Answer for NHS-FPX6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change Summary of the Health Care Economic Issue 

Answer for NHS-FPX6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change Summary of the Health Care Economic Issue 

 

Dear sir! The issue that I bring to your attention in this letter is inadequate nursing staffing or nursing shortage in healthcare organizations in the state and USA in general. Current statistics shows that hospitals in America experience an acute shortage of nurses. The American Association of Nurses reports that America will require 275000 nurses annually from 2020 to 2030. In addition, more than 1 million nurses will be retiring in the next decade, worsening the shortage of nurses in the US’s healthcare system. The factors that contribute to nursing shortage can be addressed through policy initiatives. They include unhealthy working environments, high workload, inadequate number of nurses being trained by nursing institutions, and burnout. Nursing shortage affect the health of your constitutes, as seen from the increased medical errors, delays in care provision, increased healthcare costs, morbidity, and mortality rates (Haddad et al., 2022). Therefore, I request your support in lobbying the adoption of a policy that will increase the number of nursing students being trained in nursing institutions and demand health organizations to implement interventions that prioritize nurses’ needs.  

Positive and Negative Outcomes 

Addressing the issue of nursing shortage through a policy initiative will have significant benefits to communities and organizations. First, it will contribute to improved safety, quality, and efficiency of care that the communities receive. For example, adequate nursing staffing levels will translate into patient-centered nursing care, which minimizes safety issues such as nursing errors and delays in nursing care. Addressing the problem will also reduce the disease burden on the communities. This is seen from the reduction in overall healthcare costs, hospitalization stays, morbidity, and mortality (Amiri et al., 2020). The state currently spends significant resources in financing the healthcare systems and addressing community’s needs. Some of the resources are used in managing the negative consequences of inadequate staffing among nurses. However, addressing the problem through policy actions will benefit both health organizations and the state through the reduction in healthcare spending and resource utilization to address preventable problems arising from nursing shortage. The negative outcomes that will occur if there is failure to address the problem include increased workload for the few nursing staff, burnout, high turnover rates, and poor quality of care that is associated with medical errors, and elevated morbidity and mortality rates among hospitalized patients (Haddad et al., 2022).  

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Importance of Addressing the Issue 

Addressing the issue of nursing shortage will have positive impacts on healthcare institutions and healthcare providers at the local community, state, and national levels. Nursing shortage affects adversely health institutions. For example, between 1960 and 2000, there was a shortage of 50000-150000 registered nurses in America, leading to most hospitals closing inpatient units and curtailing services. The projections of 275000 shortage of registered nurses from 2020 to 2030 will threaten the population’s access to healthcare. Studies also support the need for adequate nursing staffing in healthcare (Friedrich & Hackmann, 2021). For example, Amiri et al., (2020) found in their research that a 1% increase in nurse staffing level reduced perinatal mortality rates by a statistically significant percentage. Nursing shortage also increases the workload for nurses and other healthcare providers at the local community, state, and national levels. High workload predisposes healthcare providers to burnout, job dissatisfaction, delivery of poor quality care, and high turnover rates (Buerhaus, 2021; Griffiths et al., 2021). Therefore, it makes it a priority for the legislature to adopt effective policies to address the challenge of nursing shortage. In doing this, the legislators should prioritize the principles of justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence.  

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