...Nursing Shortage Janice Boserman HCS/552 April 7, 2014 Nursing Shortage Shortages of registered nurses have taken place repeatedly in the past. Agencies have examined the reasons for the decline in the supply of nurses. There seems to be a cycle of nursing shortages in the United States. “Economist argue that the shortages are related to the lack of increase wages, an imperfectly competitive market, geographic distribution problems, or the delay between salary increases and the ability to afford the education needed to enter the job market,”(ACHE, 2013). Other resources site the nursing shortage on the aging nurse population or the “baby boomers” leaving the workforce. The decrease individuals attending the nursing programs due to not enough professors to teach are causing a reduction in the number of graduate nurses. This paper will discuss two economist tools used to understand the nursing shortage. The two tools are supply and demand and marginal analysis. How the nursing shortage can affect the economy will also be discussed. Supply and Demand Nursing shortages are a predictable occurrence in healthcare. In the United States alone, five significant shortages have happened in the last 50 years (Censullo, 2008).The lack of nurses lasts 1 to 2 years. It is predicted the by the year 2016 nearly 587,000new jobs will be on available for new nurses (Aiken, Cheung, & Olds, 2009); the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics have determined there will be a shortage...
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...Literature Review One nursing issue that I am passionate about is the shortage of nurses. This has been a long standing problem, even in the days of Ms. Florence Nightingale, when she and her nurses "used limited resources to address unlimited wants for healthcare (Cherry & Jacob, 2014)". They did the best they could and were able to improve the soldiers' condition dramatically. Agreeably, the situation is far better today. This topic is of great importance because, a shortage of nurses means that the ratio of patient to nurse increases and this can result in nurses being overwhelmed. It also affects the every aspect of patients’ care and it increases the risk of negative patients’ outcomes. It makes nurses apprehensive when they are going to work and that is not a good way to feel on a regular basis. Some of the reasons listed as causes of shortage of nurses include lack of good role models and early professional socialization, unrealistic workload, an aging workforce, negative work environment, retention problem, and insufficient nursing faculty staff. I chose the first article "Becoming a nurse: a meta-study of early professional socialization and career choice in nursing," because it attempts to deal with the issue of nursing shortage by investigating what motivates young people to choose nursing as a career and early professional socialization (Price, 2009). It highlighted the need to have good mentors, peers and role models, especially as new nurses are transitioning...
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...the Nursing Workforce Shortage After researching the current and future state of the nursing workforce, there are many issues regarding the nursing workforce that should be addressed at the upcoming retreat. To begin, the reason for emphasis on the nursing workforce is that nurses constitute the largest group among the health service providers (Barton, 2010), as you very well may be aware. Without considering implications that affect the largest group of the workforce, the organization will not be able to strategically plan for the shift of the nursing shortage currently at-hand. First, we must consider the current workforce distribution of nurses. A national survey by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and The Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers in 2013, indicates roughly 55% of the RN workforce being at the age of 50 years old or older (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). With the current demographic makeup of this group, it is inevitable that a majority of the nursing population will be retiring soon from practice and teaching. While the Affordable Care Act tries to address the projected shortage by increasing the supply of workforce, increase the support of training, and establishing loan and grant payments, the shortage of nurses may very well be still be an issue. If issues regarding the lack of faculty and training continue, similar to the rate as reported in 2010 with 80,000 qualified applicants being denied entry to nursing schools...
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...Nursing Shortages and Solutions Seketha Silas Walden University Nurs 3001-6, Issues & Trends in Nursing September 8, 2013 This assignment is about the concerns of the nursing shortage locally, nationally and globally. It will address some of the reasons and solutions for the nursing shortages. The purpose of this paper is to understand the nursing shortages and discuss some implementations that may help to resolve the shortages. Although, the country is experiencing an economic recession, think about January 2014 when millions of Americans will be able to get health insurance. Nursing may be the answer to some of the key healthcare and employment problems the US is struggling with right now. Lindsey (2013) states “with the graying of America has come a shortage of healthcare professionals, especially nurses. From 2009 to 2011, 85 percent of Associate Degree Nursing programs turned away qualified applicants.” (para 1) Nursing programs at some schools are closed due to funding cuts. There is lack of faculty at schools to train nurses. The lack of faculty to train new nurses definitely can cause concern for nursing shortages. Applicants are being turned away. Nurse educators have to endure lower salaries along with unrealistic expectations about their academic roles. Some nursing faculty is expected to balance their academic roles along with advancing their expertise and managing clinical practice. The lower salaries are sometimes lower than their colleagues working in...
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...Nursing Shortage and Nursing Turnover Nursing shortage is a phenomenon that is affecting nurses and the provision of adequate patient care in today’s health care industry. Nursing shortage is said to occur when the demand for employment of nurses is far greater than the number of nurses willing to be employed at that time (Huber, 2010). According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (A.A.C.N.), “the nursing shortage is expected to increase as baby boomers age, and the need for health care increases” (A.A.C.N., 2013, Para 1). In the United States, Registered Nurses (R.N.) make up the largest recorded working population of the health care profession, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 2.7 percent of the workforce comprises of nurses compared to 3.6 percent in the last 6 years (A.A.C.N., 2013). This decrease is attributed to the current shortage and high turnover of nurses. This current trend in the nursing profession has a great effect on the provision of health care because it has reduced the quality of care of patients, increased accidents amongst patients, absenteeism rates and staffing among others. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the causes of nurse turnover and shortage, find out ways nurse leaders and managers may resolve this problem, and also to discuss the writer’s own personal and professional philosophy of nursing regarding this issue. Nursing shortage is also evident by the reduction in the availability of new nurses, inadequate...
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...NURSE SHORTAGE STRATEGIES The nursing shortage has been around for the greater part of the 20th century, and now into the 21st century, and has placed the healthcare system under some significant strain The number of patients with age-related health needs are exploding, just as a large number of health professionals are retiring. Unmet health care needs are fast approaching. There simply are not enough health professional students "in the pipeline" to meet the oncoming demand for care. The result? An impending health workforce shortage of unprecedented proportions. Nurse leaders are challenged to identify creative solutions to the issue of nursing shortage. There are many contributions to the nursing shortage. In a sense, the nursing shortage is simply from the spread of nurses that lack skills that are needed for the growing population and individual patient care. The work that nurses are hired to do is not that well understood, even by educators that are members of today’s nursing society. There is a vast gap in what the public thinks skilled nurses actually do. This reason alone is one of the causes of the nursing shortage that is happening. The nursing shortage also includes: (1) poor working conditions, (2) inadequate resources for nursing research and education, (3) nursing workforce aging, (4) women having expanded career options, (5) nursing...
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...care for people. Ever since Florence Nightingale led the effort to improve hospital sanitation and became known as the founder of modern day nursing, nurses have been at the forefront of change in health care and public health. Nurses provide ongoing assessment of patient’s health. Their round-the-clock presence, observation, skills, and vigilance allow doctors to make better diagnoses and develop proper treatments. Many lives have undoubtedly been saved by an attentive nurse who saw early warning signs of an impending cardiac arrest or some other crisis. Given the importance of nurses to the health of Americans, it is unfortunate, indeed, that the nation is facing a critical nursing shortage. There is a sense of urgency about the shortage this year as the first wave of baby boomers begins turning 60. As the country ages it means Registered Nurses will play an even larger role as the 78 million baby boomers require additional health services. Hospitals have struggled to attract more nurses, but working conditions keep getting tougher. Nurses frequently have to work double shifts, and new insurance rules, under which only the sickest people are treated in hospitals these days, mean that each of the patients requires much more care and attention. Introduction The United States is facing a critical shortage of registered nurses -- particularly the specialized, highly trained nurses who staff intensive care units, operating rooms and emergency rooms...
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...Nursing Shortage: A Comparative Analysis James Baptiste Walden University NURS 3001 Section 3, Issues and Trends in Nursing Prof. Sonya Blevins December 9, 2012 According to international journal of nursing the shortage is a global challenge, affecting every country in the world. However each country experiences it according to its own domestic issues. The purpose of this paper is to analyze three countries nursing population United States, Philippines and South Africa where nursing shortage has affected their health care quality. This article investigates the impact of the nursing shortage in three different countries United States with a rapid aging of its population which has an effect on the health care system, Philippines with the policy of exporting a massive of nurses oversees by the government which in return creates a vacuum in the country for skilled nurses, and South Africa where poor working condition, low wage and social unrest distress the health care system. By using literature as research tools to be able to describe what nursing shortage means for those countries and strategies that they use to address the situation. In United States the nursing shortage is more relate to an aging population. The professional issues in nursing (2009) state that between now and 2015, the population aged 85 years and older will increase by 40%. Therefore not only more nurses will be needed but also due to increase in technology the 21st century patients have shifted...
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...dead and slowly dying. The nursing shortage affects not only the nursing profession, but patients alike. More than 3 million of people need medical attention every year. With less nurses patient care will suffer and the health care needs of people will not be met. In this essay a discussion of the nursing shortage and the solutions the world is coming up with will be covered. There is a larger type of nursing shortage going on for many reasons. One main reason is that older people also known as the “baby boomer” meaning people over the age of 65, this age group has many medical and health needs that need to be taken care of. With that being said, it is putting a very large strain on the nursing field and in our health system all around. Another reason is there isn’t enough nursing school, along with that it takes a lot of commitment and its cost a lot of money. Lastly a large portion of nurses will be retiring within the next few years. Many times people don’t want to become a nurse because it's a stressful job, working long hours, holding the lives of people in your hands. They work under stressful conditions and in these environments they are more likely to make a mistakes and medical errors. Along with this nurse shortage, there isn’t really any solutions to end nursing shortage. This nursing shortage has been happening for years now and it near the top of the list when it comes to employment growth. One way to help stop this nurse shortage is to encourage more people...
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...Christine Chan ENGL101 Composition and Critical Thinking October 25,2015 HealthCare and Public Health Issues-Nursing Shortage Introduction When we are sick, we will go to the hospital. We want good quality of care but this is a challenge due to the shortage of nurses. Nursing shortage happens all over the world. The problem will get more severe. The population is continually growing, the demand for healthcare workforce increases. For example, while I was working in the operation room over the years, I witnessed an increasing volume of patients entering the hospital. Even though there is this demand, the administration department cut the staff number due to budget reasons. Nursing shortage affects the quality of patient care, increases healthcare staffs' stress, and affects staffs' job satisfaction. The quality of patient Care With advance medical treatment and good living environment, people live longer. In 2020 the demand of nurses is increasing but the supply of nurses is beginning to decrease. As baby boomers’ generation are starting to retire which will reduce the supply of nurses and there are not enough new nurses to fill the gap. With limited nurses, they may do the vital signs improperly, rush of judgment, or giving medication without fully check. A patient can develop an infection or bed sore with not having a nurse every two hours around to turn them. For serious result, patient will die due to not frequently round. A report by Ford stated that 18 mental illness...
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...Tiffin University The Nursing Shortage Submitted for MGT 522 Management of Human Resources Instructors Prof. Kristina L Collins By: ADNAN Fnu July 13, 2015 Registered Nurse (RN) | Requisition ID: 1234OT Location: New York, NY, USA Schedule: Full Time Shift: Night Job | Description: As an RN you will convey and ensure patient care by surveying and diagnosing patient's condition, creating an arrangement of consideration and assessing understanding's reaction to give a second thought. You will likewise take an interest in patient training and release arranging and work together with, direction and aide assigned consideration colleagues in arranging patient care and accomplishing objectives. Responsibilities Include: Develops and evaluates plan of care. * Systematically and continuously assesses patient's knowledge base and physical, psychosocial and spiritual health through interviews, physical examinations and data collection. * Consults with multidisciplinary health care team in regard to nursing assessment findings. * Creates written, individualized plan of care based on priority of patient problems, anticipated length of stay, input from patient and family and other members of the health care team. * Communicates pertinent information and changes in patient status to appropriate members of care team and other health care providers, as necessary. * Collaborates with team members to make changes in plan of care, as necessary. ...
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...Nursing Shortage Abstract Healthcare industry in United States has always been passing with the issue of shortage of Healthcare professionals . Many of these positions are filled by professionals from different countries . Nursing shortage has been a huge concern since many years and expected to continue in coming years. In past years, country had been dependent on supply of nurses from several parts of the world but alarm had already rang and focuses are made to produce the required resources. In the following article we will discuss some key issues about the reasons of nursing shortage, some factors which could impact in scenario, some economic output of the issue, what policies were made in past and some solution for future are suggested to cope-up with this difficult situation . Key words : Nurses, Shortage, Supplies, Healthcare, resources . Overview In healthcare industry nurses are an integral part. In any care providing organization like Hospitals, Nursing facilities, assisted livings, senior care home etc . the caliber of nursing role is quite high. Appreciating the fact that nurses are most important professionals in patient’s care, the intensity of the issue of nursing ...
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...Running Head: Labor Shortage Labor Shortage [Author’s Name] [Institution’s Name] Labor Shortage The Nursing shortage is going to have a severe effect on the delivery and quality of health care. The problem has become even complex and there is a need for effective policy intervention, which requires efficient leadership involvement among the government and organizational stakeholders in combating nursing shortage crisis. In this regard, there is a need to find short as well as long-term solutions for the problem. Traditional measures are going to have very limited success owing to the predicted severe shortage of nurses in the future. Following are some suggestions in this direction: Reaching Out To Youth The current nursing workforce is aging fast and the solution lies kin reaching out to the youth and luring them towards the nursing profession and telling them how they can serve their community and society by joining the nursing profession (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2015). We are going to face an acute shortage of nurses in future and unless new and young people are attracted towards this profession, this shortage cannot be filled. Recruitment/Sign on bonus Recruitment/Sign on bonuses have also gained popularity as a method to attract nurses. However, they have been found to have a limited effect. Yet, they can be effective as a short-term solution (Cherry & Jacob, 2013). Retain Experienced Nurses Retention of the experienced...
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...Nursing Shortage (revision) October 29, 2012 The nursing shortage is an issue that is battled worldwide. There is evidence that there was a growing concern of a nursing shortage in the United States dating back to the early 1960’s. In a March 2012 report it was noted that the healthcare job market is exceeding the growth realized in 2011. This growth accounts for one out of every five new jobs in 2012 according the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS). Registered Nursing will be the top occupation in terms of job growth through 2020 with the number of employed nurses increasing by 712,000 which is a 26% increase. (Rosseter, 2012) Will this growth satisfy the increasing demand for healthcare services? It is important to first look at some of the problem areas facing the United States Healthcare system in regard to Registered Nurses. It is significant to note that the nursing shortage is due in part to the aging workforce. Presently 75% of the nurses are older than 40 years of age. Many nurses around the age of 54 are electing to decrease their hours. There is increasing evidence that nurses are seeking early retirement at 62. The largest group of nurses will soon start to retire which is expected to create a 20% shortage due to the aging workforce. (Duvall, 2010) In addition to the worries about the aging workforce, there are concerns about stress, job satisfaction, and physical demands on the nursing population. Nurses are particularly susceptible...
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...Nursing shortage has been a hot topic in the nursing filed for more than decade. Multiple components are the catalyst to this disaster. The reason why I identify our nursing shortage as a disaster is because human lives are in our hands. Another concern is the potential of not been able to meeting the health care needs of our communities. This national growing problem makes it crucial to attract students to the profession (Vioral, 2011). Even after students enter nursing programs, 13% of newly license register nurse change their bedside job after one year and 37% of nurses report a desire to change jobs after one year (Vioral, 2011). These are alarming rates most shift our focus to ensuring we keep our nurses engage and satisfied with their job. What I was able to gather from my research was not a bit surprising as to why nurses are not satisfied with their jobs. These reasons consist of stress related to understaffing and the high acuity, lack of support from the leaders, salary, scheduling problems, an unfriendly or negative environment and the lack of professional growth. I do not about you all but these are not new words to my ears. I have been listening to the same tune for more than 25 years. As a leader it is very frustrating working with HR recruiting department and the engagement crew to keep our nurses engage and at bedside. Fostering a culture of genuine support by nursing administration and educators is one the first step an organization has to take in...
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