Developing an Implementation Plan
Nursing shortage is a global problem facing all health care system and the impact on nursing professional and patient care outcomes cannot be over emphasized. Despite all effort made by the ANA and health care institutions to address the issue of nursing shortage there seems to be no change and the problem still exist hence there is every need to implement a new plan to address the problem of nursing shortage (ANA, 2014). The project plan is aimed at introducing a policy plan that will help in eradicating nursing shortage. This paper will focused on nursing shortage’s impact on nurses, patients and nursing profession, and a proposed project that will focus on eradicating the problem of nursing shortage through the use of mentoring program for high schools and colleges student.
Nursing Shortages/Proposed Plan
Nursing shortage has been a global problem that need to be eradicated in order to promote patient care and improve care outcomes. Nursing shortage in America has caused a lot of negative impact on the nurses, patients and nursing profession. It has caused a lot of dissatisfaction on the part of the nurses and the patients (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013). Nurses are prone to injuries, stress and burn-out as a result of nursing shortages. They engaged in working long hours to compensate their coworkers and ensure completion of assigned jobs. They end up breaking down emotionally, physically and psychologically due to poor work-environment and
Nursing shortages have always occurred in cycles. Recently, the shortage has become worse due to the implications of managed care as a way of controlling escalating health care costs. While the shortage did ease some during the recession of 2009, there is still a shortage in some areas of the country (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). Increased student enrollments and government policies have helped with the shortage, but the occupational outlook for nursing jobs is expected to grow faster than any other occupation through 2018. So it is essential that the supply of nurses increases to keep up with the demand. The current shortage is due to several factors. First, new nurses are needed to replace “baby boomers” who will be retiring in the near future. Second, as the population ages, there will be a demand for more healthcare, leading to a demand for more nurses. Third, new advances in patient care will lead to more people in the healthcare system needing more specialized care, and lastly, the affordable care act places a large emphasis on preventive care, leading to more people desiring wellness visits (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). Finally, according to Dall’Ora, Chiara, Griffiths, Peter, Ball, Jane, Simon, Michael Aiken, Linda H. (2015), “shifts lasting 12 hours or longer were associated with a 40 percent greater level of job dissatisfaction and a 31 percent higher risk of planning to quit. Job satisfaction and burnout in the nursing workforce are global
I am writing this letter in response to article “Nursing Shortage: A Comparative Analysis” which made me think about the similar situation of my country. I am from Nepal, a developing country which is facing the nursing shortage as you have mentioned in the article. If you ask a nursing student in my country, what are you going to do after graduating? Most of those answers would be going abroad for bachelor or masters. Here, doing bachelor or masters
The US healthcare system is no stranger to nursing shortages. It is a recurring problem we have been faced with for the past seven decades. However, what we will be faced with between now and 2025 is a predicament of far greater proportion than ever encountered before. “Considering the impact this prolonged shortage will have on the USA health care system, nursing and other health-related organizations have even brought their concerns to lawmakers in the central government for immediate consideration” (Janiszewski Goodin 335). This quote is from 2003 and sadly, the state of today’s nursing shortage is still blatantly apparent. Not necessarily because nothing was done back in 2003 to fix it, but
The United States healthcare industry faces many challenges everyday, such as the rising cost of care, medical errors, access and quality problems etc. Within the next few years, the United States will experience a shortage of Register Nurses (RNs). “Registered Nurses are considered one of the largest health professions in the health care industry. The Nurses duty is to provide direct patient care and can be done in a hospital, public health facility, nursing home and many other different settings. Other services included are patient education on disease prevention, administering treatments and promoting a healthy lifestyle.” ("The Future of the Nursing Workforce: National- and State- Level Projections 2012-2025”) The shortage will occur due to Baby Boomers aging and the demand for health care will dramatically rise. With the baby boomers aging, Registered Nurses are at the top of the list for demand in health care. Unfortunately the supply and demand does not meet. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2012-2022 released in December 2013, RNs will increase of about 526,800 within that time frame but will still have job openings of 1.05 million by 2020)”("Nursing Shortage") Indicating that there is no growth between 2012- 2022. There are multiple factors to this shortage and one of them is that nursing schools across the nation are struggling to increase the capacity of students to meet the rising demand. Considering the fact
to the importance of nursing shortage and impact on health system. This paper has discussed
The nation has a growing concern for the shortage of skilled nurses in the United States. The growing need of qualified nursing professionals reflects the growth of the aging population. As the retirement of healthcare professionals increase the need for replacement isn’t moving at the same rate. The nursing shortage places demand on nurses to work long hours, multiple jobs and overtime, which places them at risk for nursing errors. There are many incentives that show the increasing need for nursing professional. There are many different scholarships, grants and tuition reimbursement programs being awarded to produce more nursing professionals. The nursing shortage has led to a nursing crisis in most states. In the following research I will discuss some key factors about of nursing shortage, some factors that have an impact of the shortage in the nursing profession, and some economic issues. I will discuss different legislative acts and what was concluded from my research.
The American healthcare system is severely impacted by the shortage of nursing personnel. According to the American Nurses Association (2014), the nursing shortage has compromised patient safety, patient care and patient health outcomes. The nursing shortage can also cause medical errors, result in fatigue, injury and job dissatisfaction. The nursing shortage has been influenced by several factors. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the factors that influence nursing shortage in the U.S, present two strategies to address the issue and my personal recommendation.
The Nursing Profession has been experiencing shortages for many years. The pattern seems to be repetitive, high demand for nurses followed by phases of downsizing with a surplus of nurses. The earlier years of the nursing shortage was short compared to today’s current nursing shortage. The nursing shortage exist globally and in all nursing areas. There are several factors that are the cause of the nursing shortage of today as well in years past.
With over 2 million jobs, registered nurses represent the largest health care occupation (Windle, 2008, p. 209). Although nurses are the biggest health care occupation, there continues to be a shortage in the United States. The shortage has worsened because of rising healthcare costs and a focus on cost containment, which has negatively impacted nurse work environments (Keeler and Cramer, 2007, p. 350). With demand for healthcare expecting to continue to increase and financial pressures becoming more burdensome, these shortages will likely become even more critical in coming years if not adequately addressed (Love et al., 2006, p. 558). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 1.2 million nurses will be required to fill new and vacated nursing positions by the end of 2014 (Windle, 2008, p. 209).
According to an article submitted by Rosenfeld, 2009, the growing trends of an aging population require the need for more nursing services. In addition, there are insufficient numbers of facilities to train new nurses (Rosenfeld, 2009). The above issues pertaining to nursing shortages have created what is called a “nursing crisis” which have caused and will continue to cause dramatic shortages on a national basis.
The issue of healthcare personnel scarcity continues to be an ongoing challenge across the globe. Invariably, nurses are at the pinnacle in the delivery of quality care in any healthcare setting. The ever-increasing demands for care stem from a patient populace that is emergent, growing older and needing more care due to the escalating shift in their disease process. Hence, nurses are torn between balancing an overloaded schedule, working extra hours and maintaining astuteness and professionalism. This transcends to compromised patient care, nursing burnout makes it difficult for them to experience the rewards of caring for patients in the way they had expected; thereby, adding to the shortage of
It is likely that most people have heard about the nursing shortage for years now, and perhaps they believe it’s been fixed. However, the nursing profession is experiencing a reoccurring deficiency. According to Brian Hansen, (2002), there was a nation wide shortage in 2001 of 126,000 full-time registered nurses, but the shortage will surge to 808,000 by 2020 if something isn't done. This pattern is a persisting cycle of high vacancies followed by layoffs and a high over supply of registered nurses. Various factors contribute to the lack of nurses within the health care facilities, but today’s shortages are a little different. Many feel that this scarcity is severe and long-drawn-out. The four major issues contributing to
We hear nurse’s talk about how rewarding their profession is but what they seldom talk about is how it can be very challenging as well. There seems to be many issues existing in the nursing profession. One of the most affective issues in nursing is the decreasing number of staff nurses. With inadequate staffing, nurses are demanded to have more responsibilities thus causing more stress on the nurse. This increase in responsibility causes nurses to neglect many aspects of their patients’ care. Patient care is suffering from the shortage of nurses as there is an increase in adverse patient outcomes due to the shortage. Also, there is evidence that there is a positive relationship between the number of staff and the effectiveness of their teamwork. The more staff available the more likely nurses will work together as a team. A new act is being implemented to help with the nursing shortage. This act is called the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of nursing shortage and how the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act is an example of evidence-based practice.
Improving education and training is one of the strategies to address nursing shortage. Increase in federal funding to compensate current faculties and graduate students faculty is essential in addressing the issues. This will decrease vacancy rates and help to improve workload. Development of a program among regional and statewide nursing schools is another factor to consider. This promotes joint efforts with faculties allowing them to make use of resources efficiently which also assist in students nurse advancement. Moreover, it
According to Paller (2012), the nursing shortage in different countries for example the United States tends not to be the only growing problem, but has also become a complex one. Nursing shortage and nurse's turnover has become the worsening predicament in the health care industry in the United