NURS 6053 Module 2 week 3 Assignment Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

NURS 6053 Module 2 week 3 Assignment

Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

Walden University

NURS 6053: Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership

Professor Name

Date

Developing Organizational Policies and Practices

The healthcare workers are the foundation of every healthcare system, yet over the past few years, the stress and burnout rates among them have been staggering. Existing stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic understaffing, growing patient loads, and administrative burdens have led to negative effects not only on the well-being of healthcare workers but also on patient care outcomes. This part discusses the conflicting needs that lead to stress and burnout, examines related policies, evaluates their ethical aspects, and proposes policy suggestions with the backing of scholarly evidence.

Competing Needs Impacting the Issue

Two main conflicting needs strongly influence the problem of stress and burnout among healthcare workers. First is the necessity of quality patient care, which requires time, attention, and emotional involvement of the health care providers. Second is the requirement of efficiency in the organization, which often ends up as additional workload, working longer hours, and administrative demands (Maresca et al., 2022). They are also in conflict with one another; although healthcare systems need to be cost-effective and aim to use as many resources as possible, the demands made on employees are sometimes too high, which may disrupt their physical and mental well-being. There is a need to strike a balance between these requirements because, when the well-being of the workers is not attended to, there will be a high turnover rate, low morale, and poor patient outcomes.

Applicable Organization Policy

One such policy that has a bearing on stress and burnout in most healthcare organizations is the policy on staffing ratios, where the number of patients assigned to a healthcare professional in a particular shift is determined (Prasad et al., 2021). Although it is geared towards the efficient allocation of resources and the simplification of operations, poor staffing ratios have repeatedly resulted in prolonged shifts, shorter breaks, and emotional exhaustion. Other organizations have wellness programs as well, which are aimed at helping the staff, and these programs are shallow, not well-advertised, or not planned according to the real-life experiences that front-line workers go through. Thereby, the policy has a limited effect on decreasing burnout.

Ethical Critique of the Policy

Ethically, staffing policies have their advantages and weaknesses. On the one hand, they are aimed at making the operations efficient and helping to serve more patients, which coincides with the theory of justice, i.e., providing care fairly (Maresca et al., 2022). Nevertheless, these policies are inadequate in advancing the ethical principle of beneficence, especially for healthcare workers. Overburdening of staff leads to a situation where their capacity to provide effective and caring treatment is reduced, thereby contravening the ethical commitment of not causing harm. Moreover, the rigidity of the policy rolls back the principle of autonomy because workers do not in much control over their working conditions. The conflict is between the organizational principle of efficiency and coverage of services and the ethical need to protect the employees.

Recommended Policy Changes

To achieve a healthier balance between these conflicting needs, a more holistic staffing policy needs to be implemented, one that takes into account flexible schedules, limits on the amount of work, and required rest (Di Giuseppe et al., 2021). Moreover, wellness programs are to be redesigned as strong employee assistance programs (EAPs), which include mental health counseling, peer support groups, and frequent burnout assessments. Such interventions will not only offer a practical helping hand but will be show workers that the institution respects their mental wellbeing (Leo et al., 2021). Moreover, policies should include feedback from the staff in their formulation and appraisal. Through policy participation with healthcare workers, organizations would establish a culture of inclusiveness and shared responsibilities, which would deal with both systematic inefficiency and ethical gaps.

Conclusion

Healthcare worker stress and burnout present a significant challenge to the healthcare sector, which is stoked by conflicting demands of efficiency and effective care in an operational environment and patient treatment. Existing policies, including staffing ratios, tend to favor the interests of the institution to the detriment of the welfare of the workers, and this should be of serious ethical concern. Yet, with a policy change, including the adoption of more lenient staffing frameworks and the promotion of mental health resources, companies will be able to take better care of their employees. Supported by scholarly evidence, these changes can not only facilitate ethical practice but also contribute to improved patient care and organizational sustainability. The time to mitigate the stress and burnout of healthcare workers has arrived: it is both a moral urgency and a business need.

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