Every year, hospital week is honored to coincide with Florence Nightingale’s May 12th birthday. She is credited as the founder of modern nursing, recognized as both an accomplished statistician and a pioneer of social reform. A reminder that healthcare is nothing without the heart of its nursing staff. As a testimony in practice, ratios of nurses to doctors to administer quality care and cost-effectiveness reveals a recommendation of 4:1. Queries as to ideal ratios for nurses to patients yield a 1:5 response. An effective nursing department is integral to quality care.

The operative word here is Quality in care. Given their essential roles in healthcare across the board, empowerment and safety are the key drivers to success as a whole. The Committee on the Work Environment for Nurses and Patient Safety published an apt paper entitled Keeping Patients Safe: Transforming the Work Environment of Nurses in which they highlight the grave importance of nursing roles and the diminishing trends that threaten patient safety.

Threat sources that contribute to patient safety include management, workforce, work processes, and organizational culture. Each of these categories are most impacted by nurses due to the sheer design of healthcare staffing structures. When speaking of management, the advisement is to heed evidence-based management and leadership practices. This directive echoes the need to adopt and evolve through knowledge sharing. It is a call to constant iterative change.

As they delve into the workforce aspect, the call is to maximize the capability of the workforce. This speaks to empowerment and efficiency measures. In order to elevate healthcare, we must alleviate antiquated, non-productive operational guardrails that hinder success in overall patient care.

This is intimately tied to their next threat point regarding work processes. All operations should be designed to reduce error. As the saying cautions, “too many cooks in the kitchen” is the sentiment echoed here. When work streams are overlapping and unclear, the chance for errors increases. Considering the recommendation of staffing ratios, role delineation, clear communication, and supported empowerment are the desired traits to deliver best in class care.

Their final summarized call to action references an organizational culture that is rooted in safety first. Culture is key. A petri dish of collaboration, respect, empowerment, proper tools, and support will grow a far superior service than one without.

Nursing Necessities

Essential protection designed for those who care most.