TERCAP Proposal
Rasmussen University
TERCAP Proposal
The case is a about a 54 year old patient admitted for back surgery secondary to compressed
vertebrae and intense pain. The injury was serious and needed two days of hospitalization and
six more days of therapy. The nurse assigned to the patient was a pregnant RN with nine months
experience. Unfortunately, certain aspects of practice went wrong, exacerbating the patient’s
pain. The patient could not get the assistance she needed from the nurse. The nurse was found
to have breached nursing policy by not taking responsibility and not assessing the patient well.
The nurse was also expected to undertake hourly checks, which did not happen.
Part Two: Factors That Contributed To the Event and How They Can Be Addressed
In light of situational factors, it is important to mention that the RN nurse overworked and
exhausted as she was on her third 12-hour successive shift. It was inappropriate to make her
work overtime for she was pregnant. Hospitals can minimize legal risk in future by giving
pregnant staff shorter shift hours. Even though the scenario regards a 54-year old post-surgery
patients, the pregnant RN would exercise her legal rights to sue the facility in case she suffered
from an injury in the course of working overtime. Pregnancy is the nurse’s situational factor
that make her unsuitable for longer shift hours. The patient would have been given a bedpan to
address the need of going to the restroom. According to Eltaybani, Mohamed, and
Abdelwareth (2019), post-surgery patients are always weak and cannot perform basic physical
activities such as visiting a restroom. The Lack of a bedpan is a situational factor in the
patient’s environment, which the management can address by having an effective nurse call
system for comfortable recovery and patient length of stay.
When it comes to nursing factors, hospitals should provide high-quality care for post-surgery
patients. Providing high-quality care reduces patient length of stay following admission.
O’Brien, Thompson, and Hagler (2019) argues that subjecting patients to risks leads to
slower recovery and readmission. For instance, the 54-year old post-surgery patient would
have been
discharged earlier if not for her fall while going to the restroom. The nursing issue here is that
the hospital has not maintained the right nurse-patient ration, leading to exhaustion. Hiring more
nurses to maintain the right nurse-patient ratio will avoid lawsuit. Interpersonal, organizational,
and individual and nurse issues characterize the case (O’Brien, Thompson & Hagler, 2019).
Organizational issues such as nursing leadership, context of care provision, and working
schedule are evident in the case. The individual and nurse issues are the needs of the
pregnant nurse and the patient. Interpersonal issues include ineffective communication, lack
of patient care priorities, and the relationship between the patient and nurses.
The human factors emanating from the case are associated with bad HRM practices. Having
28 occupied beds with just two RNs and a single patient technician constitute an impending
catastrophe for any health care facility. The shortage of RNs in the facility is an urgent matter
that the management should address by hiring more nurses because overworking the available
nurses is unrealistic. As Similey and McCarthy (2016) rightfully reported, the hospital should
not hide behind one vacancy and call-n for lateness when they recording dismal performance in
taking care of patients. The patient would not have experienced a fall if there were enough
nurses for they would have responded when the patient pressed the nurse call button for help
Rasmussen University
TERCAP Proposal
The case is a about a 54 year old patient admitted for back surgery secondary to compressed
vertebrae and intense pain. The injury was serious and needed two days of hospitalization and
six more days of therapy. The nurse assigned to the patient was a pregnant RN with nine months
experience. Unfortunately, certain aspects of practice went wrong, exacerbating the patient’s
pain. The patient could not get the assistance she needed from the nurse. The nurse was found
to have breached nursing policy by not taking responsibility and not assessing the patient well.
The nurse was also expected to undertake hourly checks, which did not happen.
Part Two: Factors That Contributed To the Event and How They Can Be Addressed
In light of situational factors, it is important to mention that the RN nurse overworked and
exhausted as she was on her third 12-hour successive shift. It was inappropriate to make her
work overtime for she was pregnant. Hospitals can minimize legal risk in future by giving
pregnant staff shorter shift hours. Even though the scenario regards a 54-year old post-surgery
patients, the pregnant RN would exercise her legal rights to sue the facility in case she suffered
from an injury in the course of working overtime. Pregnancy is the nurse’s situational factor
that make her unsuitable for longer shift hours. The patient would have been given a bedpan to
address the need of going to the restroom. According to Eltaybani, Mohamed, and
Abdelwareth (2019), post-surgery patients are always weak and cannot perform basic physical
activities such as visiting a restroom. The Lack of a bedpan is a situational factor in the
patient’s environment, which the management can address by having an effective nurse call
system for comfortable recovery and patient length of stay.
When it comes to nursing factors, hospitals should provide high-quality care for post-surgery
patients. Providing high-quality care reduces patient length of stay following admission.
O’Brien, Thompson, and Hagler (2019) argues that subjecting patients to risks leads to
slower recovery and readmission. For instance, the 54-year old post-surgery patient would
have been
discharged earlier if not for her fall while going to the restroom. The nursing issue here is that
the hospital has not maintained the right nurse-patient ration, leading to exhaustion. Hiring more
nurses to maintain the right nurse-patient ratio will avoid lawsuit. Interpersonal, organizational,
and individual and nurse issues characterize the case (O’Brien, Thompson & Hagler, 2019).
Organizational issues such as nursing leadership, context of care provision, and working
schedule are evident in the case. The individual and nurse issues are the needs of the
pregnant nurse and the patient. Interpersonal issues include ineffective communication, lack
of patient care priorities, and the relationship between the patient and nurses.
The human factors emanating from the case are associated with bad HRM practices. Having
28 occupied beds with just two RNs and a single patient technician constitute an impending
catastrophe for any health care facility. The shortage of RNs in the facility is an urgent matter
that the management should address by hiring more nurses because overworking the available
nurses is unrealistic. As Similey and McCarthy (2016) rightfully reported, the hospital should
not hide behind one vacancy and call-n for lateness when they recording dismal performance in
taking care of patients. The patient would not have experienced a fall if there were enough
nurses for they would have responded when the patient pressed the nurse call button for help
