Nurse Shortage In Nursing

Nursing is a career that is currently booming due to the current nursing shortage, however, the job comes with risks like every other job. A major one being diseases obtained through their work. These diseases can be a short or long term event, and are caused by a variety of problems. Imagine having a child in a hospital that is understaffed, the child is not given the care he requires because nurses are working so much that they are getting sick, which is leaving the hospital even more understaffed. Nurses are more susceptible to diseases because of understaffing, lack of caution and improper infection control precautions; these can be solved by training more nurses, as well as by frequently retraining proper infection control precautions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), " In 60% of U.S. hospitals, vacancy rates for RNs have increased since 1999; 14% of hospitals now report a severe nurse shortage (i.e., >20% of positions vacant)." This means that there are fewer nurses to provide care for more patients. With this being said the nurses that hospitals do have, often find themselves working overtime to make up for the shortage. Nurses usually work 8 hour shifts like the rest of the working class, however, due to the recent shortages, they often find themselves working twelve plus hour shifts. This leads to a higher rate of nurses that suffer from burnout, making them more susceptible to diseases and illnesses going around the hospital. Understaffing is not the only reason why nurses contract

One solution is in the works right now. The Ohio State University, offered 112 pre-nursing students admission for the 2017-2018 school year (The Ohio State University College of Nursing). If all colleges with nursing programs offered majors to 112 nursing students, the nursing shortage could slowly be diminished. There is not only a registered nurse shortage, but also nursing assistants and practical nurses. By providing more classes for each nursing degree, it would allow for more nurses to be licensed. With more men and women training to be nurses, not only would the shortage be diminished, but understaffing rates would be lowered and the nurse to patient ratio would be smaller, allowing for better care and more caution. This would more than likely decrease the illness and injury rate because the nurses can now work fewer hours as well as use more caution and take more time on each