The article will discuss the issue of shortage among the nursing profession and how it impacts the quality of service to the patients. The report will also include a proposed solution to the shortage problem. The United States is anticipated to experience a shortage of registered nurses that is expected to escalate as the baby boomers age, and the need for healthcare grows (Rosseter, 2017, p. 1). The shortage situation is compounded by the problem that many nursing schools across the country are struggling to expand capacity to meet the demands of healthcare given the national move towards health systems reform.
Kowalski and Kelley (2014, p. 71) stated that Colorado was struggling to meet the medical needs of its residents. Despite willing to admit more nursing students, there was a significant shortage in the faculties hence threatening the capacity of the city to provide healthcare services. Zhang et al. (2018, p. 3), further state that the nursing shortage will continue growing across the country between 2015 and 2030, with varying impacts in each region. They also go ahead and predict the highest shortages will occur in the southern areas of the country with estimates of up to 248,964 vacancies. California is anticipated as the state with the highest deficits; 141,348 jobs to be precise.
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Rosseter (2017, p. 2) compares the enrollment and graduations in baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing within the country for the year 2016-2017. It was found out that nursing schools turned away more than 60,000 qualified applicants caused by the insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, and clinical preceptors as well as budget constraints. More than 70% of the schools that responded to the survey portrayed a shortage of clinical preceptors as the reason for turning away the applicants to their programs.
Throughout the healthcare history in the United States, a cyclic pattern of nursing shortages and surpluses has occurred. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing reports 55% of the nursing professionals are aged 50 years and over. The Health Resources and Services Administration agency projects that more than a million nursing professionals will reach retirement age within the next 10 to 15 years (Snavely, 2016, p. 98). The situation is only bound to worsen if measures are not taken early.
Additionally, Ortman, Velkoff, and Hogan (2014, p. 1) found out that by 2050, the number of Americans aged 65 and above is anticipated to rise to 83.7 million. The number is almost double the population of the same age group back in 2012. The more significant number of senior citizens brings an increased need for geriatric care, including care for individuals diagnosed with chronic diseases. This change in demographics signals a need for more nurses to care for the aging population.
Nursing shortages positively correlate with increased nurse workloads that ultimately lead to work errors. Work errors impact the patients’, the medical caregivers’ and hospital outcomes. Kunaviktikul et al. (2015, p. 390), report that extended work hours for nurses resulted in reduced job satisfaction as a whole. The nurses who worked for extended hours were significantly more likely to cause adverse patient outcomes as compared to those who were not extending work hours.
Another study by Aiken et al. (2017, p. 7) reports findings of nurse shortages across hospitals in Europe. They concluded that a bedside care workforce with a significant number of professional nurses is associated with better patient outcomes as compared to lack of bedside care. This form of care has contributed to preventable deaths and improvements in quality and safety at the hospital.
Aboshaiq (2016, p. 4) suggested that the solution to the nursing shortage should be targetted at improving the public image of nursing practice via education and the use of media and workplace improvements such as addressing some aspects of culture. Moreover, Kowalski and Kelley (2014, p. 75) propose that the nursing faculty shortage solution is a strategic context. Solving the problem will take multiple coordinated responses aimed at the model of change. Effective use of nurses’ skills and other health workers requires countries to enhance and integrate their workforce policy-making and planning capacity across occupations (Buchan, Duffield, & Jordan, 2015, p. 544; Abhicharttibutra et al., 2017, p. 30).
From the article, the nurses’ shortage is a critical issue that needs to be solved quickly. Delays in tackling the subject have a fatal predicament soon, as evidenced by the peer-reviewed articles. The primary solution to the problem requires a multisectoral approach from all the stakeholders involved in the nursing profession. Effective government policies can serve as a short-term cushion to the issue.
References
Abhicharttibutra, K., Kunaviktikul, W., Turale, S., Wichaikhum, O. A., & Srisuphan, W. (2017). Analysis of a government policy to address nursing shortage and nursing education quality. International nursing review , 64 (1), 22-32.
Aboshaiqah, A. (2016). Strategies to address the nursing shortage in Saudi Arabia. International nursing review , 63 (3), 499-506.
Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D., Griffiths, P., Rafferty, A. M., Bruyneel, L., McHugh, M., ... & Sermeus, W. (2017). Nursing skill mix in European hospitals: cross-sectional study of the association with mortality, patient ratings, and quality of care. BMJ Qual Saf , 26 (7), 559- 568.
Buchan, J., Duffield, C., & Jordan, A. (2015). ‘Solving’nursing shortages: do we need a New Agenda? Journal of nursing management , 23 (5), 543-545.
Kowalski, K. & Kelley M. B. (2014). What’s the ROI for resolving the Nursing Faculty Shortage? Nursing Economics journal, 31(2), 70-76.
Kunaviktikul, W., Wichaikhum, O., Nantsupawat, A., Nantsupawat, R., Chontawan, R., Klunklin, A., ... & Akkadechanunt, T. (2015). Nurses' extended work hours: patient, nurse and organizational outcomes. International nursing review , 62 (3), 386-393.
Ortman, J. M., Velkoff, V. A., & Hogan, H. (2014). An aging nation: the older population in the United States (pp. 25-1140). United States Census Bureau, Economics and Statistics Administration, US Department of Commerce.
Rosseter, R. (2017). Nursing shortage. American Association of Colleges of Nursing . Retrieved from https://www.ic4n.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Nursing-Shortage-Factsheet- 2017.pdf
Snavely, T. M. (2016). A brief economic analysis of the looming nursing shortage in the United States. Nursing Economics , 34 (2), 98.
Zhang, X., Tai, D., Pforsich, H., & Lin, V. W. (2018). United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast: A Revisit. American Journal of Medical Quality , 33 (3), 229-236.
