Hello
Hello, my name is Alyssa McLaughlin and I am a registered nurse at Essentia Health in Duluth. MN and have been for the past year. Today I am here to talk about staffing in the workplace this topic is one that is constantly on minds of those who work in acute care, I want you to think about your loved ones, they come to the hospital, are admitted to a nurse with an unsafe staffing assignment. Your loved one would be at increased risks including, infection, falls, injuries, medical errors, and lastly possible death. As a nurse we are responsible to ensure “quality patient care is provided and outcomes are met” (Finkelman, 2016, p.232), but if this is not an option your loved ones and our patients will be the ones encountering an unwanted and unforeseen circumstance. According to the American Nurses Association, safe staffing can be a matter of life and death. There has been a proposed patient safety act acquired by seven states. This act includes creating staff specific to each unit and making sure staffing has adequate orientation to the workplace, among other things. Ultimately by having safe staffing patients; infection risk decreases, mediation errors are avoided, and falls, injuries, and death can also be avoided. Appropriate RN staffing helps improve clinical outcome and decreases the readmission rates. I ask you to think about your loved ones, would you want the unforeseen circumstance to affect your family? I would like you to consider Minnesota in acquiring this act; it could help save the lives of our patients. If you have any additional questions feel free to contact me, I will leave my email with your office, thank you and have a great day.
