Nursing Report: Queensland's Nurse-Patient Ratio and Outcomes

This report examines the correlation between nurse-patient ratios and the quality of healthcare provided in Queensland hospitals. It begins with an introduction highlighting the significance of nurse-patient ratios and the legislative efforts in Queensland to regulate these ratios, aiming to reduce the burden of disease and improve patient outcomes. The report then delves into a comparative analysis of qualitative and quantitative research approaches, discussing their respective strengths and weaknesses in evaluating patient satisfaction and healthcare quality. It provides examples of how both approaches have been utilized in Queensland to improve hospital processes, patient experiences, and overall healthcare management. The report also includes a reflection on the utility of both qualitative and quantitative approaches, emphasizing their roles in information retrieval, outreach programs, and organizational management. It concludes by reiterating the importance of regulatory paths in ensuring adequate staffing and improved patient care.

Running head: NURSING 1
Nursing
Student’s name
Institution

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Introduction
The ratio between nurses and patients has been linked to the qualitative care a facility
provides to it as clients. Queensland has been able to reduce the burden of disease through
legislation on the ratio between the patients and nurses. The quality of health care in
Queensland's hospitals is good due to the favorable ratio between the patients and the nurses
(Staunton & Chiarella, 2012).
Qualitative and qualitative comparison
A qualitative research approach does not guarantee on the precise measurement of data.
The qualitative approach does not provide a mean of determining the patient satisfaction on the
services received at the health facility. A quantitative approach on the other side is an empirical
study that has the ability to quantify the satisfaction of patients in regard to the nurse to patient
ratio. A qualitative approach is based on the inductive nature that summarizes much of the
patients' feedback. The qualitative approach in research also provides a mean of linking the
research to the findings that are generated at the end of the study. A qualitative approach has a
mechanism of producing authentic findings. In relation to Queensland, through legislation, the
government is able to regulate and ensure that a facility handles the number of patients that it is
required to. This, in turn, enables patient satisfaction through the quality of health care that they
receive (Harreveld, et.al, 2016).
A quantitative approach was also used to improve patient satisfaction in Queensland
hospitals. This approach is measurable and thus enabled improved health care facilities in
Queensland and also impacted the behavior of the nursing staff. The quantitative approach,

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unlike the qualitative research, enabled hospital management in Queensland to improve their
facilities and receive feedback on patient satisfaction (Clift & Camic, 2016).
Qualitative research Quantitative research
Considered to be objective Considered to be subjective.
Utilizes deductive approach Utilizes inductive approach
It is based on a narrow analysis Based on a broad/ large analysis.
Uses numerals to analyze data Uses narratives to analyze data
It is measurable Hard to quantify.
Utilization of quantitative and qualitative
1. Qualitative.
The qualitative approach was utilized by the Queensland hospitals to improve the process the
patients undergo before seeing their medical providers. This strategy helped in reducing much of
the time wasted on administrative hold ups before meeting the medical providers. This was
achieved by altering the clinical structure and reviewing of the registration data. The clerical
staff at the registration and waiting area was tasked to undertake extra functions so as to hasten
administrative delays. The staff asked to be registering the patients were made to do other
administrative works. This helped in making the patients understand whenever there were delays
as they arrived (Gair & Van Luyn, 2016).
The qualitative approach helped the Queensland hospitals to reveal the differences between
the stipulated procedures that they ought to receive and the actual reception at the hospitals. This

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function helped the management of Queensland hospitals to properly monitor and enforce the
guidelines as stipulated. The qualitative approach also tries to seek relevant information from the
patients. Their feedback could be categorized to their clinical needs, social welfare and the
prospect. The gained information was helpful in conducting community outreach programs that
helped the Queensland hospitals to increase hospital utilization. The qualitative approach is also
viable whenever the management needs to extract information from a focus group. This enables
the focus group to actively participate since the management provides a flexible environment.
The focus group can be used to bring out the areas of improvement in the clinic during their
discussion (Beck, 2013).
The qualitative approach, however, is disadvantageous as it is time consuming hence failing
to interview more persons. The approach also brings burden to the researcher as one is prevented
from generalizing the findings as they could bring biases. The approach also hampers systematic
comparisons to be done due to the subjective characteristic. The approach is solely dependent on
the researcher's skills and this could jeopardize the quality of the data (Elsbach, 2016).
The quantitative research was used by the Queensland hospitals to capturing data from the
patients and thus avoided bias in the categories of improvement. It functioned to bring out the
actual happenings in the hospital rather than the opinions of the patients and clinical staff. Due to
its deductive characteristic, it was also used in testing the theories that were collected in the
qualitative approach to ascertain the practicality. This helped the Queensland hospitals to analyze
the data, design the various changes and implementation on the agreed changes. The Quantitative
approach also helps the Queensland hospitals in managing the organization in the hospital. The
quantitative approach enables managers to enunciate the objectives of the facility, evaluate needs
in the facility surrounding, contrive the strategies, and motivate the staff to comply with the

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strategies and evaluate and modify them to enable effectiveness in the facility (Hofmann &
Benette, 2014).
The quantitative approach may lead to bias during the research process. This factor is
brought up due to the utilization of a standardized questionnaire. The results obtained mainly
portray the researchers need rather than the respondents’ feelings. The methods used to analyze
the data may fail to detect the errors during processing of the data. This leads to misleading
results that the management may fail to detect. Upon implementation, the hospital management
will lose much of their resources since the project will not be viable (Parker, 2012).
Reflection.
The qualitative approach can be useful in the provision of information that could help in
record retrieval. This option is practical as it will enable reduced delays whenever a patient
needed to visit the medical officer. A qualitative approach is also a viable approach that will
enable the management to design a proper outreach program that will facilitate increased turn out
to the hospital. This will help improve health generally of the population and also prolong life.
The qualitative approach enables the hospital management to understand better the feelings of
the respondents compared to quantitative data. The qualitative approach also tries to seek
relevant information from the patients. Their feedback could be categorized to their clinical
needs, social welfare and the prospect.
This approach also provides an in-depth analysis of various needs as expressed by the
respondents that cannot be captured when using the quantitative approach. The qualitative
approach enables improvement of services within a facility to be felt by the respondents as they
own the opinions. Since this approach utilizes focus groups, it will ensure that there is maximum

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utilization of health related benefits since the community will feel that they own the work. This
enables the focus group to actively participate since the management provides a flexible
environment. The focus group can be used to bring out the areas of improvement in the clinic
during their discussion. Techniques used in qualitative research enable the management to see
the dependencies between departments by using the generated data. This information enables any
person to act upon it and enable implementation compared to quantitative data. Qualitative data
can also help in understanding the diversity of person’s visiting the facility (Staunton &
Chiarella, 2012).
The Quantitative approach will help in managing the organization in the hospital. The
quantitative approach enables managers to enunciate the objectives of the facility, evaluate needs
in the facility surrounding, contrive the strategies, and motivate the staff to comply with the
strategies and evaluate and modify them to enable effectiveness in the facility. This approach is
able to provide much information on various aspects at the workplace environment. By utilizing
the quantitative data, we will be able to bring out the relationship between various variables in
the health facility. Quantitative data will enable a facility to differentiate between the
independent, dependent and extraneous variables that were obtained (Coelli, Prasada Rao &
Battese, 2012).
The quantitative approach may lead to bias during the research process. This factor is
brought up due to the utilization of a standardized questionnaire. The results obtained mainly
portray the researchers need rather than the respondents' feelings. The methods used to analyze
the data may fail to detect the errors during processing of the data. This leads to misleading
results that the management may fail to detect. Upon implementation, the hospital management
will lose much of their resources since the project will not be viable. The qualitative approach,

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however, is disadvantageous as it is time consuming hence failing to interview more persons.
The approach also brings burden to the researcher as one is prevented from generalizing the
findings as they could bring biases. The approach also hampers systematic comparisons to be
done due to the subjective characteristic. The approach is solely dependent on the researcher's
skills and this could jeopardize the quality of the data (Polit & Beck, 2014).
Conclusion
Regulatory paths will enable adequate staffing leading to proper nurse to patient ratio.
The regulation will enable the nurses to be eased with the burden of overworking due to the
irregular ratio between the nurses and the patients. The eased burden will reflect on the improved
quality of work thus enabling patient satisfaction.

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References
Beck, C. (2013). Routledge international handbook of qualitative nursing research. London: New
York.
Clift, S., & Camic, P. (2016). Oxford textbook of creative arts, health, and wellbeing. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Coelli, T., Prasada Rao, D., & Battese, G. (2012). An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity
Analysis. Boston, MA: Springer US.
Elsbach, K. (2016). Handbook of Qualitative Organizational Research. Taylor and Francis.
Gair, S., & Van Luyn, A. (2016). Sharing qualitative research. Australia.
Harreveld, B., Danaher, M., Lawson, C., Knight, B., & Busch, G. (2016). Constructing
Methodology for Qualitative Research. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hofmann, T., & Benette, S. (2010). Evidence-based practice across the health professions.
Chatswood, N.S.W.: Churchill Livingstone.
Parker, D. (2012). Service operations management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Polit, D., & Beck, C. (2014). Essentials of nursing research. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer
Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Staunton, P., & Chiarella, M. (2012). Law for nurses and midwives. Australia.