Employee Safety in Nursing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Employee Safety in Nursing - Term Paper Example Emphasis is given on the failures of the relevant rules but also on the causes that have led to the continuous expansion of the problem. 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 US for ensuring the safety of nurses are mentioned in order 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. 2. Employee safety in nursing 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 s afety, 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 on a daily basis 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 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 of technology in the health care sector but also in the increase of the number of cases handled daily. As the number of peo ple having access to healthcare services is increased, 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