The Nursing Shortage

Nursing Shortage According to Nictitas, Middaugh, and Aries (2106), nurses are the largest segment of the healthcare workforce and are indispensable when it comes to quality patient care, patient safety, and patient satisfaction. It is projected by 2020; there will be a shortage of over 500,000 nurses (Nictitas, Middaugh & Aries, 2016). A shortage of this magnitude will have a negative impact on our healthcare system. This paper will attempt to reflect on the issues that have resulted in the nursing shortage and discuss the future of the nursing profession.

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.

Since the beginning of my nursing journey, I have heard about the nursing shortage. It seems unreal to me simply because of how competitive nursing school is and the amount of people that try to become nurses. So why do we have a nursing shortage? “The persistent nursing shortage is challenging the values and beliefs of the nursing profession and causing nurses to ask how they can fulfill their ethical responsibilities to patients when there are an insufficient number and a maldistribution of nurses” (Erlen, 2004, p. 289).

It is crucial to maintaining the appropriate nurse-to- patient staffing ratio for providing safe patient care outcomes. Nursing shortage lowers the nurse to patient ratio that can increase medical and medication errors, patient complication, mortality and also increase dissatisfaction and burnout among nurses. According to researcher Shekelle, he found the significant relationship between high patient-to-nurse ratio and mortality rate. For example, in 232 342 patients discharges, post surgery of some hospitals in Pennsylvania, 2 percent (4535 patients) died within 30 days of hospitalization. As the result, this study found the difference between 4:1 and 8:1 ratios of the patient each nurse has may cause about 1000 deaths of the total amount

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).

According to the data from Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions (2013), there were 2.8 million Registered Nurses (RNs) and 690,000 Licensed Practice Nurses (LPNs) were working in the period from 2008-2010, in the United States. The nursing workforce grew substantially in 2000s, by RNs growing by more than 24.1 percent and LPNs by more than 15.5 percent. The population of nurses are facing multiple challenges at the workplace, such as shortage in staffing, nurse turnover, increased workload, long working hours, poor relationship with co-workers, lack of support from the management, and eventually these challenges create high level of nurse burnout. It is estimated that job- related burnout measure using the Maslach Burnout inventory – Human Services Survey, 36.5 % of nurses having high level of burnout. The researchers at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing, estimates if nurse burnout reduces by 10 %, could prevent thousands of hospital acquired infections and reduce the health care expense (Potera, 2012).

As of today, the majority of states in the US, as well as all over the world, have nursing shortages. Economic crises, education capacity in schools, growing population, including elderly patients, due to extended longevity and more chronic health conditions affect this shortage. Besides, the supply of RNs does not grow fast enough to compensate the numbers of nurses who retire. There is also a demand for professional, baccalaureate-prepared nurses, while the current nursing workforce is only at 55% of that level or higher. In addition, RN is the top profession in terms of projected growth through 2018 (AACN, 2010).

The nursing profession, like all professions, has its ups and downs. The one of the great aspects of being a nurse is that you will make a difference in a person’s life. Regardless it being in an outpatient setting or home setting or even a school setting; a nurse touches people’s lives just by being there for them and providing the support they need in that moment. However, the not so great aspects of being a nurse is nursing burnout. I believe this is the greatest challenge in the nursing.

The article “Why Are Nurses Leaving? Findings From an Initial Qualitative Study on Nursing Attrition” by Carol Isaac MacKusick and Ptlene Minick is a qualitative research study with a phenomenological research design. The research question addressed in this article is the experience of registered nurses who flee bedside nursing. The sample provided were registered nurses (RN) in the United States who were mostly Caucasian females varying in ages 40-49. The sample size investigated was ten nurses total.

The Nursing Career and Stress and Work-Related Burnout Working in the healthcare field can be overwhelming because of the continuous exposure to stressful events such as illnesses and death. Additionally, healthcare workers may suffer from high work demands such as long working hours, healthcare team relationship issues, and shortage of staff. To contribute with tension, these workers may also be exposed to daily unrelated work problems such as lack of personal time, family and financial issues. Many nurses are often exposed to these stressors and consequently are troubled with job dissatisfaction and burnout because of an imbalance between their work environment and personal life. The nursing profession alone can be very demanding and due