Reviews/ discussion Question wk 6 - Article Example

Nursing This paper seeks to delve into the role of nurse to patient ratios in regard to ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). This has been found to be one of the most prevalent respiratory problems across the world. To improve the health care sector, it should be noted that the level of involvement of the healthcare officers be improved to ensure that patients’ problems are given utmost attention (Marrie, 2001). The best remedial measure to mitigate the rate of spread of this infection is through improved knowledge gain on the side of nurses and preventative awareness campaign on the side of the people.

Enhanced knowledge of evidence based recommendations in prevention of VAP and a multifaceted implementation of care tools aimed at preventing this infection can greatly reduce it. However, the main problem is the actual workload against the degree of urgency needed in the intensive care units ICU (Marrie, 2001). Qualified nursing personnel are also a variable that is important in this issue. The reason as to why this acute staff shortage is of significance relates to the amount of the attention given to patients and the subsequent quality health care.

It is a fact that nursing as a profession is relatively demanding and the officers work even over time (Marrie, 2001). The effect of this is highly risky since a lower staff number is associated with poor workmanship especially in the course of delivering a service. For instance, when the health officers are overworked, there is the likelihood of making erroneous prescription to the patients. Besides, it has been found out that nurses have always mishandled the surgical instruments and even occasionally get pierced by them.

This has the immediate effect of getting the nurses contracting some diseases and further weakening the aggregate workforce (Marrie, 2001). It is notable that this disease is treatable when mechanical ventilation is offered effectively and properly. The general idea in this case is that the physical presence of the nurses is highly regarded. This becomes fairly tricky especially considering the fact that most patients require personal attention from the nurses. Application of technology and the use of medical facilities are immaterial without the incorporation of man power.

This is a fact that is impossible to refute since any machine needs a person to operate it. In the context of medical services offered to the VAP patients; one to one attention is a must (Marrie, 2001). It is not advisable to leave a patient on a medical facility without any attendance. The field of healthcare is one sector that requires enough equipment stock but with a great manpower presence. A lot of research has been done so that ultra modern automatic machines can be applied in the nursing procedures.

However, it has been realized that Pneumonia patients are always taken to the hospital when they are in chronic condition and this means that they are always admitted to the intensive care unit. VAP under this circumstance requires mechanical ventilation that can only be offered by the physical presence of a nurse (Marrie, 2001). The numerical staffing size is not the main point here but rather the unit care and personal assignment. The probability of surviving highly depends on the level of attention the patients are given when they are in the ICU facility.

Research that has been done on this subject is not convincing in regard to the conclusive relationship between the staffing and care to patients (Marrie, 2001). The statistical tests of significance and other econometric methods of the analysis indicate that there is an inverse relationship between these two variables. This result is not realistic and absolute in practical application in the medical sector. It is always possible that any statistical analysis on a given multivariate test may turn out to be against the normal expectation.

This is due to other extraneous variables that are invisible but are very significant in the overall result from any statistical test. The survival rate of many patients relies mostly on the degree of attention that they get from the nurses during medical attention (Marrie, 2001). Besides normal prescription of drugs and offering mechanical support during the nursing period, social counsel and general encouragement is vital in determining the medical condition of a patient. In any case, before assigning the nurse to the patients, the number is important.

This fact contradicts the idea being presented by the tests of the relationship between the number of nursing staff and the clients which in this case requires personal attention. An important extraneous variable that is very important in this case is the level of training and additional social ethics by the nurses (Marrie, 2001). This simply means that the knowledge and experience on handling the clients has to do with the performance of medical officers. The argument about the inverse relationship advanced by the past experiments should therefore be taken through further analysis and critical consideration to develop an appropriate remedy.

References Marrie, T. J. (2001). Community-acquired pneumonia. New York [u.a.: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers.