NURS FPX 6004 Assessment 4 Training Session for Policy Implementation Benchmark with Great Impacts on Overall Performance

NURS FPX 6004 Assessment 4 Training Session for Policy Implementation Benchmark with Great Impacts on Overall Performance

NURS FPX 6004 Assessment 4 Training Session for Policy Implementation

Benchmark with Great Impacts on Overall Performance

From the highlighted underperformance areas, the nurse: patient ratio in the ER can significantly improve overall performance. Nurse: patient ratio affects nurses’ productivity since it can deter their motivation and ability to work due to heavy workload if the ratio is too high (Gutsan et al., 2018). Overworking as nurses try to achieve the set benchmarks leads to nurse burnout. The nurse: patient ratio in the ER determines how nurses approach routine care without making medication errors. Handling a manageable number of patients allows nurses to work on patients quickly and avoid overcrowding in emergency rooms (Hawk & D’Onofrio, 2018). If not overwhelmed, nurses would also be better positioned to liaise with outside physicians to determine whether patients require emergency visits accurately.

Benchmark of Interest: Average Waiting Hour

Together with the number of beds, the average waiting hour is the benchmark I chose for improvement. In the medical center, the average waiting time is eighty minutes, double the allowable average of forty minutes. A review of the causes of high waiting time in emergency rooms revealed that beds’ inadequacy is a leading cause. The other reason is that medical facilities do not give outside physicians the privilege to admit patients, making ER visits higher than usual. Unless the issue of referrals is addressed, the situation is unlikely to change soonest to improve health outcomes.

Regarding the benchmark underperformance that is most widespread throughout the organization, the inadequate number of beds deserves a lot of attention. It is more of an administrative problem than a policy issue. A low number of beds implies that SUD patients cannot be released for admission and pave the way to screen other patients since they must stay in beds. Accordingly, this problem becomes the most impacting on patients and staff. To patients, the waiting time increases, risking their health further. It can be a source of demotivation to serve for nurses since the number waiting to be served is proportional to the waiting time.

Impacts of Underperformance on the Community

Ethically and professionally, health care organizations are mandated to provide excellent quality care and prioritize patient safety. High waiting time is a disservice to the community served and violates the principle of health care equity. According to Reese (2019), high waiting time in emergency rooms affects the health of millions of Americans yearly, and many usually leave health care facilities without attendance or partially attended.  This disservice is also a leading cause of more extended hospital stays since the chances of health complications as patients wait to be served are high. High waiting time increases medical errors and patients’ death rates (Martinez et al., 2019). As a result, the community health is affected adversely, and attention to enhance performance is necessary.

Opportunity to Improve the Overall Quality of Care

CareM Medical Center can prevent risking patients’ lives by addressing the issue of high waiting time. In the current setup, the best way to lower waiting is to ensure that the ER has adequate beds to accommodate more patients as they receive SUD services. If possible, administrative interventions to increase the number of registered nurses to match the State’s threshold are crucial. Doing so will ensure that nurses are more empowered and supported to serve patients irrespective of the increasing numbers.

Ethical Action

Health care facilities operate as they follow administrative and legal policies. Internal and external policies guide them, and violation of the set policies has severe legal and ethical implications. In the current setup at CareM Medical Center, a huge portion of the patients visiting the emergency room are referred by outside physicians. They (outside physicians) refer many patients to the ER since they are not professionally mandated to provide complete SUD care. Outside physicians lack admitting privileges. They cannot admit a patient directly, implying that almost all the medical center’s admissions come through the ER. Accordingly, it is crucial to increase outside physicians admitting privileges to reduce unnecessary visits to the ER. Visits to the ER should be reserved for critically ill patients.

Responsible Stakeholders

Stakeholders play a critical role in the running of health care facilities. Their decisions have huge implic