Looming Nursing Shortage

Author : Breah Chapman
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 114 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (825 download)

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Download or read book The Nursing Shortage written by Breah Chapman and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While hospitals are facing an endless number of challenges ranging from financial challenges to healthcare reform implementation to patient safety and quality, a challenge that has proven to be consistently plaguing hospitals is the efficient staffing of nurses. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives, shortage of staff has been in the top five issues facing hospital CEOs (Hospital, 2011). In the past few years, the healthcare industry contributes more jobs to the economy than any other industry. Even though this is the case, the demand for some health professionals is still greater than the supply available. The exact number of nurses in demand varies from hospital to hospital, publication to publication, but the overall consensus remains the same: there are not enough nurses currently working and the problem is going to continue to get worse. The reason for this nursing shortage cannot be easily explained, as there are several contributing factors. The nursing shortage has been growing since the 1980s and becoming increasingly severe. It has been projected that the shortage could reach 800,000 nurses by the year 2020 (HeartMath, 2004). It was originally believed that this shortage was caused by the increasing demand of health care services due to the aging population. During the 1990s, there were attempts to recruit more nurses and this seemed like a simple solution to the problem. However, even with the growing number of students entering nursing school, the shortage continued to grow (HeartMath, 2004). These factors were making it clear that the nursing problem was complex and worthy of further exploration. This capstone will provide an understanding of the numerous factors that contribute to the nursing shortage, explore the impact of the nursing shortage on the health care system, and iv will help identify possible solutions to the growing problem. The major factors contributing to the nursing shortage problem include: 1. Workplace Climate 2. Shortage of Experienced Nursing Faculty After these factors are explored and identified, the impact of the nursing shortage on health care will be presented, and long-term and short-term solutions to the problem will be discussed and evaluated. Long-term solutions include increased recruitment of nurses through the expansion of facilities and the retainment of faculty in schools. Another long-term solution is the participation of hospitals in the development and aid to existing schools. A final long-term solution to the nursing shortage is the development of public-private partnerships to implement policy that will help to turn the problem around and foster relationships between stakeholders that have similar interests in different fields. Short-term solutions include the retention of current nurses through reward accomplishment, providing an attractive compensation and benefits plan, and offering job stability. Other short-term solutions include the utilization of technology-based training, and redesigning work content and the role of the nurse to be more flexible in nature. A final short-term solution is the implementation of an automated staffing system that will help provide more power to the nurses and help with job satisfaction. The nursing shortage currently in effect is expected to get worse before it gets better. A report done by Price Waterhouse Cooper forecasts a registered nurse shortage ranging from 400,000 to one million by the year 2020. The combination of an increasing demand for services and the constant decline of nurses available is compounding the problem by adding pressure to the supply and demand forces at work (Neisner, 2002). Nurses have increasingly become v perceived as undervalued and overworked with less than desirable working conditions. There are various reasons that lead to the complex nursing shortage problem.