The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is committed to bringing its influence and resources to create healthy, safe, and humane work environments that respect the rights and responsibilities of all people, including patients, their families, nurses, and other health care professionals (AACN, 2016). In order to create these healthy work environments for patients, nurses, and healthcare professionals, the AACN created Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments. The six standards: skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision-making, appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition, and authentic leadership give healthcare professionals the framework necessary for healthy and safe work environments, as well as, give professionals opportunities necessary for growth and development (AACN). After …show more content…
The AACN suggests nurses nurse staffing must ensure an effective match between nurse skills and patient needs (AACN, 2016). Not only does inappropriate staffing lead to medical errors, it can also bring about stressed and overworked nurses. The unit I work on is often short-staffed leading nurses to take on more than they are used to and leaving charge nurses scrambling to assign duties and calling in reinforcements. To the best of my ability, I will try to match my nurse’s abilities to the patient’s acuities and request critique if the assignments do not work effectively with current staffing. In order to address the staffing needs and the workflow that changes hour to hour, I believe the implementation of a resource nurse role will help address the staffing needs when patient loads become hectic. In order to keep the patients safe and staff happy, healthy, and stress free, it is crucial to put people where they work best and continually reassess the patient load and offer my leadership services as