Post an explanation of how competing needs, such as the needs of the workforce, resources, and patients, may impact the development of policy. Then, describe any specific competing needs that may impact t
Organizational Policies and Practices to Support Healthcare Issues
Impact of Competing Needs On Policy Development
Competing needs, such as those of patients, the resources, and the workforce, may influence the formulation of policies because competing demands must harmonize with the policy’s plan. For example, a policy acknowledging that there are enough qualified nurses is necessary to meet workforce and patient needs while reducing financial costs during pandemics such as COVID-19. To achieve effective healthcare delivery in terms of quality, quantity, and expenses, efficient workforce application and implementation are critical (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011). Failure to implement and utilize the workforce could result in a medical shortage of staff during the pandemic. Consequently, this has negative implications, including poor quality of care due to a lack of resources to provide essential services and heavy workloads among available nurses, leading to patients’ avoidable deaths.
Specific Competing Needs Impacting the COVID-19 Pandemic In Healthcare
Competing needs specifically impacting COVID-19 in healthcare as a national health stressor include an excellent match between qualified nursing staff and the requirements of patients. Organizations are looking into ways to strike a perfect balance between nursing staff competence and size and patients ‘ needs to provide high-quality, safe care and exemplary patient services that lower costs. Training ICU nursing staff is one measure to ensure a proper balance (Turale & Nantsupawat, 2021). This balances resources needed with resources available, avoiding additional expenses associated with overstaffing the ICU and decreasing employee satisfaction or patient satisfaction related to understaffing the ICU.
Impacts of the Competing Needs and Addressing the Competing Needs
The needs of the staff and patients and the organization’s resources are all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic influences employee dissatisfaction, burnout, and increased workload (Edmonds et al., 2020). A policy could resolve such competing needs by securing an optimized nurse-to-patient proportion, which would result in better nursing staff in the organization and improved patient care (Edmonds et al., 2020). The policy may specify a specific nurse-to-patient ratio in the ICU.
References
Edmonds, J. K., Kneipp, S. M., & Campbell, L. (2020). A call to action for public health nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Public Health Nursing (Boston, Mass.), 37(3), 323. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fphn.12733