Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Turnover in nursing introduction
Staff shortage as a nursing issue
Staff shortage as a nursing issue
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
There are three main reasons why nurses leave their profession in the hospital. The first reason is the relationships between other co-workers and physicians. Relationships may turn into a problem of miscommunication, which can cause major problems when communicating to one another and for the patient’s sake. Dr. Kerfoot states that relationship complications may lead to nurses fighting among themselves and not supporting one another, (Becker’s Hospital Review). Another reason for nursing turnover is staffing. In staffing, nurses may feel that their personal standards are not met by other workers and feel unworthy. Hospitals may also have acceptable staffing levels but unsystematic units, which can make giving orders a pain. The last reasons that many nurses leave their jobs are due to personal reasons. A nurse’s job is very stressful and can cause nurses to become fatigue, and dislike their current jobs; nurses are prone to making mistakes and medical errors (ANA, 2014). Nursing shortage and nursing turnover can deeply affect the future care of a patient and the concord in the healthcare system. Healthcare facilities take awareness of the situation among nurses and chose to carry out the situation in specific ways. Contributing Factors to Nursing Shortage Nursing shortage is a crisis in hospitals nationwide. The main contributing factors on the current shortage are the steep population growth resulting in a growing need for health care services, a diminishing pipeline of new nursing students, and an aging nursing workforce (Honor Society of Nursing, 2013). Many new managers want new nurses who are worth half the price as older workers; also many old workers are ready for retirement, so they are required to be paid more. Many ... ... middle of paper ... ...ills of the manager can be divided into simple categories of: leadership skills, people skills, budgeting and finance, quality of care skills, and information technology skills. According to Porter-O’Grady (1997, 1999), he observed that advanced knowledge of technology has provided and changed the traditional hierarchy of leadership (Susan O. Valentine, 2013). Today’s technology takes grammar, spelling, and punctuation to a new level of error prevention, which can help reach out to key individuals and other staff member’s. For nurse managers, people skills include interviewing new employees and conducting staff meetings with others on future employees. Understanding the financial state of a health care unit is vital in finding a way to help keep other nurses and to keep them satisfied. Managers should analyze the situation and the budget crisis of all employees.
The nursing shortage is divided into four different categories. The four categories are as follows; "willing nurse" shortage, funding or perceived funding shortage, shortage of understanding that nurses are needed to deliver care, and nurse education and empowerment shortages (What is the nursing shortage and why does it exist?., 18 October, 2007). To be able to repair this major problem, all four segments of shortages need to be addressed. The first nursing shortage, A "willing nurse" shortage, is the simple fact of not enough supply to fill the demand of nursing positions. This shortage occurs either because there are simply not enough nurses to fill the open positions, or because experienced nurses are opting out of nursing and the willingness to provide care due to the current occupational environment. The second nursing shortage is the funding or perceived funding shortage. This shortage is merely due to nurses not feeling as if they are being compensat...
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 ...
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
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).
However, upon securing a job, they find that things on the ground are not as they had expected them to be and this results in some of them deciding to leave the profession early. Research shows that turnovers within the nursing fraternity target person below the age of 30 (Erickson & Grove, 2011). The high turnover within the nursing fraternity results in a massive nurse shortage. This means that the nurses who decide to stay have to work for many hours resulting in exhaustion. A significant percent of nurses quitting their job sites exhaustion and discouragement as the reason that contributed to their decision. In one of the studies conducted on the issue of nurse turnover, 50% of the nurses leaving the profession argued that they felt saddened and discouraged by what they were unable to do for their patients (Erickson & Grove, 2011). When a nurse witness his/her patients suffering but cannot do anything because of the prevailing conditions he/she feels as if he/she is not realizing the reason that prompted him/her to join the nursing profession. The higher rate of nursing turnover is also affecting the quality of care nurses provide to
Today’s nursing workforce is multigenerational. They differ in behaviors, attitudes and expectations. Generational differences affect nurse-patient ratios and reflect in job satisfaction, retention, and patient outcomes (Wieck, Dols & Northam, 2009). Every nurse wants to work for a company with high job satisfaction and retention numbers. Stress, patient safety, and low performance related to high patient-nurse ratios are the most commonly expressed reasons why nurses may leave their jobs. According to Wieck, et al.(2009), nurses born between 1922 and 1945 are the veterans. They have respect for authority and are reliable employees. They believe that current nursing models encourages a team approach. They believe that nurse-patient ratios are much better than what they are used to be in the past. They are more concerned about age-related issues and recognition for their contributions at work (Wieck, et al.,
In the article “Addressing staffing shortages in an era of reform,” Stanford point out that in a time when change is necessary because of mandated healthcare requirements, there is a shortage of nurses in the field of direct patient care, because they are offered jobs with better pay to oversee office positions. “Health system leaders recognize that these shortages threaten the quality of care they can provide to patients. As a result, competition for talent is becoming more heated in several parts of the country,” (Stanford, 2013). By nurses taking on jobs in other areas of the field, we are left to find people to replace them and when that happens, it creates a shortage on the front line of patient care.
Poor staffing stresses every nurse and makes them despite what they once loved to do. Nurses are overworked and because of that they may not provide adequate patient care.
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
Factors such as, heavy workloads, stress, job dissatisfaction, frequent medical errors, and intention of leaving the job are all common for nurses to experience, especially during the nursing shortage crisis. Not only do the nurses suffer during a shortage, but the patients ' health outcomes suffer even more. For instance, there are higher rates of infectious diseases and adverse patient outcomes, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, pneumonia, prolonged hospital stays, failure to rescue, and mortality. As a result, this leads to higher re-admission rates for patients. Furthermore, high patient-to-nurse ratios cause heavy workloads due to an inadequate supply of nurses, an increased demand for nurses, a reduction in staffing and an increase in overtime, and a shortened length of stay for patients. Without the heavy workloads that nurses have to endure on a daily basis, there would more time for nurses to communicate more effectively with physicians, insurance companies, and patients and their families. Those heavy workloads are the result of hospitals reducing the nursing staff and implementing mandatory overtime policies just to meet unexpectedly high demands. Unfortunately, the nursing shortage has affected nurses ' mental and physical health. For example, the most common health concerns for nurses include cardiovascular health, occupational injuries and illnesses, and emotional and physical exhaustion. Therefore, safe-staffing ratios/levels have to become the main
“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).
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).
Finally, a more obvious and direct cause of nurse turnover is overall dissatisfaction with the current job. This can be for numerous reasons related to pay, benefits, job growth availability, lack of autonomy, or simply feeling unappreciated. According to one source, “a 2014 survey of more than 3,300 nurses found that they were stressed, overworked, underappreciated, and underutilized” (Fischer, 2016). No matter the reason a nurse chooses to leave their job, the negative outcomes remain the same. The most common of these outcomes are that hospitals lose money, it decreases patient quality of care, and it continues the cycle of more turnover in the nursing profession. “It is predicted that there will be a shortage of nearly 1 million nurses in the United States by 2020” (Hunt, 2009). Hospitals are impacted financially by the high nurse turnover rates. “The financial costs of losing a single nurse has been calculated to equal about twice the nurse’s annual salary” (Hunt, 2009). With these numbers in mind, the hospital spending more money to retain nurses could be a smart and beneficial action for them to
The career i chose is a branch of the medical field. I chose a career in nursing, more specifically the career path of a registered nurse. This career consists of providing care for people of all ages and helping them with managing their conditions. I chose this career because my mother is an rn and my family has a strong presence in the medical field. It is important to understand the education or training requirements, skills, or talents needed, salary, benefits offered, and the duties for a particular career when making this decision.