Supply and Demand of Registered Nurses In the early 1950s, a becoming a nurse was considered to be more voluntary than vocational. Nurses would make the beds, smile in the faces of the patients and check temperatures. This is not the case today, they play a major role in our health care and we should no longer take them for granted. Registered Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals in the United States and there is a massive shortage nationwide, especially in Texas. In 2006 Texas was reported to have over 146,000 Registered Nurses; this is only around 609 nurses per 100,000 residents, as opposed to the national statistic of 782 per 100,000. (Ogle, 2006). In trying to examine the causes for the shortages in Texas, we will look at the reason for the lack in supply and demand, as well as discuss how a nurse’s pay is determined and how their salary is structured. Demand Since the 1990s, there has been a growth in the demand for Registered Nurses in Texas. There is an expected 86% increase in demand of Registered Nurses in Texas between 2005-2020, in this time there is an expected increase in the supply of nurses by only 53%, causing a shortage. (Registered Nurse Supply/Demand Facts, 2006). One of the causes is the continuous increase in the population. Because Texas is bordering Mexico, there is a flow of illegal immigrants annually. Another reason for an increase in demand is that there is a greater life expectancy. Enhancements in technology and medicine has made is possible for us to lead longer lives as opposed to in the past 54 years, “from 68.2 years in 1950 to 77.8 years in 2004.” (Hodges, 2007). Along with an abundance of the older generation come the health problems that they acquire, such as heart ... ... middle of paper ... ...ators know how important it is to pay attention to our need of nurses; after all, how many of them are going to need one in the near future? References Hodges, M. (2007, March). GENERATIONAL CELEBRATION REPORT. Retrieved January 20, 2007, from Grandfather Economic Report series: http://mwhodges.home.att.net/celebration.htm Ogle, L. (2006, November 9). Texas State gets $6 million to create nursing program. Retrieved January 22, 2008, from St. David's Community Health Foundation: http://www.sdchf.org/downloads/Grants_NursingSchool.pdf Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortages. (2002, July). Retrieved January 21, 2008, from FCI Global USA, Inc: http://www.fciglobalusa.com/doc_news1_en.php#chart9 Registered Nurse Supply/Demand Facts. (2006). Retrieved January 22, 2008, from Texas Nurses Association.
“In 2010, the US Department of Labor Statistics (DLS) projected a 22 percent increase in the demand for RNs or 581,500 new jobs by 2018, to total a projected 1,039,000 jobs needed to be filled by 2018” (Cottingham, DiBartolo, Battistoni, and Brown, 2011, p. 250). It is imperative that strategies be implemented to improve the recruitment of nurses to meet the needs. Without improvements in the recruiting of new grads or seasoned nurses, organizations will need to rely on expensive agencies and traveling nurses; therefore, causing a financial burden on organizations (Cottingham et al., 2011).
Health care reform has been a major issue over the past decade. The Nursing industry has in particular experienced a period of unpredictable change. On Dec 24, 2009, a landmark measure was passed in the senate by a vote of 60 to 39. This decision to pass the health care reform will change America forever. Nurses will constitute the largest single group of health care professionals. They will have a huge impact on quality and effectiveness in health care. The nursing industry will help hold this new program together by acting as the glue (The nursing industry will be the glue holding the new health care in tact.) It is estimated that by 2015 the number of nurses will need to increase to over 4 million. Nurses are the backbone of the health care industry thus creating better polices for this profession will help ease the workload and high demand. A nurse’s main concern is always to insure quality care and the safety of their patients. Under the new health care reform several new measures have been set into place to ease the transition and improve the quality of care for all patients. One program is designed to fund scholarships and loan programs to offset the high costs of education. Nursing shortages and the high turnover has become a serious epidemic. Health care reform is supposed going to solve many of these problems.
The 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report- The Future of Nursing described the role that nurses have in the current and future US health care environment (IOM, 2011). This report was completed at a time when the Affordable Care Act had been passed and a new emphasis was being put on interdisciplinary healthcare teams, care coordination, value-based payment systems, and preventative care (IOM, 2011). Nursing is the largest profession in health care and with an aging baby boomer populace, the expanded role of nurses will be critical in meeting the growing healthcare burdens (Sisko et al., 2014).
Current literature continues to reiterate the indicators of a major shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States. The total RN population has been increasing since 1980, which means that we have more RNs in this country than ever before (Nursing Shortage). Even though the RN population is increasing, it is growing at a much slower rate then when compared to the rate of growth of the U.S. population (Nursing Shortage). We are seeing less skilled nurses “at a time of an increasingly aging population with complex care needs and an increasingly complex technological care environment” (Mion). According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that “more than a million new and replacement nurses will be needed over the next decade” (Diagnosis: Critical).
There is a shortage of all health care professions throughout the United States. One shortage in particular that society should be very concerned about is the shortage of Registered Nurses. Registered Nurses make up the single largest healthcare profession in the United States. A registered nurse is a vital healthcare professional that has earned a two or four year degree and has the upper-most responsibility in providing direct patient care and staff management in a hospital or other treatment facilities (Registered Nurse (RN) Degree and Career Overview., 2009). This shortage issue is imperative because RN's affect everyone sometime in their lifetime. Nurses serve groups, families and individuals to foster health and prevent disease.
It is clear that statewide mandated nurse-to patient ratios result in drastic financial changes for every hospital impacted. Hospitals often have to compensate for hiring more nurses by laying off support staff. Mandated ratios also result in an increase in holding time in emergency rooms . (Douglas,
Unfortunately, today’s supply of nurses is not expected to live up to the forecasted demand. It is estimated that more than 70 million Americans will be age 65 or older by the ...
The nursing shortage most likely does not mean a great deal to people until they are in the care of a nurse. The United States is in a severe nursing shortage with no relief in sight due to many factors compounding the problem and resulting in compromised patient care and nurse burnout. Nursing shortages have been experienced in the past by the United States and have been overcome with team effort. However, the current shortage is proving to be the most complex and great strides are being made to defeat the crisis before it becomes too difficult to change. Researchers anticipate that by 2010, the United States will need almost one million more registered nurses than will be available (Cherry & Jacob, 2005, p. 30).
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
Nurses have always been an undervalued asset to the health care industry; however, there is always a great need for them. With more uninsured Americans requiring safe, affordable medical care, the pressing issue of nursing education is not a priority (Aiken, 2011). Recently, there have been modifications taken place toward the current nursing shortage, the decrease of nursing graduates, a workforce that is becoming older, and other factors that influence nurse educator shortage (Baker, Fitzpatrick, & Griffin, 2011). Nurse educators are required to advise students, complete research, and perform committee work all while teaching (Baker, Fitzpatrick, & Griffin, 2011). They also have multiple jobs outside of practicing nursing and teaching. Nurse educators have stressful roles that hold many expectations, yet there is no independence in making their own decisions concerning things. Aiken (2011) suggests that the best way to begin combatting this shortage should include increasing the number of nurses who hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing from 50% to 80% by 2020 (p. 196). Forty-eight percent of nurse instructors are expected to be aged 55 and older and are predicted to retire by this time. (Baker, Fitzpatrick, & Griffin, 2011).
The prolonged shortage of skilled nursing personnel has been a serious concern to the healthcare industry, and this shortage has impacted the quality of care delivery. In addition, nursing turnover has also exacerbated the problem of nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been blamed on many nurses retiring and less younger nurses joining the occupation. There is also an increase in life expectancy (baby boomers) leading an increase in both physical and mental ailment with subsequent demand in nursing care. Nurses are also leaving nursing profession because of inadequate staffing, tense work environment, negative press about the profession, and inflexible work schedules. Even though nursing is a promising career and offers job security, the
There is and has been a shortage of nurses in the United States and according to The AACN (n.d) the nursing labor force is expected to grow from 2.7 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022, which is a 19% increase. According to Gallup (2002) in 2002 there were 126,000 unfilled nursing positions and in 2020 that number will grow to a total 400,000. There are several recruiting tactics that healthcare organizations can perform, increase salary, offer hiring bonuses, offer high quality benefits and offer financial support for nursing education. Pay structure within an organization is important on being able to hire talented nursing professional, according to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright (2014/2016) they are not lowering the pay of current
One of the issues involving health care and the aging population is majority of health profession employees being a percentage of the aging population. With the knowledge of health profession employees being a factor in the aging population puts a strain on doctors and nurses that come into the workforce after ones have retired. The fewer employees there are, the greater the work load will become on one person. It is imperative for each nurse in a unit to have four patients maximum. Giving more responsibility to one employee does not make the situation less of a challenge, it more so puts people’s lives at a greater risk of danger. The new demands placed on the health care system for health services will not only include a need for more workers, but also require changes in the way services are provided.
It is predicted that in ten years the job availability will increase by 31% (“Anesthesiologist” 1) There are 170,400 jobs available as a nurse practitioner in the United States as of 2014 (1). The reason why there is such a high demand for this career is because new practices, hospitals, and doctors offices are always opening. Also, there is a regular need for a trained medical professional to assist. The top employers for this field are general, medical, and surgical hospitals with 1,458,520 nurses hired (“Top” 1). The best area with the highest salary for nurse practitioners is in the Metropolitan area, which receives more than $100,000 a year. However, nurse practitioners and family nurse practitioners make an average of $98,190 a year, but it can vary widely depending on a variety of factors” (“Salaries” 1). Then, if one wants to specialize in a nurse practitioner career they make a reasonable amount more. For example, a Certified Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) makes an average annual salary of $157,140 (1). This career has the potential of making extremely great money, one just has to work for
Bedside nurses want to change staffing levels to assure that they have enough time to both keep up with the constantly evolving health care and to provide safe patient care. Yet, healthcare employers consider that reducing nurse patient ratio is an unnecessary expense that has not been proven to improve quality of patient care (Unruh, 2008). Employers emphasize that raising nursing staffing level is not cost-effective. In fact, in accordance with ANA’s report (2013), a study, in the Journal of Health Care Finance, confirmed that reducing patient-nurse ratios increased hospital costs, but did not lower their profitability. Higher hospital costs were attributed to wages and benefits allocated to newly hired nurses. Yet, according to Cimiotti et.al (20112), it is more costly for hospitals to not invest money on nursing.