“By 2025, the shortage of registered nurses is projected to grow to an estimated 260,000, twice as high as any U.S nursing shortages since the 1960’s” (Cullen). Nurses are the backbone of the health care system. They provide overall care and treatment to the patients. Further, while the patient is being admitted, staying and leaving the health care facility, nurses are addressing all of their needs and the families concerns. When facilities do not have adequate staffing the patients and the nurses suffer. In addition to the shortages America is facing, nurses are becoming increasingly stressed and over work. At the same time, the patient care is declining. There are two areas in which the lack of staffing is happening in the United States. First, schools are not accepting enough qualified applicants into the nursing programs. Also, the baby boomers are retiring leaving a huge gap of unfilled nursing positions. The nursing shortages should not be happening on such an epic scale because there are enough qualified applicants wanting to be accepted into the schools. However, the problem does not exist in the shortage of people wanting to become nurses. “The number of students who met all the requirements but weren’t admitted was over 67,000 students last year…” (Courchane). Students want to become nurses and want to make a difference in the lives of others. Although, they have the drive, the good grades and the support to become a great nurse, they can’t. Why? They are not accepted into the program due to funding. The nursing shortage exists because the schools do not have the funding needed to open schools and pay for teachers. As a result, when the budgets are cut the administrators of the nursing schools have to admit fewer s... ... middle of paper ... ...ursing Shortage." Business and Financial News, Breaking US and International News (2009): Web. 17 Nov. 2011. . Fox, Rebecca L., and Kathleen Abrahamson. "A Critical Examination of the U.S. Nursing Shortage: Contributing Factors, Public Policy Implications." EBSCO Host/ Nursing Forum 44.4 (2009): 235-244. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. . Kelly, Karen. "Is the DNP the Answer to the Nursing Faculty Shortage? Not Likely!" EBSCO Host/ Nursing Forum 45.4 (2010): 266-270. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. . Madkour, Rash. "Nursing Shortage: 1 in 5 quits within first year, study says." USA Today [Miami, FL]. USA Today , 15 Feb. 2009. Web. 1 Jan. . "The Nursing Shortage in 2010: Overcoming obstacles and coming up with new strategies." My Nursing Degree. My Nursing Degree, Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.
“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).
Daniel P. Wright, K. M. (2010). Strategies for Addressing the Nursing Shortage: Coordinated Decision Making and Workforce Flexibility. Decision Sciences , 373-401.
...February 15). Nursing Shortage: 1 in 5 quits within first year, study says. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday.com/news/health/2009-02-15-nursingshortage_N.htm
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.
The shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States has been a cyclical topic dating back to the 1960s. Only recently have employers in certain regions of the nation stated a decline in the demand for RNs. Consequently, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014) report on 2012-2013 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, American nursing schools denied admission to 79,659 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2012. The reported decrease in job availability and rejected admissions has left many individuals to question if the nursing shortage still exists. On the other hand, some experts project that the United States will be short more than one million RNs by 2020 (Dolan, 2011). Although some parts of the country are in less of a demand than others, it is undeniable that there is a national shortage of RNs.
Zerwekh, J., & Garneau, A. Z. (2012). Nursing today: Transitions and trends. (7th ed.). Phoenix, AZ: Elsevier Saunders.
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.
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
Thousands of nurses throughout the nation are exhausted and overwhelmed due to their heavy workload. The administrators do not staff the units properly; therefore, they give each nurse more patients to care for to compensate for the lack of staff. There are several reasons to why
From over-crowding and long waiting lists to staff shortages which have knock on effects resulting in inadequate skills mix and unacceptable nurse-patient ratios. An aging population, high birth rates and an increase in chronic diseases also puts pressure on the healthcare system. The nursing role has had to evolve in response to changing societal needs and the challenges in the healthcare system today. (McCurry et al. 2009). This can bring additional challenges to nurses’ professional identity. ??
Recent literature reports that there is a nursing shortage and it is continually increasing. Data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2011) projects that the shortage, would increase to 260,000 by the year 2025. AACN (2011) also reported that 13% of newly registered nurses changed jobs and 37% were ready to change within a year. A study conducted reports that there is a correlation between higher nursing workloads and nurse burnout, retention rates, job dissatisfaction and adverse patient outcomes (Vahey & Aiken, 2004). Among the nurses surveyed in the study, over 40% stated that they were suffering from burnout while 1 in 5 nurses intended
Solutions for the nursing shortage beyond implementing safe nurse staffing ratios include: ongoing long-term workforce planning; institution of an education and practice system to promote more equitable compensation in the health care community based on a better understanding of the educational preparation required for different health care roles; implementation of specific strategies to retain experienced nurses in the provision of direct patient care, investigating the potential for using technological advances to enhance the capacity of a reduced nursing workforce; and advocate for increased nursing education funding under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act and other publicly funded initiatives to improve
As the profession of nursing is still in its establishing phase so mostly people avoid in coming in this field and those who are in this feels that this profession is not payable as it should be, that’s why the turnover rate of the nurses is recorded on high level. This shortage is almost present in all over the world and it has been predicted that if these crisis exists in the profession of nursing by the year 2020 then the 65% of nursing responsibilities towards their patients will be neglected (Yukl, & Heaton, 2002). This shortage will create a huge disastrous effect over the mass causality and care of the nations.
n.d.a The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/topics/rwjf-topic-areas/nursing/action-coalitions.html Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. n.d.b. a. n.d.b.