Shortage of nursing or primary care providers is a worldwide problem that has led to healthcare industry inability to hire and retain them. In the united states, it is estimated that the increase in shortage of nurses and primary care providers affect the wellbeing of a nation as well as the health standards availed to the population. The primary care physicians interact directly with patients and offers counsel on where to receive the care that will adequately meet their needs. In North Carolina, nursing shortage has affected the entire state but the rural counties are more affected as they lack access to quality healthcare, require qualified nurses and they are more vulnerable to social determinants of heath due to their economic and social status.
Reasons for Nursing Shortage
Nursing shortage escalated by a number of causes such as; minimal enrollment in nursing schools, hospital acuity, aging population, workforce and work environments, burnout, increase in alternative job opportunities and misunderstanding of the nursing profession by the public (Murray, 2002) . The development and use of new technology in the healthcare call for the need of new skills that was not earlier available such as cardiac machine monitors. This in turn, raises the need for this specialty and increases the level of shortages.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Despite the importance of healthcare in the state, very few individuals turn up for enrollment to pursue the nursing care. This is as a result of duration before graduation as well as the cost of learning which makes the alternative courses more favorable. The low enrollment results to low refill of the healthcare systems. As the current nursing individuals age, there are no sufficient personnel for their replacement. It is also indicated that there is a high turnover rate in the nursing professionals. Those who are trained as nurses only works for a short while and quite due to one reason or the other. The most reported reason for quitting is burnout arising from long working hours and unfavorable working conditions.
Federal Government Interventions to Address the Nursing Shortage
Since World War II the world has been experiencing an increase in the shortage of nurses and has been addressed through review of compensation and adjustments in the curriculum. This approaches have not yielded much as the shortages are on an increase. The Geriatrics Workforce Improvement Act is a federal government approach that support the release of grants through the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) which is meant for training healthcare providers for the patients who are old.
In North Carolina, the state has invested up to $1 million in nursing programs in its universities. This investments works in cutting down the cost nursing trainings and thus motivating more individuals to enroll. By so doing, the state is securing a nursing shortage free for the future generations. The Bureau of Health Professions in the Health Research and Services Administration (HRSA) has also awarded grants to support nursing programs as many institutions turned away qualified students for baccalaureate programs due to faculty incapability (Bevill, Cleary, Lacey, & Nooney, 2007). The federal government agreed to the need to fund nursing education through implementation of the nursing training act as an addition to the public service act (Glazer & Alexandre, 2008) .
The shortages are also contributed by the high turnover of nurses. To help address this, the training programs should be compressive enough to prepare them for the tasks in the industry. The working conditions should also be reviewed to ensure they have enough time to restructure other than long working hours to fill the gap.
Conclusion
The nursing shortage needs a long term solution that might require strategies that supports the growth in the health care profession. Outsourcing from other nations might be a short while solution but if the working conditions are not favorable the turnover rates will remain high. Community awareness concerning the importance of healthcare will increase the number of new enrollments and graduate from the nursing programs.
References
Bevill, j. W., Cleary, b. L., Linda m. Lacey, & Nooney, J. G. (2007). Educational Mobility of RNs in North Carolina: Who Will Teach Tomorrow's Nurses?A Report On The First Study To Longitudinally Examine Educational Mobility Among Nurses. American Journal of Nursing, 5 , 60–70. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000268172.71477.99
Glazer, G., & Alexandre, C. (2008). Legislative: The Nursing Shortage: A Public Health Issue for All. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14 (1). doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol14No1LegCol01
Murray, M. K. (2002). The Nursing Shortage: Past, Present, and Future. The Journal of Nursing Administratio, 32 (2), 79-84.
