Nurse Staffing Shortage

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).

Pretty much with either degree we [nurses with associate's and bachelor's degree] take the same core classes but with the bachelor’s degree we learn more that prepares us for management, advansed careers, and theories.” (Miller, 2018). After talking with her I got connected with someone I knew that was a nurse with a associates degree. First, I asked the same question I asked first to the other nurse. She said “Not confident at all, I felt there was a lot that I didn’t know compared to other nurses, it was kinda intimidating. It was hard when sometimes I would be thinking one thing and a different nurse thought something else, I wasn’t always confident in

For example, having grown up in a world where their voice and contributions are expected, younger nurses are often misunderstood when they willingly advise their more senior colleagues who were taught to respect and listen to their elders. From a Veteran nurse's perspective, the voiced criticisms of a novice nurse at a staff meeting may be seen as disrespectful, and thus discounted. From the novice's perspective, speaking up even with limited experience is seen as contributing to the unit. When both generations understand each other, they can acknowledge and respond to this difference in expectations. In this regard, novices can be taught and advised that waiting for a few months after taking a new job before publicly sharing their perspective can often make their observations more acceptable to the group.

The LPNs and the Certified Nurse’s Aides conduct the majority of the physical, hands on care for the patients, which leaves the RNs to chart every bit of information in order to maintain proper medical records on the infant. Each nurse has a different

In my previous job, I used to have a charge nurse, who was a good person in the beginning. Later, she has become selfish and started to demonstrate favoritism. I was a new hire there and had many bad experiences with her. Whenever there was a difficult patient in the unit, like a heavy patient, too needy or complaining, she used to assign that patient to me. Usually, the practice in our unit was to rotate the assignment, so that the same staff need not get stuck with such patient assignments.

My preceptor might not even realize they’re not providing me with adequate information. A preceptor wears many hats and I can see this during our workday. Precepting new employees is an intricate process, because nurses are faced with teaching a new nurse while providing care to patients, supervising other employees, and monitoring other patients (Rittman, 1992). My preceptor is attending to all these multiple demands as a part of their nursing practice and may not take notice that I am not receiving the needed training. I believe it’s important for us to be open and honest with each other, so the preceptorship can be a success.

Nursing is the heart of human caring behavior. During a crucial time of nursing shortage, retaining skilled nurses is essential to help handle the growing senior population in our communities. Many people depend on professional, caring, and trained nurses to help them recover their optimal health after an assault to their health stability by numerous diseases. However, bullying in a workplace and especially in the health care settings has become a halt to the career of many ambitious nurses’ especially new graduates (novices nurses) entering the profession. Complexities of the healthcare environment coupled with higher acuity patient care can cause stress and anxiety among nurses who are new to the profession.

A professor of mine, who started her career at an oncology unit, had to quit due to the overwhelming sense of grief and loss. Although one could argue she is too young and unprepared to cope to the emotionally taxing job, I believe that the absence of help contributed to her emotional burnout. The organization has to provide education, counselling and allow nurses to grieve. Some nurses preferred informal peer support (cite) but the organization should also cater for nurses that would like to have a group counselling. As well as developing a culture that is more open to the reporting of occupational and emotional fatigue so that nurses do not have to suffer in silence and receive the help that they need.

We are not one of them just yet, and while we can relate to them as being where they used to be, in nursing school, we cannot yet relate to them regarding experience and capability. Furthermore, nurses tend to be separated from doctors in a particularly different way than students are from nurses. Commonly thought of as inferior and subordinate to doctors, nurses are often portrayed as lowly in the medical hierarchy, separate and unequal to the other medical professionals, despite being just as important as the doctors of the facility. As the last line of defense, Nurses act as almost personal protectors against medical errors for the patients, but they are more so considered maids, the fetchers, instead of the scientific, medical professional they

Many people have aspirations of becoming a nurse; however, most do not take into consideration the difficulty and hard work, mentally and physically, that comes along with being a health care worker. The book Resilient Nurse: Empowering Your Practice explains the expectations of today’s nurses stating, for one states that “As a 21st-century nursing graduate, it is likely that your expectations and needs as a worker differ from those of previous generations” (McAllister and Lowe 3). In other words, being a health care worker is an erratic career path, and one needs to be aware of and prepared for unpredictable situations. If not readily prepared, the consequences tend to include stress, conflict, burnout, and poor care (McAllister and Lowe

A Compassion Fatigue Among ED Nurses Problem When one thinks about nursing, caring, empathy, and compassion come to mind. There is a link, an unbreakable union, for nurses that "compassion fatigue is the cost of caring for others in pain" (Boyle, 2015, p. 49). Compassion fatigue (CF) and its impact on nurses are predominant problems in many Emergency Departments (ED). Nurses perform a number of procedures throughout the day, but primarily the thing that they deliver the most is themselves (Harris & Quinn-Griffin, 2015). Nurses give care, succor, kindness, and tenderness to patients, families, other nurses; support to doctors and advanced practitioners, and give directions to medical technicians, nursing assistants, and other staff every

• There should be more horizontal and vertical communication or debriefing between nursing staff. There seems to be some conflicting responsibilities/duties between staff concerning the same patient. • During new hire orientation there should be some type of culture diversity training for every staff member. • Also a mandatory yearly update of such training. Some staff members present themselves has being very cold, uncaring and uninterested in the patients care or the families’ questions.

Ask any healthcare professional if critical thinking is a necessary tool to have while working with patients and the answer would be an overwhelming YES! IF you ask those nurses how did they develop critical thinking the answer varies, Nurses would not be able to provide sound patient care without book knowledge which aids in critical thinking. In the article Brain Power: Critical thinking skills are nursing’s stock and trade (2011), the author points out that critical thinking is not the same as problem solving. Critical thinking is the process of taking information and applying it to a situation to solve or improve. As an operating room nurse, I utilize critical thinking on a daily basis.

As patient loads are increasing and providers have less time to interact with the patient, it is essential to include all feedback from the UAP. As I pursue my career as an APRN, it is vital to build a level of trust and camaraderie with co-workers regardless of their job title. Communication is the key to providing excellent care to the

Without hope there is no motivation, especially for patients who are sick and going through life-changing circumstances. Their recovery process will slow down and may not be even possible if there is no hope, if there is no looking forward to the future and the best possible outcomes. Hope has been defined as a positive and necessary aspect of human life that is a future-oriented, motivating factor (Brumbach, 1994). Nurses have the greatest and hardest role/job to create a positive expectation in patients who have to go through very tough and challenging situations when hospitalized. Nurses can create a positive energy and positive attitude towards patient’s recovery process.