Quite often, nurse leaders are faced with ethical dilemmas, such as those associated with choices between competing needs and limited resources. Resources are finite, and competition for those resources occurs daily in all organizations.
For example, the use of 12-hour shifts has been a strategy to retain nurses. However, evidence suggests that as nurses work more hours in a shift, they commit more errors. How do effective leaders find a balance between the needs of the organization and the needs of ensuring quality, effective, and safe patient care?
In this Discussion, you will reflect on a national healthcare issue and examine how competing needs may impact the development of polices to address that issue.
Resources
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
WEEKLY RESOURCES
To Prepare:
Review the Resources and think about the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously selected for study in Module 1.
Reflect on the competing needs in healthcare delivery as they pertain to the national healthcare issue/stressor you previously examined.
By Day 3 of Week 3
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 the national healthcare issue/stressor you selected. What are the impacts, and how might policy address these competing needs? Be specific and provide examples.
Learning Resources
Required Readings
Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
Chapter 2, “Transformational Leadership: Complexity, Change, and Strategic Planning” (pp. 34–62)
Chapter 3, “Current Challenges in Complex Health Care Organizations and the Quadruple Aim” (pp. 66–97)
Read any TWO of the following (plus TWO additional readings on your selected issue):
Amalberti, R., Vincent, C., Nicklin, W., & Braithwaite, J. (2019). Coping with more people with more illness Part 1: The nature of the challenge and the implications for safety and quality.Links to an external site. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 31(2), 154–158.
Bangani, R. G., Menon, V., & Jovanov, E. (2021). Personalized stress monitoring AI system for healthcare workersLinks to an external site.. 2021 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM), 2021 IEEE International Conference On, 2992–2997.
Carter, M. W., & Busby, C. R. (2023). How can operational research make a real difference in healthcare? Challenges of implementationLinks to an external site.. European Journal of Operational Research, 306(3), 1059–1068.
Dixon-Woods, M., McNicol, S., & Martin, G. (2012, October 1). Ten challenges in improving quality in healthcare: lessons from the Health Foundation’s programme evaluations and relevant literatureLinks to an external site.. BMJ Quality & Safety, 21(10), 876.
Gjellebæk, C., Svensson, A., Bjørkquist, C., Fladeby, N., & Grundén, K. (2020). Management challenges for future digitalization of healthcare servicesLinks to an external site.. Futures, 124.
Greco, E., Graziano, E. A., Stella, G. P., Mastrodascio, M., & Cedrone, F. (2022). The impact of leadership on perceived work-related stress in healthcare facilities organisationsLinks to an external site.. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 35(4/5), 734-748.
Hale, K. (2021). Benefits and challenges of social media in health careLinks to an external site.. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 44(3), 309–315.
Navaz, A. N., Serhani, M. A., El Kassabi, H. T., Al-Qirim, N., & Ismail, H. (2021). Trends, technologies, and key challenges in smart and connected healthcareLinks to an external site.. IEEE Access, Access, IEEE, 9, 74044–74067.
Slonim, A. (2023). Top challenges facing healthcare: Back to basicsLinks to an external site.. Physician Leadership Journal, 10(2), 12–14. https://doi.org/10.55834/plj.2064149664
