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Discuss Challenges Facing Nurses

Challenges Facing Nurses Assignment
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Challenges Facing Nurses Assignment

The Institute of Medicine’s report on the future of nursing makes sweeping recommenda- tions for nursing’s future, including that “nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States” (IOM, 2010, p. 3). In addition, IOM posits that today’s health care environment necessitates better-educated nurses and recommends that 80 percent of nurses be prepared at the baccaluareate or higher level by 2020.Discuss Challenges Facing Nurses

At the same time, the Carnegie Foundation recommends radically transforming nursing education (Benner et al., 2009). Its recommendations include:

1. Focus on how to apply knowledge, not only acquire it.

2. Integrate clinical and classroom teaching, rather than separately.

3. Emphasize clinical reasoning, not only critical thinking.

4. Emphasize formation, rather than socialization and role taking (Benner et al., 2009).

Even More Change . . . What does the future hold for health care? Change is the one constant. Quality of care will continue to be monitored and reported with accompanying demands to tie pay to performance. Technology of care, communication, and data management will become more and more com- plex as computer processing power and storage capacity expand (Clancy, 2010) and equipment becomes smaller and more mobile. Access to care and how to pay for it will continue to drive policy and funding decisions. Everyone in health care must learn to live with ambiguity and be flexible enough to adapt to the changes it brings.Discuss Challenges Facing Nurses

Challenges Facing Nurses and Managers Every nurse must be prepared to manage. Specific training in management skills is needed in nursing school as well as in the work setting. Most important, however, is that nurses be able to transfer their newly acquired skills to the job itself. Thus, nurse managers must be experienced in management themselves and be able to assist their staff in developing adequate management skills. Management training for nurses at all levels is essential for any organization to be effi- cient and effective in today’s cost-conscious and competitive environment.

The challenge for nurse managers and administrators is how to manage in a constantly changing system. Working with teams of administrators and providers to deliver quality health care in the most cost-effective manner offers opportunity as well. Nurses’ unique skills in communication, negotiation, and collaboration position them well for the system of today and for the future.

Nurse managers today are challenged to monitor and improve quality care, manage with limited resources, help design new systems of care, supervise teams of professionals and nonprofessionals from a variety of cultures, and, finally, teach personnel how to function well in

8 PART 1 • UNDERSTANDING NURSING MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONS

the new system. This is no small task. It requires that nurses and their managers be committed, involved, enthusiastic, flexible, and innovative; above all else, it requires that they have good mental and physical health. Because the nurse manager of today is responsible for others’ work, the nurse manager must also be a coach, a teacher, and a facilitator. The manager works through others to meet the goals of individuals, of the unit, and of the organization. Most of all, the man- ager must be a leader who can motivate and inspire.Discuss Challenges Facing Nurses

Nurse managers must address the interests of administrators, colleagues in other disciplines, and employees. All want the same result—quality care. Administrators, however, must focus on cost and efficiency in order for the organization to compete and survive. Colleagues want col- laborative and efficient systems of care. Employees want to be supported in their work with ad- equate staffing, supplies, equipment, and, most of all, time. Therein lies the conflict. Between all of them is the nurse manager, who must balance the needs of all. Being a nurse manager today is the most challenging opportunity in health care. This book is designed to prepare you to meet these challenges.Discuss Challenges Facing Nurses

What You Know Now • Health care is radically changing and is expected to continue to change in the foreseeable future. • The tension between providing adequate nursing care and paying for that care will continue to dominate

health policy decisions. • Reducing medical errors is the goal of quality initiatives. • Cultural, gender, and generational diversity will continue to shape the nursing workforce. • Evidence-based practice will guide nursing decisions into the future. • Electronic health records, robotics, and virtual care are just a few of the many technologies continuing to

evolve. • Expansion in communication technologies will continue to offer opportunities and challenges to health

care organizations. • Threats of natural disasters, terrorism, and pandemics require all health care organizations to plan and

prepare for mass casualties. • The nurse manager is challenged to manage in a constantly changing environment.Discuss Challenges Facing Nurses

Questions to Challenge You 1. Name three changes that you would suggest to reduce the cost of health care without compromising

patients’ health and safety. Talk about how you could help make these changes. 2. What mechanisms could you suggest to improve and ensure the quality of care? (Don’t just suggest

adding nursing staff!) 3. How could you help reduce medical errors? What can you suggest that a health care organization

could do? 4. Do your clinical decisions rely on evidence-based practice? If you answer no, why not? 5. What are some ways that nurses could take advantage of emerging technologies in health care and