RETENTION OF NURSES

Retention of Nurses in Hospitals: Strategies

Retention of Nurses in Hospitals: Strategies

Introduction

Nursing is very important in the field of medicine. It is due to them that patients get good care and they are available for the patients at all times. Despite of serving the patients regularly and taking good care of them, they face certain issues which makes it difficult for them to stay at the hospital. A good number of nurses are now leaving hospitals mainly due to the ethical issues. Nurses face a lot of problem in complying with the code of ethics and they fail to ensure that the needs of the patients are fulfilled. Codes of ethics are designed to ensure quality work in medical care. “In the literature, the terms 'ethical challenge' and 'ethical distress' are also used to denote problems or issues with an ethical dimension but with no exact definition.” (Aitamaa, Et. al, 2010)

Codes of ethics were initiated in 1995 by the ANA Board of Directors and the Congress on Nursing Practice. An initial substantive critique and suggested modifications, final recommendations and open review process was created by a task force known as Code of Ethics Project Task Force in 1996.

Scope of the Problem

Nurses make sure that they maintain professional relationships with patients and respect their individuality, dignity, uniqueness and worth. They should not be affected by the social or economic status, race, religion or caste of the patient and personal characteristics of the patient ((Mulluanbach, 2010).

Nurses in the field of medicine are obliged to respect the patients and the patients are also required to respect them. Nurses should make sure that every patient is given the right treatment without any discrimination and should be given good care. Nursing is a universal need and every patient needs to be treated, keeping aside the individual differences. Professional relationships are developed between the patients and the nurses ((Wieck, Et. al, 2010 ). This relationship does not mean that the nurses do whatever the patient says, but the nurse should respect the patient as a person.

Nurses are advocates of medical and humane care. They participate in assuring that the patients get their due care and they try to minimize unwanted treatment. Patients should not be treated on the basis of their personal attributes or other things. On the other hand, patients should also be cooperative with the nurses and let them do their work as they know their work best. Nurses are responsible for treating patients without giving preference to the nature of their health problem. They have considerable experience in their field and are required to practice accordingly (Rosenkoetter, Et. al, 2010).

The right to self determination with respect to nursing is an ethical issue. Thought the nurses have experience and know what treatment should be given to the patient according to the symptoms, nurses should inform the patients what treatment is been given to them. Patients have the right to know what is going on and what treatment is being given to ...