Running head: NURSING STAFF SHORTAGES Nursing Staff Shortages: Why is There a Problem and What Can be Done to Solve It? Wendy Allen Troy University NURSING STAFF SHORTAGES ABSTRACT Nursing staff shortage is a large problem in today’s healthcare environment. There are fewer nursing students as a result of their being fewer nurses. The population is aging, which is creating a larger demand for healthcare services. Healthcare organizations are finding it difficult to provide quality healthcare services in a timely manner due to the nursing staff shortages.
This fire has come unexpected to the community and has effects on the community’s hospital, senior center, school, and the Bley Household. The hospital is overloaded with patients suffering from many respiratory issues. With having so many patients that are requiring an inpatient status, this is putting pressure on the staff to have to work more hours, and pick up mandatory overtime shifts to help aid in the care of these patients. The stress of such an influx of patients is showing itself when it comes to the moral of the employees. With moral being low, the drive to work extra hours falls as well.
There is currently a larger nurse-to-patient ratio than most nurses would like. Along with the stress and long hours associated with the career choice of nursing, nurse burnout is a very common complaint in today’s society. Nurses often complain of being short staffed and having too large of a patient load. Interest in this topic comes from wanting to pursue management at some point in my career and working on a floor in which a second shift nurse could have twelve patients. Not only will nurses feel better, but better patient outcomes occur when units are better staffed.
Burnout in nursing is one of the major problems that occur due to the shortage of staff members, variable shift works, dissatisfaction and stressors of workplace that can lead to physical, emotional, social and long-term career effects to the nurses. However, it can be resolved by following a problem focused copping mechanism and positive emotion focused coping mechanism. Besides this, working as a team at work place and practicing healthy life style also can help in resolving burnout. Causes of Burnout in Nursing The demand of nurses is increasing at a great pace all over the world. No matter how many nurses a country produces every year, there is always a shortage of workers.
The peak hours actually only make up 36% of the time hospital nurses work. Weekends and/or nights are when patient care is most threatened. Many providers schedule these shifts with less experienced staff. Though there are many factors contributing to the problem and it is an ongoing challenge, patient safety and quality of care should be maintained at
Generally the nurses experiences of care for the dementia patient in the acute care setting was one of uncertainty, due to the fact the nurses felt they had a specific lack of knowledge. Nurse’s knowledge and education As the population grows and there’s an increase in the number of dementia patients, nurses in the acute care setting need to be skilled and educated to support patients with dementia as stated by (Archibald & Cunningham 2006 p.55I). Erikson & Saveman (2002) described the lack of specialized education for nurses in regards to dementia patients in the acute care setting. This is of particular concern as there are many demands on nurses in the acute care setting and can influence the nature of the care they give. According to Nolan (2006, p.213) nurses had concerns of
There are also cultural barriers that only make these problems worse. In many places, women are not allowed to receive healthcare due to privacy worries of domineering men. Since 2001, Afghan women and western healthcare workers have attacked these problems and are now improving the healthcare for women. The infant mortality rate has dropped and the number of births assisted by skilled workers has risen. There is still a large need for healthcare providers, but this is a
When a new nurse is employed in an acute care setting, many challenges are encountered both by the new nurse and the facility. New nurse employment may take as long as three months, and another six months for the newly hired nurse to be able to perform the job independently. The investment, cost and time, into the hiring of a new graduate nurse is intense, therefore, every possible effort should be made to retain them. To replace or hire a new graduate nurse is expansive. “The cost associated with replacing a registered nurse range from $ 10,000 to $ 60,000 per RN, depending on the specialty”.
The fatigued nurse becomes overwhelmed and can easily make mistakes such as medication errors or performing procedures on the wrong patient. They also begin to lose compassion for their patient and become more task oriented. Often times it gets to a point where they are just showing up for work and lose sight of their original desire to help an ill patient get better or make a difference in their patients day. We go into nursing with the intention to help people who need it and share with patients our nurturing personalities but that sometimes gets lost in the tangled web of stressful situations, long work weeks, long shifts, increasing patient-to-nurse ratios, constantly changing field, and not enough education on the support systems in place or methods for coping. One thing I’ve noticed to be very common with nurses is remembering to take care of themselves.
Introduction The numbers tell the story of the coming nursing shortage. In 2007, there were an estimated 8.5% of unfilled nursing positions and that number is expected to triple to 29% by 2020 as 80 million baby boomers retire and are added to the ranks of Americans needing care (Herbst, 2007). Among nurses in field 28% say they are dissatisfied with their job and 51% say they are somewhat dissatisfied (Buerhaus, 1987). Labor shortages can happen in any field but when there is a shortage of nurses to care for patients the quality of care, safety, and patient satisfaction can be compromised to a dangerous level. Since the late 1980’s the demand for nurses has been escalating as the numbers of nurses in the field have dropped (Buerhaus, 1987).