Chapter 17 Assignment

Chapter 17 Assignment
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course Title
Date of Submission

The staffing needs for the day shift are as follows
Number of staff hours per shift
1RN 8
1LPN 8
1CLERK 4
Total Nursing Hours 20 hours
The staffing needs for day shift for patients in the category I during day shift is 2.3 while the total number of patients in the unit is 7. When we divide the total nursing hours with the number of patients, we will get the NCH/PPD which is 20 hours/7 patients. The resulting NCH/PPD is 2.86 which is greater than the staffing needs 2.3 meaning that we are overstaffed. On the other hand, the current NCH/PPD which is 2.86 is less than the NCH/PPD which is needed for the day shift for patients in category II which is at 2.9. It, therefore, means that patients in category II are understaffed. Patients in category III are also understaffed since the NCH/PPD that is available is less compared to the 3.4 that is needed. Based on the NCH/PPD needed for the day shift for patients in category IV it is clear it is understaffed since the existing NCH/PPD is at 2.86 (Marquis & Huston, 2009). 
The patient needs would be the same since the number of patients has not changed. The staffing needs will remain constant even if there are no patients in category IV. The number of hours that the staff will be working will not increase, and the number of patients has not reduced (Penoyer, 2010).

The demand for the employees in the acuity is high since the number of patients is the same since they demand the same attention from the medical personnel. The facility still is faced with the same staffing needs, and therefore it needs to increase the number of staff to meet the needs of patients (Hoi et al., 2010).
References
Hoi, S. Y., Ismail, N., Ong, L. C., & Kang, J. (2010). Determining nurse staffing needs: The workload intensity measurement system. Journal of nursing management, 18(1), 44-53.
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2009). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer.
Penoyer, D. A. (2010). Nurse staffing and patient outcomes in critical care: a concise review. Critical care medicine, 38(7), 1521-1528.