NHS FPX 6008 Assessment 4 Lobbying for Change

Lobbying for Change

Student name

Capella University

NHS-FPX 6008

Professor Name

Submission Date

Lobbying for Change

The Honorable ___________
Michigan State Senator, District 8
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536

Dear ____________,

I am writing to request that you develop the nursing workforce in Michigan by supporting policies that will provide funds to retain nurses and develop the workforce. The high cost of labor and shortage of nurses have an impact on all organizations within your district, including Trustworthy Home Health Care. The acute nursing shortage impacts all agencies and puts pressure on the necessity to recruit staffing agencies and overtime that can become hazardous in terms of safety and quality of services (Storey, 2025). The old, the poor, and the chronically ill will be the ones who will first receive the consequences of the nursing shortage and of poor nursing. The impact of poor nursing staffing is directly associated with decreasing the quality of nursing care provision (Milesky et al., 2025). The impact of the enhanced nursing recruitment and retention initiatives will be reflected directly on the clients and the nursing staff. Improved quality of care and good health of clients, and cost savings to the organizations will indicate the success of improved nursing recruitment and retention efforts. When this situation is not prevented, it will grow into a crisis that will be reflected in the quality of services received by the clients and the long-term sustainability of healthcare institutions in Michigan.

Nowadays, existing literature suggests that the quality of healthcare and economically sound finances indicate that there is a need to do something with the areas of workforce deficit in healthcare and nursing in particular. According to the American Nurses Association (2023), inadequately skilled nursing staff and adverse and prolonged working environmental conditions have adverse effects on patient and nurse safety and health, respectively. The longer the nurses are understaffed, the higher the levels of dissatisfaction, burnout, and the exit of Registered Nurses (RNs) from the profession (Peng et al., 2023). The benefits of the nursing staffing levels in the outcomes (e.g., adverse effects, length of stay, quality of care, and care staff recruitment) are well-documented in the literature (Chen et al., 2025). It is estimated that the workforce shortages, especially the nursing shortage that is accelerated by COVID-19, would lead to an upsurge in the expenses of care delivery in hospitals (Kazi et al., 2026). The nursing shortages have had a cost to hospitals estimated at $24 billion, and it is expected to incur an increase of an estimated 86 billion in the coming year (Beauvais et al., 2023). The issue of nursing shortage and its effects on healthcare institutions is compounded by the difficulties in finding employees and the high rate of overtime employment and contractualizing employees, and it influences the availability of most at-risk members of the population to access community health services in a timely manner.

I request that these lessons be considered as we consider all the evidence during the development of policies to grow the nurse workforce, offer incentives for retention, and integrate workforce planning and continuing education. Not only shown during my time at Trustworthy Home Health Care LLC as an understanding of the effects of nurse staff shortages on general patient and staff safety, but also on the financial health of the business, my experience has demonstrated that, in the business world, safety and financial health are directly interrelated. Anything that relates to increased overtime and even enforced personnel absence (to cause inadequate care) heightens the risk of adverse and even critical events. The type of work I did has equipped me with knowledge and experience to perform a complex analysis of risk in a system where the financial resources are limited, and patient safety is under threat. This is why, in my opinion, retention tactics, mentoring, and initiative in nurse workforce development and resource management will be the most advantageous in the long run.

This will impact the safety of the general population directly, as your assistance can be used to solve the staffing crisis. This will also enable the sustenance of the vulnerable populations as well as a significant enhancement of the Public Health care system that they themselves are dependent on.

Sincerely,