Article Analysis: The Nursing Shortage

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Article Analysis: The Nursing Shortage Nursing shortages have occurred in health care throughout history, and especially since World War II. Just as the legion of baby boomers is about to swell the need for quality health care, America's nursing population is aging and more nurses are moving into primary care settings and into other disciplines. As a result, America's hospitals and other institutions need more nurses, especially those who deliver specialized care. As a healthcare provider and businessman this topic is of a special interest to me because nursing shortage have caused my business to loose million of dollars in the past five years. This paper examines the nursing shortage in the health care industry, the use of collaborative team approach in care delivery using a study that aims specifically to this problem and offer recommendations for employee retention. Many health care professionals are wondering why shortage transpired when managed care cost initiatives, implemented throughout the country, are dramatically decreasing the length of patient stays (Upenieks, 2003). In fact, such a situation should be resulting in a nursing oversupply. As the nursing shortage ensues, the need for recruiting and retaining highly skilled nurses committed to the organization will become necessary to maintain high-quality patient care. The recent national nurse shortage has resulted in higher nurse workloads; fewer support resources, greater nursing dissatisfaction, and burnout, making it more difficult to provide optimal patient care (Upenieks, 2003). The primary role of nursing is to provide the best possible care to patients. To attain this goal, nurses must work in collaboration with other members of the health care team. To improve efficiency, the health care environment must foster the development of collaborative relations among health care professionals. Trust, open communication, commitment, and shared goals must be present to support collaborative relations and effective teamwork. Health care organizations continue to place a greater demand on health care professionals while often working with limited resources. In a recent study focused on determining if there was a current or impending shortage of nurses in care settings throughout the United States, 81% of the 178 hospitals sampled indicated they have or are an... ... middle of paper ... ... qualified nurses diminishes. Based on this study, administrators should recruit nurses who understand that health care is at its best when health care professionals work collaboratively as members of a team, committed to providing the best possible patient care. References Aiken, L.H., Clarke, S.P, Sloane, D.M., Sochalski, J., & Silber, J.H. (2000). Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. JAMA, 288(16), 1987-1993. Buerhaus, P.I., Staiger, D.O., & Auerbach, D. (2000). Implications for an aging registered nurse workforce. JAMA, 283(22), 2948-2954. Borman, W., Hanson, M.A., & Hedge, J.W. (1997). Personnel selection. Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 299-337. Kramer, M., & Hafner, L. P. (1999). Shared values: Impact on staff nurse job satisfaction and perceived productivity. Nursing Research, 38(3), 172-177. Stapleton, S.R. (1998). Team building: Making collaborative practice Work. Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, 43(1), 12-18. Valda Upenieks, V.(2003). Recruitment and retention strategies: a magnet hospital prevention model. Retrieved February 9, 2005 from the world wide web: http://galenet.galegroup.com

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