively. When engaging with the staff, unique strategies can be devised that may help overcome shortcomings in staffing and offer quality care.

Importance of Effective Feedback

Providing nurses with effective feedback through methods such as coaching, staff development opportunities, and performance evaluations is essential for their professional growth and the quality of patient care. This suggests that adjunctive strategies such as coaching improve nurses’ clinical competence due to the provision of guidance in practice and support in the clinical setting. Such feedback enables the nurse to assess their practice to establish the right course of action in handling patients and ensuring positive results. Coaching also creates a culture that supports continual professional development and the quest for improvement and growth in the nursing practice (Yoder-Wise, 2018).

Staff development opportunities, such as continuing education programs or workshops, ensure that nurses stay current with the latest evidence-based practices. These opportunities enable nurses to increase their base of knowledge and skills, which are essential in patient treatment. Skilled nurses perform best in delivering quality health services to patients, thus resulting in a high satisfaction level (Rahmah et al., 2021). Also, increasing staff expenditures supports the retention of nurses since they feel appreciated in their profession.

Accurate performance evaluations are another crucial component of effective feedback. These evaluations enable nurses to appreciate their performance profiles and accomplishments, which are crucial for individual and professional growth. Positive feedback after assessment helps motivate nurses and ensures they deliver the required care quality. Also, it should be noted that accurate evaluations can increase nurses’ satisfaction since they clearly understand the expected results and the attained outcomes. Nurses who are appreciated and feel that their contribution to the organization is valuable will be more productive and content with their work, thus improving the quality of care offered to the patient (Yoder-Wise, 2018).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the management of persons and financial resources in nursing is related to health services’ quality, safety, and cost. Coaching, mentoring, and performance appraisals increase nurse satisfaction and positively impact patient care. With difficult issues like insufficient staffing and practical solutions, nurses can guarantee that patients receive quality and safe care.

References

Griffiths, P., Saville, C., Ball, J., Jones, J., Pattison, N., & Monks, T. (2020). Nursing workload, Nurse Staffing Methodologies & Tools: a Systematic Scoping Review & Discussion. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 103(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.103487

Lasater, K. B., McHugh, M. D., Rosenbaum, P. R., Aiken, L. H., Smith, H. L., Reiter, J. G., Niknam, B. A., Hill, A. S., Hochman, L. L., Jain, S., & Silber, J. H. (2020). Evaluating the Costs and Outcomes of Hospital Nursing Resources: A Matched Cohort Study of Patients with Common Medical Conditions. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 36(1), 84–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-020-06151-z

Patel, S., Hartung, B., Nagra, R., Davignon, A., Dayal, T., & Nelson, M. (2021). Expedited Cross-Training. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 37(6). https://doi.org/10.1097/nnd.0000000000000738

Rahmah, N. M., Hariyati, T. S., & Sahar, J. (2021). Nurses’ efforts to maintain competence: A qualitative study. Journal of Public Health Research, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/jphr.2021.2736

Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2019). Patricia S. Yoder-Wise – Leading and Managing in Nursing. Elsevier

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Question 

The management of resources is one of the most critical, yet complex and time-consuming activities that nurse managers are challenged to execute in their role. Budgets detail how time, money, supplies, and people should be acquired and used to support planned services. The demand for patient safety, quality care, acceptable reimbursement, technological advancement, and adequate staffing ratios requires that managers budget and schedule staff as accurately and efficiently as possible.

You will learn about the budget process and staffing considerations. Your discussion will link the decisions made when managing these resources to the cost, safety, and quality of services provided.

Upon successful completion of this discussion, you will be able to:

Resources

Instructions

  1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
  2. In your textbook Leading and Managing in Nursing, read:
    • Chapter 20, “Managing Costs and Budgets”
    • Chapter 13, “Staffing and Scheduling”
    • Chapter 21, “Selecting, Developing, and Evaluating Staff”
  3. Prepare to discuss the following prompts:
    • Describe specific ways that nurses impact an organizational budget.
    • Describe the variables that managers consider when creating a staffing plan.
    • Discuss realistic strategies to address inadequate staffing numbers on a patient care unit.
    • Why is it important for nurses to receive effective feedback through methods such as proper coaching, staff development opportunities, and accurate performance evaluations? What impact do these have on nurse satisfaction and patient outcomes?
  4. Find at least two current scholarly sources to support your explanations and insights. OCLS resources are preferred sources and can be accessed through IWU Resources (new tab). Wikipedia is no
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