Quality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Quality - Essay ExampleThis bill required the atomic number 20 Department of health services to adopt stipulated regulations that established the minimum nurse to patient role ratios in hospitals. This came as a response to the numerous concerns raised nigh patient safety as the dynamics of health boot became more complex and hence resulting into a shortage of nurses in the late 1990s (Donaldson and Shapiro, 2010). The minimum staffing requirements localize in place aimed to improve the quality of healthcare and patient safety as well as aiming to retain and acquire more nurses by improving the conditions of their working environment. As required by the lawfulness, the California Department of Health Services requires hospitals that provide acute care to maintain the minimum nurse to patient ratios. The stipulated ratios vary by unit ranging from 11 ratio in operating rooms, and 12 intensive care units, neonatal intensive units and slender care, as well as in post-anesthesia re covery and labor delivery. Further, the ratio is 14 in ante-partum and post-partum, requirement room and pediatric care and the emergency rooms. Its 16 on psychiatric units. In general, regular hospital units have a 15 ratio (Aiken et.al. 2010). In the subsequent eld after the California law took effect, nurses became very optimistic ab pop out the stipulated ratios. According to the California Nurses Association, the ratio law has been a large success as demonstrate by a large increase in the number of registered nurses licensed in California. Moreover, there has been a reduction in the rate of nurse disorder as a result of better job satisfaction. In addition, it has been observed to improve patient safety and hence helped to save more lives and provided nurses with a chopine to advocate for their patients (Cook et.al. 2012). However, in spite of these positive observations, hospitals are still not convinced especially in the absence of tangible evidence that the ratios set ou t actually improve the care provided by the nurses and reduce errors. A study conducted in 2002, two years before the law was implemented provided shocking findings. It showed that when a nurse is assigned four patients under his/her care, the risk of patient death rises by 7% for each additional patient assigned. The legislation which was signed into law in 1999 took effect on 1st January 2004 giving hospitals five years to implement the required changes. Contrary to the positive expectations after implementation, various problems that make the implementation process difficult to implement have been observed. A key limitation being that it requires continuous compliance with the ratio which means that the number of patients under the care of each nurse should not exceed the stipulated number at any one point in time during their shifts in any particular unit. So if a nurse has to use a restroom, then the law provides for him to reassign his/her patients to another nurse. Despite t hese minor setbacks in the implementation process, the requirements set out by the legislation have been observed to have a positive effect on the working environment of the nurses. This positive effect can be present by the increase in the