Running head: CURRENT ISSUES IN USE OF AGENCY 1

NURSES/TEMPORARY STAFF

Current Issues In Use of Agency Nurses/Temporary Staff

Brandon Reyes

Youngstown State University

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Abstract

This research paper is going to be explaining the concern of having Agency Nurses or a

Temporary Staff in the hospital or other medical settings. The main focus of this paper is

to show how these nurses can increase quality health care. This essay provides

information that will help the reader understand why having Agency Nurses or a

Temporary Staff can actually benefit patient care, although there are some negatives with

these types of nurses. In all, the audience will explore the positives and negatives of

having Agency Nurses or a Temporary Staff.

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Current Issues In Use of Agency Nurses/Temporary Staff

There is an ongoing debate about the concern of having Agency or Temporary

Staff Nurses. Those who agree that these nurses are beneficial to any medical situation

understands the intelligence and characteristics they bring to medical staffs. On the other

hand, people may argue that Temporary Nurses do little for hospitals and cause even

more chaos to the already overloaded medical staff. Agency or Temporary Nurses, should

indeed be included in the medical staff because it has been proven that these nurses help

decrease mortality rates in patient care.

Medical settings are occupied by a variety of different medical professions. In a

hospital setting for example, each floor may have a charge or permanent nurse that is

more familiar with the hospital, patients, or equipment compared to a Agency or

Temporary Nurse. When exploring the cons of an Agency or Temporary Nurse, “Some

researchers have raised safety concerns related to the use of temporary staff, citing the

potential for less familiarity with hospital procedures and practices” (“Seo,”).

Researchers also found that there was an affirmative connection between temporary

nurses and medication errors; along with causing more stress to the permanent nurses

because of consistent supervision and assisting of temporary nurses.

After exploring the cons of Agency or Temporary Nurses, there seems to be far

more cons than pros. But, due to recent studies, “If your healthcare staffing plan includes

the use of temporary or agency nurses, there is new evidence that they can do much more

than supplement your workforce--they can help save lives” (“Larson,” 2013). Temporary

Nurses have made a positive impact on helping decrease mortality rate by alleviating

certain complications. Hospitals recommend having these types of nurses to help with the
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overload of patients coming in and out of the hospital. “There is little empirical evidence

that the use of temporary nurses has adverse consequences” (“Aiken,” 2010). Having said

this, the assumptions that temporary nurses are poorer to the hospital staffs rather than

benefitting is now proven to be that it is better for the patient’s overall if the hospital

includes Agency or Temporary Nurses.

In conclusion, Agency or Temporary Nurses help take the workload off of

permanent nurses and decrease mortality rate in patients. Along with every pro comes a

con; which is that these nurses make medication errors, and that they are unfamiliar with

the work environment leading to the permanent nurse aiding in supervision and assisting.

In all, Agency or Temporary Nurses are far more beneficial to hospital staffs than

previously thought.
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Reference Page

Aiken, L. H. (Ed.). (2010, November 12). Supplemental nurse staffing in hospitals and

quality of care [Fact sheet]. Retrieved from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2978921/

Larson, J. (2013, January 24). Use of temporary nurses shown to help save lives.

Retrieved from

http://www.amnhealthcare.com/latest-healthcare-news/use-temporary-nurses-

shown-help-save-lives/

Seo, S., & Spetz, J. (n.d.). Demand for temporary agency nurses and nursing shortages.

Inquiry.