Competing needs such as the needs of patients, the workforce, and resources might influence the development of a policy because a balance is needed between these needs. According to Griffiths et al. (2021), hospitals are under pressure to utilize nurses who are in shortage as efficiently as possible and to contain costs. The goal is to ensure the unit staffing system is capable of meeting fluctuating patient demands while preventing wasteful utilization of human resources and connected costs.
Flexible nurse staffing approaches have been proposed as a scheme for ensuring the maintenance of staffing levels amid nursing shortages. Nevertheless, some staffing approaches, for example, the utilization of agency staff, can be an expensive solution, and healthcare organizations must look for options to reduce temporary staffing costs. Additionally, there are patient safety concerns related to the utilization of agency staff, such as unfamiliarity with ward practices, disruptions in team communication, and continuity of care (Dall’Ora & Griffiths, 2018).
Healthcare organizations are struggling to meet the increasing patient demands amid a shortage of nursing staff. As such, many organizations are requiring nurses to work for long hours, which causes burnout, job dissatisfaction, and nurse turnover. According to. Lockhart (2020), hospitals are struggling to retain nurses. Eighteen percent of newly graduated nurses will change jobs or even quit the nursing profession within the first year of employment. Shift length is the major cause of nursing turnover, with healthcare facilities that use twelve-hour shifts. Finding it difficult to retain nurses. Nursing turnover is costly for an organization since an organization incurs between 40, 300 dollars and 64, 000 dollars to reinstate a single nurse.