In the healthcare system, nurses form the most substantial part of employees. As a result, the nursing shortage jeopardizes the provision of healthcare services to clients. There is a shortage of nurses globally and hence is a challenge to the future provision of qualified and professional healthcare for the growing population (Booth, 2002). As a crucial aspect of society's well-being and health, there needs to be a well-regulated, confident, and competent health workforce. Therefore, as a way of preparation to fulfill the needs of the future population, several countries have considered planning on the nursing workforce.
With the increasing population, there is an increased demand for qualified and skilled nursing personnel. In developing countries, the demand increases even though there is a shortage of nurses due to migration and international recruitment. As a result, hospitals are operating under a competitive labor market (Buerhaus et al., 2007). Besides, nurses' retention is an issue of the highest priority for the health services as nurses are in very high demand worldwide. This global shortage of nurses has attracted discussions and debates in real-time.
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The settings in which nursing shortages are frequently experienced in the hospital set-up is where healthcare services are inconsistent in demand. After the doctor has completed his diagnosis and services, much of the nurse's workload is left to see through the moment of care needs for the patient and, hence, essential components of the healthcare hierarchy. In acute care administration settings, nurses' responsibilities broach a wide range of services (Buerhaus et al., 2007). Even though this type of care is rung below critical care, it is just as important in patient recovery. Over the past years, there have been aging in the population, coupled with a decline in nursing graduates, which has led to a crisis in the healthcare industry. This crisis has led to a rise in the number of patients per nurse to unmanageable levels.
Apart from the increasing demand for nurses resulting from more ailments and people living together, there are also shortages due to high turnovers in the nursing industry. Due to the demanding job requirements, about 16.5% of total nurses in healthcare units quit jobs within the first year of practice. Moreover, the replacement and recruitment of nurses is a demanding and time-consuming job and depends on the nursing specialty. Due to the shortage of nursing, hospitals are losing up to $4-$6 million in a year, which is a significant loss for the healthcare system. This is mainly because nurses' rate of change from one job to another is extremely high simply because there are very few nurses.
Other negative impacts of nursing shortage are seen in the quality of care received by patients' asides from the financial. Also, the shortage of nurses is directly correlated to patient mortality rates. As a result, hospitals with fewer nurses report a considerable increase in the mortality rate compared to hospitals with sufficient nurses. Lack of enough nurses also leads to crowding in emergency rooms and hence poor patient care (Buchan & Aiken, 2008). This can lead to an increase in the performance of additional procedures, may cause permanent disabilities, the period of hospitalization, and in some cases may lead to death. Besides, overcrowding in hospitals leads to physicians committing more errors.
To resolve the nursing shortage problem, the salary for nurses should be raised. Only a few percentage of the nurses have reported being satisfied with their wages even though there is a high demand for nurses, and their supply is limited. Moreover, to rectify the problem, the government should offer bonuses to individuals who apply to become nurses. Also, seeking people from underrepresented backgrounds and expanding below conventional target groups (Buchan & Aiken, 2008). This approach can help create adversity in the profession, aside from alleviating the shortage by attracting top talents. Moreover, people fall ill at different rates during different periods of the year. Therefore, the government should work on hiring temporary nurses during surges in hospital admissions.
References
Booth, R. Z. (2002). The nursing shortage: a worldwide problem. Revista latino-americana de enfermagem , 10 (3), 392-400.
Buchan, J., & Aiken, L. (2008). Solving nursing shortages: a common priority. Journal of clinical nursing , 17 (24), 3262-3268.
Buerhaus, P. I., Donelan, K., Ulrich, B. T., Norman, L., DesRoches, C., & Dittus, R. (2007). Impact of the nurse shortage on hospital patient care: Comparative perspectives. Health affairs , 26 (3), 853-862.
