Management of human resources refers to those activities managers engage in to attract and retain an adequate number of employees and ensure that they perform at high levels to contribute to achieving the organization's goals. In nursing, staffing is defined as activities that ensure the right mix and number of nurses to attend to the patients' needs by providing quality and safe care. An adequate number of nurses contribute to positive patient outcomes, reduce the length of hospital stays, reduces complications, and prevent premature deaths. Nurses are vital members of the healthcare team and make up the most considerable portion of the health profession.
A nursing shortage occurs when there is an inadequate number of nurses to address patient needs comfortably. Since the Second World War, the nursing profession has documented a nursing shortage (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Nurse shortages are experienced due to several reasons, such as an aging population. As more people get old, their health needs increase. The health needs of the growing number of older people strain the nursing workforce (Haddad et al., 2020).
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Additionally, the nursing workforce is also aging. More nurses are retiring than those being recruited into hospitals. People are also shying away from enrolling in the nursing profession due to the nature of its demands. Turnover of nurses is also affecting the work negatively.
The effects of nurses' shortage can be felt in facilities, as evidenced by adverse patient outcomes and higher mortality rates. Increased workload on the available nurses demotivates them. Nurses may feel that the salaries they get are not proportionate to their efforts. The effect of this is an increase in psychological stress. The factors discussed earlier on may complement reasons nurses may be having to want to leave the profession, which would further affect the nursing ratios.
I concur with the author of the post I am responding to that the nursing shortage issue needs to be promptly addressed. Programs should also be put in place to take care of the psychological needs of working nurses. Lastly, their nurses' efforts should be recognized and rewarded to motivate them more.
References
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management . Elsevier Health Sciences.
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2020). Nursing shortage. In StatPearls [Internet] . StatPearls Publishing.
