There is no denying the fact that nurses work hard. Most people would judder at the long shifts that medical practitioners work every week. Nurses however take it without a blinking. They are always at work continually checking in with families, administering medications, advocating for patients under their care, and working together with other members of the medical team to ensure the best possible health outcomes within a complex medical system. In accounts from across the United States, nurses share days where they have patients on gurneys in hospital hallways, where they do not have lunch breaks, and days where they work in several hospital departments to compensate for staffing inadequacies. The bottom line is; there is a nursing shortage in the United States, and which is only projected to escalate despite nursing being one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States. Nursing shortage is one of the most widely deliberated topics today not only in the United States, but also globally. Several scholars have expressed their views on this issue of great concern. The researchers explore topics such as determinants of nursing shortage, effects of nursing shortage on patient care, and issues of concern. Because nursing shortage is such a critical issue, it is important to review several literatures deliberating on the topic so as to improve the general understanding on the subject and also to formulate strategies to addressing the issue.
Marc et al. (2019) in their publication, “A nursing shortage – a prospect of global and local policies,” addressed the determinants of the nursing shortage in Poland and other nations. The study results were based on national listings and strategic documents for nursing policy in Poland. They argued that factors such as ineffective planning and use of available nursing resources, global demographic conditions, and undersupply of new staff (poor recruitment) are blamable for the global nursing shortage. Also, Marc et al. (2019) proposed strategies to developing nursing and midwifery. Here, the researchers cited approaches such as creation of a new medical profession to support nursing and improvement of nurse working conditions. Furthermore, Marc et al. recommended strict observance of nurse employment standards, ensuring of competence of nurses in the healthcare system, and pre- and post-graduate education of nurses and midwives as additional policies to remedying nursing deficiencies.
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The manner in which the sources used are documented and how the claims by the authors are supported helps advance this discussion. This article was written by experts in their own field of practice. All the authors boast of noteworthy affiliations and credentials endorsing them as dependable contributors to the subject of nursing shortage. Moreover, the authority of the writers of this publication is convalesced by the fact they stood to gain no known financial benefits from the conclusions they made. Marc et al. also supported their thoughts on nursing shortage with up-to-date documents, and all of which are relevant, academic and peer-reviewed. Finally, the authors provided a list of all the publications used to build their conclusions; therefore, allowing for the substantiation of their viewpoints. The reference materials are also of great significance to individuals willing to conduct further research into the topic of nursing shortage.
The issues and ideas voiced by Marc et al. are acceptable. Their viewpoints the causes of nursing shortage in the United States have been backed by other reputable authors. Haddad and Toney-Butler (2019) and Susan Gubar (2020) supported the claims of Marc et al. regarding the determinants of the inadequacy of nurses in the United States. Haddad and Toney-Butler highlighted underlying reasons for the nursing crisis in the United States. They mentioned issues such as lack of enough nurse educators and high employee turnover as the key reasons behind nurse shortage in America. Gubar on her side, highlighted poor working conditions for nurses as one of the key reasons the nursing profession is no longer appealing to many as it was before. These viewpoints are comparable to what Marc et al. expressed as the determinant of the nursing crisis in Poland and other Western European nations.
Susan Gubar (2020) also aired her views on the topic of nursing shortage. She argued that nursing shortage is threatening to ruin the status of healthcare in the United States. A shortage of nurses is likely to elevate the misery of patients. In hospitals with low number of nurses, patients are more likely to suffer complications such as pneumonia and urinary infections. Also, patients are likely to stay longer in understaffed hospitals and the stakes of patients dying from treatable conditions like gastrointestinal bleeding and shock are high. In addition, the response time to emergencies in understaffed hospitals is high. Gubar (2020) also expressed that understaffing is to blame for high nurse mistakes in hospitals that have high nurse to patient ratios. Moreover, Gubar also touched onto some of the contributing factors to the shortage of nurses in the United States.
Helping expand the discussion on the second article is focus on Gubar’s authority to contribute to the topic of nursing shortage and how Gubar supported her viewpoints in this article. To begin with, no information about Gubar’s testimonials and affiliations are provided on the website the article is published. The fitness to contribute to this topic is therefore questionable. Also, it is hard to tell the real intentions behind Gubar publishing this article; even though she shares her thoughts on the effects on nursing shortage on healthcare, her viewpoints are widely supported by personal experiences and also based on the encounters of a close aide. This fat about the article decidedly compromises its dependability. The information contained on the article cannot however be entirely discredited. The article is very recent; therefore, contains the most recent information regarding the impacts of nurse shortage on healthcare. Additionally, the article is posted on the website of a reliable host; The New York Times.
Personal opinions on the ideas articulated by Gubar in her publication helps end the dialogue on the second article. Even though there is uncertainty regarding the credibility of the information published by Gubar, her ideas are authentic. Her opinions have been echoed by other authors. Gubar highlighted some of the causes of the shortage of nurses in the United States. She mentioned issues such as depleted and aging nursing professoriate, low enrollments in nursing courses, and fear of the emotional demands of the profession as some of the reasons why there are few nurses in the U.S. These opinions are relatable to the sentiments of Haddad and Toney-Butler (2019) on the subject of discussion. The duo focused on the issues of concern and also reasons for nursing shortage in the U.S. There is a close relation between the factors behind nursing shortage and the reasons behind the deficiency of nurses in the country.
The final article on nursing shortage studies the issues of concern as well as underlying reasons for the nursing crisis in the U.S. Haddad and Toney-Butler (2019) contended that lack of potential educators, inequitable distribution of the workforce, and high turnover are some of the reasons behind nursing shortage in the U.S. Regarding issues of concern, the duo claimed that the nursing profession continues to face shortages due to potential reasons such as ageing population, aging work force, nurse burnout, violence in the healthcare setting, fast population growth, the task of having to choose between career and family, and imbalances in distribution of nurses within the country. In addition, Haddad and Toney-Butler also explored other less significant issues that impact nursing supply in the U.S. Issues such as empowerment (organizations must be creative in meeting nurse needs), and technology (technical advances affect nurses staying in their positions) appear prominently in the discussion.
Expanding this confab is the need to focus on the suitability of Haddad and Toney-Butler to contribute to the topic of nursing shortage. Also, it is crucial to survey the manner in which the resources used to draw conclusions in the article by Haddad and Toney-Butler have been detailed and how key issues in the article have been supported. Beginning with Haddad and Toney-Butler’s credibility, there is no information regarding the duo’s affiliations or credentials; hence, compromising the reliability of the information provided by the two authors. However, Haddad and Toney-Butler have compensated for this shortcoming in their survey. The duo has backed all the contentions made in their work with information acquired from acceptable and timely sources, and all of which have been listed at the end of the research paper. Further bolstering the authority of the article is the fact that is appears in a respectable magazine: StatPearls.
Closing the discussion on the article by Haddad and Toney-Butler is the articulation of intimate thoughts on the issues expressed in the publication. It is hard to refute some of the ideas aired by the duo regarding the shortage of care givers in America. The duo explored the underlying causes of nursing shortage in the U.S and most of the key points underscored have also been expressed by Marc et al. (2019). However, it is also hard to believe some of the arguments brought forth by Haddad and Toney-Butler. The opinions whose integrity are doubtable are those regarding the issues of concern since the other two articles in this discussion have not covered this sub-topic.
Evaluation of the agreements and disagreements between the authors’ personal and professional values is another critical section of this discussion. There is no denying that the three articles covered in the discussion above manifest a great extent of uniformity of personal values among all the authors of the publications. All the authors manifest a high level of commitment to sincerity, truthfulness, honesty, and dependability when probing into the nursing shortage discussion. However, there are conflicts regarding stewardship in the three publications. All the articles are very resourceful; however, only Marc et al. (2019) provided important information concerning how shortage of nurses can be resolved. Regarding the agreements and disagreements between the writers’ professional values, it is fair to express that there is no noticeable disagreement in professional values among the authors. All the authors exhibit self-motivation since there is no proof that they stand to gain financially from their publications. Their only desire is to shed light on nursing shortage; a topic of great concern and which may have detrimental consequences if not resolved with urgency.
The last piece of this discussion is a reflection on how my personal and professional values might impact my views on the issue of nursing shortage. On a personal basis, I am a devotee for integrity, achievement, perseverance, and intelligence in all my dealings. I would love to think that my sets of personal values would only let me convey the truth about the state of nurse staffing statistics in the country without fear and favor. I am a dependable and insightful individual and my views on shortage of nurses would only be aimed at creating workable solutions to the crisis so as to improve care delivery in the United States. Professionally, I boast of a strong work ethic, I possess a positive attitude, and I am willing to grow and learn. I believe these professional values that I possess would only influence my views on the nursing crisis towards a direction that would be focused on unearthing potential solutions to the societal concern.
References
Gubar, S. (2020). The nursing shortage is threatening our care. The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2020 from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/22/well/live/the-nursing-shortage-is-threatening-our-care.html
Haddad L.M., & Toney-Butler T.J. (2019). Nursing shortage. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing.
Marc, M., et al. (2019). A nursing shortage – a prospect of global and local policies. International Nursing Review, 66 (1), 9-16. doi: 10.1111/inr.12473.
