NURS 6221 Week 1 Workforce Analysis Example

Course	NURS 6221 Managing Human Resources
Week	Week 1
Paper type	Workforce analysis
Length	About 570 words, 5 pages
Format	APA 7 student paper
School	Walden University
Program	Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for NURS 6221 Week 1

Nursing Workforce Analysis: A Progressive Care Unit Under Strain

Student Name

College of Nursing, Walden University

NURS 6221: Managing Human Resources

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

What this page is doingEvery figure is labeled with the system it came from, so a reviewer months later can see what the manager knew and what was estimated.

Nursing Workforce Analysis: A Progressive Care Unit Under Strain

This analysis describes the registered nurse workforce of a composite 24-bed progressive care unit in a community hospital, as of the end of the last fiscal quarter. Figures come from three internal sources, named beside each: position control, the scheduling system and exit interview records. Anything estimated is marked as an estimate.

Positions

The unit is budgeted for 38.4 registered nurse full-time equivalents (FTEs) and currently fills 32.1, leaving 6.3 FTEs vacant (position control). Full-time equivalents are used rather than headcount because coverage depends on hours: the unit's 41 registered nurses include 14 part-time and per diem staff, so counting people would overstate how many shifts the staff can cover. Of the vacancies, 4.5 FTEs are on night shift (position control).

Experience

Table 1

Registered Nurses by Years on the Unit

Years on unit	Nurses	Share of staff	Source
Less than 1	11	27%	Position control, hire dates
1 to 2	9	22%	Position control
3 to 5	8	20%	Position control
More than 5	13	32%	Position control

Nearly half the staff have fewer than three years on the unit. Two years ago, by the manager's recollection and the prior year's staff list, that share was closer to a quarter (estimate). Experience has thinned most on nights, where 7 of the 11 first-year nurses work.

Agency Use

Agency nurses covered 612 hours in the quarter (scheduling system). Of those, 71% fell on weekend night shifts, 18% on weekday nights and 11% on day shifts. The weekend-night concentration has held for three consecutive quarters, which means the gap is predictable rather than random.

Resignations

Nine registered nurses resigned in the past twelve months (exit records). Five had been on the unit for less than one year, two for one to two years, and two for more than five years. First-year departures are therefore the largest group. Nationally, about 17.5% of new nurses leave their first job within a year (Kovner et al., 2014); on this unit, five of the fourteen nurses hired in the prior year left within twelve months, well above that figure, although a single unit's numbers are small enough to move sharply from year to year. Exit interviews for the first-year leavers most often cited night-shift workload and weekend frequency (exit records, themes coded by the manager).

What this page is doingEach claim carries its source in parentheses, and the one comparison to a national figure is labeled with the limits of a small unit.

Benchmarking

The unit's nursing hours per patient day and skill mix have not yet been compared with similar units. The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators collects unit-level nursing measures, including staffing and skill mix, so that hospitals can compare units of the same type (Montalvo, 2007). The hospital participates, and the next step is to request the comparison for progressive care units of similar size.

Pressures Ranked

1. First-year turnover, because it drives the other three: every early departure creates a vacancy, lowers experience and raises agency use. 2. Night vacancies, which concentrate inexperience where supervision is thinnest. 3. Weekend-night agency dependence, costly but predictable, which makes it the most plannable of the four. 4. Thinning experience overall, which will ease only if the first two are addressed.

Turnover also has a price the unit's budget does not show in one line. Jones (2008) describes a method for updating an organization's baseline turnover costs for inflation, so that managers can estimate what each departure costs without a new study; applying it to this unit's nine resignations is the first task for next week's staffing discussion.

References

Jones, C. B. (2008). Revisiting nurse turnover costs: Adjusting for inflation. Journal of Nursing Administration, 38(1), 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NNA.0000295636.03216.6f

Kovner, C. T., Brewer, C. S., Fatehi, F., & Jun, J. (2014). What does nurse turnover rate mean and what is the rate? Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 15(3-4), 64-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154414547953

Montalvo, I. (2007). The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI). OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(3), Manuscript 2. https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol12No03Man02

Reading the NURS 6221 Week 1 instructions

In the first NURS 6221 week, students typically profile the workforce of one nursing unit. You report positions, experience, agency use and turnover with sources, compare them with benchmarks and rank the pressures. Faculty reward traceable unit numbers over general descriptions of the national shortage. Cite benchmark reports in APA 7. If no data are provided, a composite unit with plausible figures can be used, clearly labeled. Full-time equivalents show capacity better than head counts. NDNQI data help but are not required. A good structure opens with a short unit profile, then moves through positions, experience, agency hours and resignations, each in a small table with its source. The benchmark comparison follows, and the ranked pressures close the paper with a one-line reason for each rank.

How this NURS 6221 Week 1 example is built

The paper reads as a manager's briefing with evidence attached to every claim. It opens with the unit's budgeted and filled positions, both stated in full-time equivalents rather than headcount, since two part-time nurses and one full-time nurse do not provide the same coverage. A tenure section follows, grouping staff by years on the unit and showing where experience has thinned. Agency use is reported by shift type, and resignations by length of service at departure. Each figure is labeled as coming from position control, the scheduling system or exit records, and anything estimated says so. The NDNQI is named as the benchmarking database a comparable unit would consult when comparing nursing hours and skill mix. The pressures are ranked at the end.

NURS 6221 Week 1 rubric: what earns full marks

Traceable numbers carry a workforce analysis, and a paper describing a national shortage in general terms has analyzed a news story rather than a unit. Most of the weight sits on the measures chosen and where they came from, so figures with no stated origin draw the heaviest comments. Consistency of counting matters more than most drafts assume: switching between headcount and full-time equivalents across sections quietly undermines every comparison. Benchmarking earns where it is named and fitted to the unit type, which is why the NDNQI appears for its comparisons by unit rather than as decoration. Interpretation holds a separate share, since pressures listed without a ranking leave the manager's judgment invisible. Tables whose columns lack units draw small but steady deductions.

Common NURS 6221 Week 1 mistakes, and how to avoid them

Workforce analyses lose the most when they describe the national shortage instead of the unit. Give unit figures with sources. Another common gap is counting nurses rather than FTEs. Use FTEs. Writers also list pressures without ranking them. Rank by impact. Avoid benchmarks with no source. Name the report and year. Keep the composite label clear. Close with the pressure to address first. A table that shows budgeted against filled FTEs by shift makes the night vacancy visible at once. Check that the experience bands add up to the filled total before you submit.

Get a NURS 6221 Week 1 example written to your instructions

A workforce analysis for an invented community hospital needs only what your classroom provides: the prompt, the rubric, any unit data, or permission to use labeled estimates. Your first custom one costs nothing and is ready within 24 to 48 hours. No position control report or staffing export ever leaves your employer for it.

More NURS 6221 papers and MSN samples

NURS 6221 Week 1 questions, answered

What if the assignment gives no workforce data?

Then each figure is presented as an estimate, with a note on what it rests on and which report a manager would pull to confirm it. The sample works that way throughout. Reviewers accept an estimate that announces itself; an unexplained figure fares much worse. Leaving quantities out entirely is the real failure, because a workforce analysis without them cannot rank anything.

Why use full-time equivalents instead of counting nurses?

Because coverage is measured in hours, and headcount hides the difference between one full-time nurse and two part-time nurses. Full-time equivalents put vacancies, agency hours and budgeted positions on the same scale. The sample converts once, early, and uses FTEs from then on; mixing the two measures between sections is a common and entirely avoidable loss.

Is NDNQI data needed to complete the analysis?

No. The sample names the NDNQI as the database a comparable hospital might use for benchmarking and explains which comparisons it would support. Most people completing this assignment cannot see their unit's reports, and your paper does not depend on them. Naming a suitable benchmark and stating what it would add is usually enough for this week.

Where can I find a free NURS 6221 Week 1 sample paper?

The progressive care workforce analysis is on this page with positions, experience, agency use, resignations, benchmarks and ranked pressures.

How many beds does the unit have in NURS 6221 Week 1?

It is a composite 24-bed progressive care unit, with figures drawn from position control, scheduling and human resources records.