Popular culture of America
Nurses make up the largest population in the healthcare system with an estimated 3 million nurses. Also, nurses nursing is considered to be the fastest growing occupation around the United States. Nurses form the most crucial population in the healthcare system because without them then the system would collapse. However, the demand for nurses is more than the supply.
Current Statistics
It is predicted that by the year 2030 then there will be a shortage of nurses in the US. More specifically, every state’s supply and demand is estimated to range from a shortage of around 44,500 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in California to the surplus of 53,700 FTEs found in Florida (Purdue University Global, 2018). It is estimated that by the year 2030, seven states would have a big shortage of RN if the existing level of health care is maintained.
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The US also predicts that there will be further increase in shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) with the increase in Baby Boomers age and as the needs for health care increases. The problem is in the additional problem of the fact that nursing schools around the country are finding it hard to expand the capacity to meet the increasing demand for care that is provided to the nation towards reforms. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics that is based on the employment projections between 2016 1nd 2016 indicates that RN are among the top occupation in relations of job growth. The workforce is expected to increase from 2.9 million from reports in 2016 to 3.4 million in 2026. It is estimated to be an increase of 15% or 438,100. The Bureau also estimated that 203,700 new RNs will be needed every year through to 2026. The expected growth in the need for RN is high when compared to the 7% growth across the other occupations.
The need for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) is also expected to grow by around 12% and for nursing assistance by 11% through the same period. The increased aging baby boomer populace, there is the risk of increased chronic issues that include diabetes and obesity in addition to a growing emphasis on preventive care. The fear among people is that the healthcare industry is not able to keep with the growing demand of RNs as a result of the increased demand from patients (Bower, 2004). Most of the states in the United States are also expected to have shortages of RN in the future with California being at the top of the list with a deficit of RN of 44,500 (RegisteredNursing.org, 2019).
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The Cause of Nursing Shortage in the US
Some of the causes of nursing shortage in the US include the fact that hospitals are having more patients. The Affordable Care Act that was passed in 2010 has resulted in many people looking for medical care. Some hospitals are even increasing the number of beds with the aim of meeting the patients’ demands and thus the need to also have more nurses. In addition, even though AACN indicated a 3.7% increase in the enrolment rate in 2018, the increase is not sufficient in meeting the future demands of nursing services that are provided by primary care providers and researchers. The shortage is also as a result of low number of nursing school faculties that limits the nursing program enrolments.
According to reports, the challenges that face the nursing in the US includes the increased rate of RN retirements. It is estimated that around one million RNs will have retired by 2030. The departure of a large number of RNs means that patient care settings plus other organizations that depend on RNs are likely to face significant loss of expertise and nursing knowledge that are likely to be felt for years that come. According to the United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card , the shortage of registered nurses is expected to spread in the country between the year 2009 and 2030. A state-by-state analysis indicates that the RN shortage would be more intense on the West and South (American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), 2019).
Nursing shortage is also as a result of insufficient classroom space, clinical preceptors budget constraints, number of facilities, and budget. It is estimated that the problem is serious to the extent that nursing schools in the country have already turned away 75,000 qualified applicants from graduate and baccalaureate nursing programs in 2018 as a result of insufficient number of classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints. Most nursing schools indicate even indicate that the shortage of clinical preceptors and faculty preceptors is why they do not accept all the applications to their nursing programs.
The nursing shortage in the country results from an increased occurrence of chronic diseases (Ortman, 2014). It is worth noting that chronic diseases have increased among people in the United States according to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Almost half of all Americans are differing from one of the chronic diseases and the number is growing. These diseases include stroke, obesity, diabetes, cancer, respiratory diseases, heart disease, and arthritis which can result in hospitalization plus long-term disability (Mather, 2016). They result in long-term disability and hospitalization which result in an increase in nursing demand.
How to Deal with Nursing Shortage in the United States
The states that will feel the effects of nursing shortage in the years that are coming, among the states identified, four of the states have a deficit of 10,000 and more FTEs. It means that by 2030, the seven states that have a shortfall in registered nurses include California (44,500), Texas (15,900), New Jersey (11.400), South Carolina (10,400), Alaska (5,400), Georgia (2,200), and South Dakota (1,900). Considering the fact that the shortage is in a good number of states around the US, it is critical to find ways of dealing with the issue.
Encouraging Travel Nurses
Travel nurses can help in filling the gap that is currently being experienced in the country by concentrating on the overlooked specialties that include mental health plus meeting the assignments in the rural sections of the country. Travel nurses currently fill short-term position at health facilities in every state plus at the District of Columbia. Most of the facilities find it hard to maintain full-time staff and thus travel nurses will be the best solution. The process involves nurses attending their work for a specified period of time which is often for around 13 weeks which then helps the current staff. Currently most of the nurses are competing to work in common specialities and specific destinations, while other medical needs and places are often overlooked. The specific ways that nurses can help in filling the nursing shortage included being certified in specified specialties like social care that is consistently facing shortage in nurses. The other way is by making sure that there is no loss of sight of the bigger picture considering the nursing is more than just a job. It’s a passion and thus nurses need to be encouraged to show their passion by taking jobs where nurses are highly needed. The effort will improve the healthcare system because studies indicate that a higher level of nurse staffing is linked to lower infection rates, shorter hospital stay, fewer deaths, and decreased failure-to-rescue incidents (Blegen, 2011).
Retention of nurses
Retention of nurses starts with the way the organization values its staff. It is worth noting that most of the healthcare managers consider staff as an expense in terms of financial constraint. Healthcare executives need to gain new skills aimed that valuing employees. They also need to encourage RNs to state their issues to ensure that they are dealt with. Flexibility in scheduling plus increase career advancement opportunities are also critical in retaining nurses. It is an argument that is in line with the research by Goodin (2003) that indicates that the solution to nursing shortage covers four main areas that include analysing the retaining efforts, analysing the recruitment efforts, supporting the legislations that help in dealing with the shortage and improving the nursing image (Cimiotti, 2012).
Policy and regulatory issues
There are some policy and regulatory issues that might encourage the shortage. The factors include the federal and state law, the nursing and licensure practice acts, and regulations from certified organizations. Some factors act as barriers towards recruiting nurses while others make nurses to leave the profession. For example, every sector of patient care delivery experiences complaints from nurses on the complexity and amount of paperwork that results from different actions by the reimbursement industry and regulatory bodies. Nurses find themselves spending more time on paper work as opposed to interacting with patients which results in lowering their motivation level (Goodyear-Bruch, 2017). Therefore, aggressive process improvement strategies need to be implemented to streamline and standardise documentation. There is also need to review the laws to make sure that states can have more access to qualified nurses as the state level through the process of joining the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC). There is also clear need for the review of state and federal support for nursing programs to ensure the increased enrolment of nursing students. For example, federal budget increase can help in improving the support for special scholarships to recruit the students for advanced plus basic nursing education ( L. H., Sloane, Et. Al, 2014). The American Nurses Association also needs to lobby for an improvement in the federal funding. More specifically, individual nurses need to take charge by responding to requests to communicate with elected officials. Every nurse needs to be an advocate for increased funding. Also, it is evident that much is known about the contributing factors and thus nurses need to be active in securing the future of the profession (Bakhamis, 2019).
Counter Argument
Even with the efforts being put towards dealing with the nursing shortage, some argue that there is no issue because the profession is easier when compared to other professions. Therefore, nurses are able to handle a large number of patients at the same time. Others also argue that nurses get high payment than they deserve (Cimiotti, J. P. et. al., 2012). However, deciding to cut payment to save money can adversely affect their performance and patient outcome. It means that the issue needs to be considered well so that the most appropriate measure is taken and patients get the best care available.
Conclusion
Nursing shortage is evidently a big issue in the United States considering that it is predicted that by the year 2030 then there will be a shortage of nurses in the US. According to reports, the nursing shortage results from the increased rate of RN retirements. Nursing shortage is also as a result of insufficient classroom space, clinical preceptors budget constraints, number of facilities, and budget. The nursing shortage in the country results from an increased occurrence of chronic diseases. To solve the issue, some of the strategies that can be implemented include encouraging travel nurses. Travel nurses can help in filling the gap that is currently being experienced in the country by concentrating on the overlooked specialties that include mental health plus meeting the assignments in the rural sections of the country. The other strategy includes finding strategies to retain nurses. Retention of nurses starts with the way the organization values its staff. It is worth noting that most of the healthcare managers consider staff as an expense in terms of financial constraint. Healthcare executives need to gain new skills aimed that valuing employees. Finally, there are some policy and regulatory issues that might encourage the shortage. The factors include the federal and state law, the nursing and licensure practice acts, and regulations from certified organizations.
Bibliography
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