Inventory in Healthcare Discussion Post; HOMEWORK

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Q#1 Inventory Discussion

In the health care system, inventory is vital to ensure that healthcare services are delivered to patients as needed. Healthcare inventories refer to various idle resources maintained in different forms such as raw materials, purchased and manufactured parts, subassemblies, and finished products (Kanda, 2008).   Nurses can be viewed as inventory because they are part of the work in progress (WIP) inventory in terms of the labor they provide. As inventories, nurses require well-honed skills in coaching, motivating, and leading a professional team, so that safe and effective care is delivered, supported by systems where quality improvement and effective stewardship of scarce resources are complementary (Heydari, Najar, & Bakhshi, 2015). As inventories, nurses play an important function in healthcare delivery. Nurses are the caregivers for patients and help manage the physical needs of patients, prevent illnesses, and treat diseases. To perform their functions as inventories, nurses need to observe and monitor the patient, record any relevant information to assist in the treatment decision.

However, nurse inventory can go “spoiled” when there are too many nurses working on a few patients. As noted in the video by Kanda (2008), too much inventory means an increased cost of operation. The more nurse inventory a healthcare organization holds, the more the organization will have to spend on labor to manage the inventory, space to hold it, and insurance to protect the nurses against damage. Nursing inventory can also go “spoiled” when nurses are not provided with the required materials to care for their patients (Heydari, Najar, & Bakhshi, 2015). Therefore, to prevent nurse inventory from getting spoiled, it is important to ensure that equipment is available whenever required and wherever required by the nurses for them to function properly.

Q#2 Staffing Model Discussion

Some scholars believe that staffing is all about number game, in which the number of skilled staff fluctuates per patient volume. However, this approach does not always appear to address patient acuity, nursing competencies, a mix of skills, the patient complexity of care required, or the resulting workload (Harris Healthcare, 2020). Therefore, to ensure positive patient outcomes, the hospital where I work for decided to apply the acuity-based staffing model to ensure quality patient outcomes, a stable nursing workforce, and the financial viability of the hospital. The acuity-based staffing model works by aligning nurses and other staffing to the patients’ needs for care, in which nursing knowledge and judgment re valuably augmented to assure accurate and safe staffing while keeping costs down (Nguyen, 2015). However, the acuity-based staffing model requires an evidence-based nurse workforce plan to enable a new level of CNO and CFO partnership to support the highest possible quality of care, staffing safety, and cost management.

In an acuity-based staffing model, nurses are the key providers of care and link the patient to care provided by the hospital. According to Gelinas (2017), Acuity-based staffing maximizes patient outcomes and nurse satisfaction while providing significant fiscal benefits to an organization. The model is also data-driven and event time focus where reduction cost, quality, and high performance and effectiveness are of key concern. This model also integrates clinical and operational data into nursing business intelligence and analysis (Gelinas, 2017). Overall, the main aim of acuity-based staffing is to reduce costs and increase the quality of care. At my organization, we recognize that the role of nurses within the entire healthcare delivery spectrum team is becoming increasingly critical, as value-based care models link hospital reimbursement to patient outcomes (Nguyen, 2015). Like any other progressive hospital, my hospital continually focuses on the quality of patient outcomes and safety via its approach to nursing by implanting an acuity-based staffing model for accuracy and precision in staffing for positive patient outcomes.

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References

Gelinas, L. (2017). Practical Steps for Applying Acuity Based Staffing - What Nurse Leaders Need to Know. Retrieved 23 September 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky_F7L0wK-s

Harris Healthcare 2020). Acuity-Based Staffing - Harris Healthcare. (Retrieved 23 September 2020, from https://www.harrishealthcare.com/our-solutions/acuity-based-staffing/

Heydari, A., Najar, A. V., & Bakhshi, M. (2015). Resource management among intensive care nurses: An ethnographic study. Materia Socio-medica, 27(6), 390.

Kanda, A. (2008). Lecture - 38 Basic Inventory Principles. Retrieved 23 September 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tO5MmOBdkxk&ab_channel=nptelhrd

Nguyen, A. (2015). Acuity-based staffing: Reducing costs, increasing quality. Nursing management, 46(1), 35-39.