Part 3: My Research
I began my research with researching the topic of triage. I discovered an article that describes what triage is, a means in prioritizing clinical need to deliver the most effective care. This article explained that “Primary care triage is needed because we cannot offer every patient exactly what they want, in terms of timing, length and urgency of appointments.” The article also explains that triage does not mean to diagnose and treat, but to assess and assign. This is necessary in a place like Guilford Immediate Care, because it is fast paced and there is no room for error. This connects to my next piece of research. The source educates the readers of the importance of staffing in the workplace, as there is no room for error in the healthcare field. Also, it explains that in order for the business to reach its full potential, each employee must reach their full potential. It also explains that in order for that to happen then they must have a staff that meshes well together so that they can individually develop. Also, in this chapter, the authors mention an incident of nurses complaining about the staffing of the hospital. It explains that the organization fixed the problem with staffing and the benefits from the solution were greater than the costs. Finally, I encountered an article called "More Nurses, Less Death" which directly addresses my essential question. It explains that “When nurses have to care for too many patients, they may not be able to deliver pain drugs on time or keep a close enough eye on patients with troubling symptoms." It also told about a study, California has laws about the minimum patient to nurse ratio and the study conducted revealed that if Pennsylvania and New Jersey had the same laws then 10-13% of surgical deaths in New Jersey and Pennsylvania could have been prevented. The study further proves that a low nurse to patient ratio causes increased mortality and “It also found that nurses in California liked their jobs better and were less likely to feel burned out.” I also conducted an interview with former ER nurse Jennifer Ball which was real world evidence that this issue creates more problems in hospitals.