Answer

Nurse Turnover

            Nurse turnover refers to the act of a nurse leaving the position within an organization. When the rate of turnover is high, it becomes expensive, disruptive, and may even threaten the quality of care offered to patients. It is why nurse turnover has become a growing concern for institutions and even the population at large. In most cases, the reason why nurses turn over their position is due to personal reasons, attraction to other companies, and the presence of unfavourable working conditions. Fortunately, this problem can be controlled by considering various interventions such as better working conditions and career advancement opportunities that will address them and make the nurses more comfortable in the organization.

            Impacts on Quality of Care and Patient Safety

            Nursing is an essential factor that is closely linked to the quality of care offered in hospitals, as well as the nature of patient outcomes. When the turnover is high, an organization will experience a shortage of the nursing staff (Faraz, 2017). This means that each staff will have to care for more patients at a given time. Due to feeling overworked, the nurses may not be able to offer the best care for patients as they try to rush to complete their rounds. Tit impacts patient satisfaction and outcomes as their needs will not be fully met. Patient safety is also impacted because the nurses do not get ample time with each individual patient. Therefore, adverse effects may be missed as nurses are unable to take time to monitor each of them. When the turnover is high, the remaining staff experiences reduced morale. That is because they are being overworked and are always exhausted from the additional responsibilities (Munn, 2017). Also, when a key figure is lost, the workforce suffers from the unexpected change. Hence, the nursing staff may not be motivated to carry out their duties as before, leading to many quality of care issues that may even lead to patient mortality.

            Professional Standards of Practice and Nursing Turnover

            Professional standards of practice are essential in reducing nurse turnover by promoting retention. The highest quality expectations should be set during the nurse hiring and staffing process so as to ensure that only the best are recruited. Also, once they are hired, supervision should be considered full time to offer them guidance on any areas that they may need clarification. Next, the process of nursing management should be enhanced across all departments, including the areas where decisions are made (Faraz, 2017). This will ensure that factors affecting the nurses are all handled with caution so as to promote retention. Also, to keep them motivated and make them feel appreciated, the organization should consider counselling and mentorship programs. It will ensure that they are constantly reminded of why they chose this profession, and how important they are to patients.

            Since every work environment has phases where certain crises are experienced, the nurses need a leader who will be able to stand with them and ensure that their morale is not affected. That is why the nurse leadership positions should be awarded to highly skilled and knowledgeable individuals (Munn, 2017). They will work alongside the nurses during difficult situations and ensure that they overcome it without feeling overwhelmed. This will reduce turnover rates since the professional will be willing to continue working in the organization and caring for patients.

            Nursing Leaders versus Nursing Managers

            The nurse leader differs from the nurse manager in various ways. The nurse leader is less focused on tasks as compared to the nurse manager who works to ensure that nurses complete their duties as assigned. In relation to nurse turnover, the nurse leader may play an effective role in improving retention by setting standards and working on transformations meant to address the needs of the nurses (Sherman, 2019). The leader interacts with the nurses at all times. Thus, it is possible to understand their expectations and areas that they feel needs to change. This information should be shared with the organization’s leadership as the nurse leader pushes for change as required. Eventually, the policies that are introduced will be in line with the expectations held by the nurse professionals thereby improving their job satisfaction. When the nurses are satisfied with their positions, they will have no reason to quit or go in search of better working conditions.

            The nurse manager, on the other hand, plans the patient care, oversees the staff schedules, performances, as well as the career advancement opportunities (Hancock & Meadows, 2020). Therefore, to help in reducing employee turnover, the manager should identify the problems that are being experienced by nurses as they attempt to fulfil their role. By pushing for opportunities of education, the nurses will feel appreciated and better equipped to work on their duties.

            Ensuring Professionalism through Diverse Healthcare Settings

            The nurse manager and nurse leader are both responsible for establishing a safe and healthy work environment that will support the practice of the nurses and even promote patient engagement. They should foster a culture where the interdisciplinary team members are given an opportunity to contribute to the best patient outcomes and even grow professionally (Hancock & Meadows, 2020). They are both change agents who should use their power to push for necessary policy alterations that will favour both the nurses and patients. For instance, since they understand that being overworked impacts productivity, they should work together with the management system to consider approaches that will ensure the hiring and retention of the best qualified nurses (Sherman, 2019). That is because retention is the key to ensuring the turnover problem is dealt with effectively. They should work to develop regulatory guidelines that will protect the nurses from being overworked and forced to deal with consequences of having a number of patients to care for that they cannot manage. They should educate the nurses on these standards so that they are aware of how to implement them in practice.

            Leadership Style to Address Nurse Turnover

            The best leadership style to use in this situation is democratic leadership. It is a style which involves sharing decision making processes with all the employees while still providing guidance. Even though the leader retains the power to make the final decision, the team members are invited to contribute in the process. This option is considered to be the best for dealing with nurse turnover issues as it will make the nurses feel valued, give them a sense of power over their positions, and even motivate outstanding productivity. Basically, it is the best option to consider when the goal is to motivate the employees.

Conclusion

            The problem of nurse turnover has been greatly affecting the healthcare institutions for many years. However, many institutions have managed to deal with the problem by considering the needs of the nurses and using various interventions to keep them motivated. The nurses need to feel appreciated, and the working conditions should be improved so that they may not have a reason to quit from their positions.