StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Employee Safety in Nursing - Term Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Employee Safety in Nursing" focuses on the critical analysis of the major issues on employee safety in nursing. The rights of employees in the workplace are not always respected. The size of the organization and the nature of the business operations are likely to influence the employees…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.7% of users find it useful
Employee Safety in Nursing
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Employee Safety in Nursing"

Download file to see previous pages

Suggestions are made for resolving the problem, or at least for controlling the further expansion of the problem. The barriers and the obstacles that the suggested measures are expected to face are also presented. It is concluded that employee safety in nursing may be difficult to be appropriately promoted; the nature of the particular profession, being related to health, seems that hides the potential risks for the sector’s employees. Also, the supportive role of nurses can be considered as opposed to dynamic contests, even for claiming rights, which are recognized by the law. The fact that nurses are at a rather low position in the organizational hierarchy is another factor preventing individuals working in the specific position to ask for the protection of their rights. The legislative texts and practices used in the US for ensuring the safety of nurses are mentioned to show, at least indicatively, the progress made in the particular field and to explain the conditions in which such measures are likely to be developed – since suggestions are made for the increase of safety of nurses in healthcare units of various size.

Employee safety is a complex concept; in nursing, the challenges faced by regulators trying to control the problem are many – mostly because of the continuous exposure of nurses to patients with various psychological problems, a fact that increases the chances for a violent event against nurses in the workplace. On the other hand, the volume of work in the specific sector is usually high; the needs and the rights of employees are often ignored due to the lack of time availability; the health problems of patients are set as a priority, an approach which can be accepted but up to a level. Employees in the healthcare sector have equal rights to health and safety, as also the patients. The nature of their work should not be used as an excuse for ignoring the law focusing on the health and safety of employees in the particular sector. The problem is higher for nurses; their direct involvement in the treatment of many diseases daily makes their profession extremely risky – referring to the exposure of nurses to infections of various types due to the lack of adequate safety measures. On the other hand, due to the continuous development of technology, the complexity and the volume of services in the healthcare sector have been increased. The health risks for nurses have been significantly increased, a fact that proves the inability of the state to develop effective rules for ensuring health and safety in nursing. It should be noted that the causes of the problem can be identified not only in the advances in technology in the health care sector but also in the increase in the number of cases handled daily. As the number of people having access to healthcare services is increasing, so do the risks for nurses. The continuous increase of immigrants, who are exposed to many infections due to their living conditions, is another factor threatening the health of nurses. At the same time, the training of nurses on health and safety is not always appropriate; under the pressure of time – for covering emergent needs in healthcare units across the country – the information provided to nurses regarding their health and safety is usually limited leading to their exposure to severe health and safety problems.

Reference should be also made to the following fact: the management of healthcare units is usually problematic. The need for covering operational costs is usually set as a priority; administrative issues of significant importance, like the health and safety of employees, are often ignored. Moreover, the position of nurses within each healthcare organization is rather of limited power – meaning the power to press for the respect of nurses’ rights. Because of the high competition in the job market, nurses are often likely to avoid fighting for their rights, even if their life is in danger due to severe organizational failures. Of course, this is a problem common for various industrial and scientific sectors; however, in the healthcare sector, the problem seems to be clearer, maybe because life is proven to have two different values: when coming to patients, health risks are considered as of critical importance – being the key priority for the administrators of every healthcare unit. However, when the health of nurses is set under discussion, then a different hierarchy of values often appears; safety is of primary value but only regarding customers, not employees.

Employers in the healthcare sector, meaning the state or individuals, have to face a series of challenges: they have to prioritize the needs and the rights of stakeholders in a way that conflicts are avoided. The particular sector is differentiated from other sectors at the following point: the interests of part of the stakeholders may be directly opposed to the interests and the needs of another group of stakeholders. The specific problem is made clear by referring to the following example: in an emergent event, for instance, an accident, nurses may be asked to intervene while the safety issues involved are many. Nurses should normally deny participating; however, most commonly, nurses are likely to ignore the safety risks of a particular case and are likely to be involved even if this initiative would threaten their health. Because of the above fact, the responsibility of administrators of health care units for ensuring the health and safety of nurses is increased. ...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Employee Safety in Nursing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/nursing/1426341-employee-safety
(Employee Safety in Nursing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/nursing/1426341-employee-safety.
“Employee Safety in Nursing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1426341-employee-safety.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Employee Safety in Nursing

The Just Culture Model on Patient Safety

In reference to transformational leadership, it fronts for advocacy as an attribute of patients as well as leaders in nursing.... In terms of Professional Engagement, imminent evidence in this case is that which would promote organizational leadership as part of nursing (Technology, 2012).... The Just Culture Model on Patient safety Name: Institution: Introduction The alternative to a punitive system is the application of the just culture model....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Wide Range of Human Resource Policy

This paper will explore the policies that govern the proper use and disposal of needles and sharp objects in hospitals or nursing homes.... Respect to the human resource policies is the core objectives of every worker, especially those who work in hospitals and nursing homes.... The workers in the nursing homes should respect the agreement that they had with their employer, and perform their duties to the expected standards without compromise....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Non-Punitive Environment

linical issues must be connected to conceptual models f nursing.... This substantiates the clinical issue as valid to the practice f nursing.... Jacqueline Fawcett (2000) provides a comprehensive review nursing practice, considered from the vantage f widely recognized nursing conceptual frameworks and models.... Most nursing theories utilize the four metaparadims: nursing, health, client, and environment....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Employee Safety, Health, and Welfare

Different laws were imposed to protect the worker's safety, health and welfare covering all the rights of an employee. One law is the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 which covers the right of the employee to file a leave with a total of twelve unpaid workweeks for every twelve-month period for the following reasons: she will be bearing a child soon or his wife, in case of a man, it includes the nursing time for the baby, and recovery of the female employee who gave birth; when the employee is about to adopt or be engaged in a foster care with his son or daughter ; his spouse, child or relat… ive has a serious health problem and he has to take care of them; or the employee himself is having a serious health condition that he cant work efficiently....
4 Pages (1000 words) Assignment

Health, Safety and Security in the Salon

In the paper “Health, safety and Security in the Salon” the author analyzes five steps to risk assessment in the salon.... He states that the main areas of safety procedures that salon staff and employers need to be aware are emergency procedures, usage of salon chemicals safely.... Hair dressing products and chemicals also pose safety and health risks to clients and to the staff....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

The New Safety Program

nursing Homes by Kim Shady, Focus on Laundry.... Warnings need be posted on… Four probable hazardous conditions include unlabeled reagents and chemicals, slippery floors, empty sockets, poor storage facilities and less cleaning space. It is highly advisable that a firm The New safety Program Affiliation: Question In the case of a laundry business, owners should identify risks and unsafe conditions so as to create awareness to the employees.... To ensure that those who need to wear goggle put them on; the owners should ensure their availability and educate the employees on the need for personal protection and safety (Shady, 2007)....
1 Pages (250 words) Research Paper

Safety Management

Thus, by putting in place these safety systems, both the company and its employees would be saving a lot of resources that they would otherwise use in nursing these injuries and illnesses.... These health and safety programs aid in the installation of a safety culture that helps in the reduction of any form of… At the same time, these programs improve the bottom line for departmental managers.... safety and health payoffs are organizational practices that would assure lasting success for the organization at hand....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Health and Safety System in Delight Limited

  This paper discusses the health and safety system in Delight Limited.... The paper analyses the benefits of health and safety management system to an organization.... elight is a growing company and in its quest for growth and development, the company has to hire a health and safety officer in order to conform to the required regulations.... In this regard the officer after applying for the job, I have been given the job and am now the company's health and safety officer....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us