Acute Care Nurses: A Case Study

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Two surveys, consisting of acute care nurses, were conducted on acute care wards in six hospitals. Responses were gathered from the nurses concerning nurse patient ratios and the awareness of the how their facility determined the need for staffing for the older client. The data received displayed the need for healthcare facilities to increase the amount of employees to provide their older clients with safe staffing. From August to September 2011 and October 2011, two surveys were sent to 125,062 charge nurses and nurses. 240 surveyors responded who work or have worked on an acute care floor with older clients. A crucial part of this research was to identify how healthcare facilities were handling their staffing on the units with increasing dependency of old and frail inpatients.
The older adult population is expanding more rapidly than any other group, with the greatest increase in those older than 75 years of age. This population trend means that patients in all healthcare settings increasingly
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Difficulties arose for nurses to provide proper care and ensure safety. Research by Hayes and Ball (2012) state, “These environments often present unique challenges for nurses to supervise and support clients who are frail, confused, or unsteady on their feet” (pp. 21-22). When asked if any essential care activity was neglected during their shift nine out of ten nurses responded “that at least one aspect of care had been neglected due to lack of time” (Haynes & Ball, 2012). Lack of time will also suggest a lack of staff. Responses then go to tell, there are not enough nurses staffed in one 12 hour shift to meet all the needs of their clients. Two thirds of the surveyors revealed they did not know the last time or how often the levels of staff were reviewed or adjusted to provide consistent safe