Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of nursing shortage
Nursing shortage introduction
Impact of nursing shortage
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
State-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios remains a controversial topic in healthcare. Sufficient nurse staffing is key to ensure adequate patient care, while scarce staffing effects patients’ safety and puts nurses at risk for burnout. Determining nurse-to-patient ratios in nursing facilities remains a challenge for the nursing profession. There are many factors to consider when determining staffing methods, such as cost, nurses’ satisfaction, patient outcomes and safety. Mandating ratios is one attempt at ensuring nurses’ workloads do not exceed what is needed for adequate patient care and safety.
This enables them to make high profits at the expense of consumers and workers. And, less care is taken about working conditions because workers don’t have many alternatives to the main firm. Nursing shortage is a major problem in the United States and there is always a high demand regardless of what state comes to mind when we think of nursing shortages. The problem is that the patients that are in need and require the staff of a nurses are the ones to suffer along with the nurses as well.
There are many advancement opportunities in the nursing profession specifically for nurses with Bachelor in Science of Nursing. The future of nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Trossman (2012) noted, “The goal is by 2020 that eighty percent of nurses in the workforce should have their Bachelor in Science of Nursing” (p. 6). Many hospital have taking this goal into account by including it in their policy. In fact, Trossman stated that in 2008 Philadelphia’s Main Line Health system created a policy requiring that all new managers, coordinators, and educators have at least Bachelor in Science of Nursing (Trossman, 2012).
One solution is to increase the number of healthcare professionals in the workforce. This can be achieved by increasing funding for healthcare education programs and providing incentives for healthcare professionals to enter the field. It may also prove successful in the long run for hospitals to recruit newly graduated candidates and implement nurse residency programs. These programs help reduce turnover, which is costly to hospitals because they can spend a lot of money on one individual nurse to train, only for that nurse to decide their new career was a mistake. “Nurse residency programs help new graduates transition from an academic environment to clinical practice” and focus on areas of “professional development, patient outcomes and nursing leadership” (Morris, 2023).
It is estimated by 2020 there will be a shortage of 60,000 RNs in Canada (McGillis, Gates, Peterson, Jones & Pink, 2014, p, 54), a fact that is exacerbated by the implementation of a completely foreign examination system. The baby boomer generation is entering a stage that requires additional healthcare resources, a reality that is supported by the fact that the geriatric population is expected to increase up to 22.8% by 2031 (McGillis et al., 2014, p.54). The projected increase in geriatric population is proportionately linked with the increased demands of healthcare services directly translating increased pressure on the health care system. If large amounts of nursing students continue to fail the NCLEX examination, the pressure increases on nurses who are currently practicing in Canada to meet the needs of the aging
The occupational field of nursing and the educational instruction associated with nursing has evolved from the past century due to the detail oriented research and scientifically developed contributions. The advancement of new technology and improved theory drastically upgraded nursing practices, allowing patients to experience an efficient and professional form of healthcare serves. To learn more about the changes in the field of nursing that has taken place in the last 60 years I interviewed nurses that graduated from nursing school in three different decades. Although changes have taken place in regard to educational setting, cost of education, dress code, clinical hours and state board exam, the overall core of nursing has remained the
Moreover, U.S. nursing schools turned away 68,938 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2014 due to an insufficient number of faculty (AACN report, 2014). A call for an increase of BSN prepared nurses may encourage more nurses to teach nursing that will eventually address the faculty
With workforce shortages in many health professions and occupations, educational institutions and policymakers are attempting to meet the challenging demand for additional personnel. Health professional associations, state governments, and higher education bodies all are involved, in one way or another, in trying to address the changing needs of the health care system. Rather than moving ahead in a coordinated and singular direction, however, there are many contradictory forces operating, often in competition with each other. Much public and professional attention has been directed to medicine, the most influential of the health professions, and nursing, the largest health profession; far less attention has been directed to some of the other health professions and occupations, many of which are undergoing rapid change. It is these other health professions and occupations that are the primary focus of this monograph.
Nursing Shortage is a problem we all should be aware of. There are many factors that may lead to a nursing shortage, such as having stressful and unsafe working environments, and our nurses are being overworked. This is a problem we should be aware of because it is affecting the patient care. Nurses would not have enough time to stay with a patient if they have more patients to worry about. Nurses play a big role in our hospitals and communities, “Nurses play significant roles in hospitals, clinics and private practices.
Hi Nirmalraj, I do agree with you that staffing level directly affect the care outcome. A study comparing mortality rate in short staffed and fully staffed unit concluded that patient in the short staffed units had a 6% higher rate of mortality (AACN, 2014). Federal and state funding on nursing education will result to increased enrollment but there is need to address retention to achieve a sustained staffing level. Good post. American Association of Colleges (AACN), (2014).
Low job satisfaction can result to intention to leave, burnout, and other losses such as early transfer or retirement (Duffield, Roche, Blay, & Stasa, 2010). Various managers should focus on making the working environment for nurses better so as to avoid high turnover because the loss of employees is costly. I believe nursing leadership is another crucial
Job satisfaction is significant in maintaining a healthy work environment. It is a very important indicator of the possibility that a nurse will remain in position for a long period of time. In a research done by Nantsupawat (2011) and colleagues, nurses complain of being dissatisfied in their jobs due to heavy workload. Heavy workload has mostly been associated with inadequate nurse staffing, and as a result, nurses experience burnout, and the decline in the quality of nursing care has increased (Nantsupawat et al., 2011). Aiken and associates have examined nurse satisfaction and job retention, and they have found that nurses tend to leave their positions if the inadequacy in the nurse-patient ratio levels is present (as cited in Hairr, Salisbury, Johannson, & Redfern-Vance, 2014).
While this is alarming to hospitals, clinics and physician offices they will continue to face difficulties as a result of the shortage. One division that appearances to be most seriously affected is that of home healthcare nursing. This is because of the large amount of baby boomers. Hospital in the U.S. and aboard are in severe need of health care workers. While the multitude of baby boomer is currently swelling the need for quality health care is growing.
The nursing shortage is something greater than CG4 and the PinnacleHealth system. American Associations of Colleges of Nursing (2016) states the current nursing shortage is different than all previous shortages. The current nursing shortage is product of fewer nurses taking the entrance nursing exam and entering the workforce. In order to solve the nursing shortage, government agencies and healthcare workers need to address the issue at its roots. Brown (2015) states nursing schools denies 68,938 eligible nursing school applicants in 2014.
Nursing Shortage is a problem we all should be aware of. There are many factors that may lead to a nursing shortage, such as having stressful and unsafe working environments, and our nurses are being overworked. This is a problem we should be aware of because it is affecting the patient care. Nurses, would not have enough time to stay with a patient if they have more patients to worry about. Nurses play a big role in our hospitals and communities.