Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Global nursing shortage crisis
Workforce and shortage of nursing
Autonomy as a core value of nursing
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Global nursing shortage crisis
Nursing Shortage and Nursing Turnover
Introduction
The nursing shortage and turnover are an issue that continually, constantly and bedevils the nursing leaders and managers. Without sufficient numbers in nursing, patient care and safety is considerably compromised, with lapses in service delivery, overworked and overwhelmed nurses more prone to making mistakes and across board dissatisfaction. Nursing shortage leads to nurse turnover because of the ones carrying our nursing duties are finding it hard to meet the demand, and they eventually burn out. This paper critically examines the issues of the nursing shortage and turnover and how the nurse leaders and managers can tackle the situation, easing the outcomes (The Truth About Nursing, 2012).
Nursing leaders and managers’ approach to the issue There is a surge of retiring nurses and a rising number of patients. Hospitals are scrambling to fill the tens of thousands of nursing positions, therefore, asks the question as to
…show more content…
The thought is that about 18% of new nurses leave their jobs within the first year with a national average registered nurse turnover of 17.2% (The Truth About Nursing, 2012). There are several causes of nurses’ turnover, which include lack of job satisfaction. Scheduling has also caused problems for nurses, mandatory overtime; patients are becoming sicker and need a higher level of care leading them to quit. Without recourse, the nurses opt to leave their jobs to concentrate on other jobs or areas of nursing. Other causes include the lack of autonomy and ineffective leaders and managers. It is expensive to replace the nurses who leave, since they leave with the knowledge, training, and expertise that has to be imparted on new nurses, requiring more resources. The estimated cost is at $37,000 give or take (The Truth About Nursing,
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.
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...
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Employment Projections 2012-2022 released in January 2014, the Registered Nursing workforce is the top occupation in terms of job growth through 2022. It is expected that the number of employed nurses will grow from 2.71 million in 2012 to 3.24 million in 2022, an increase of 526,800 or 19 percent. Growth will take place for a number of reasons: demand for health care services due to increasing life expectancy; chronic conditions, such as arthritis, dementia, diabetes, and obesity; and the number of individuals who have access to health services.
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
These articles have many similarities when discussing the issue of staffing shortages. For patients, their loved ones and the general population, they don’t understand the ramifications and strain that staffing shortages have on nurses. People expect and deserve complete, competent and safe care when they are patients. These articles bring to light all the struggles that nurses have to deal with. Nurses are fearful that they will make mistakes, will harm patients, and will harm themselves. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001; Martin, 2015) Overtime can be overwhelming and exhausting, which can lead to errors being made. (Bae, 2012; Erlen, 2001) These articles perceive that it may be beneficial for nurses, patients, and healthcare facilities to decrease the nurse-to-patient ratio, however, this option is not always
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.,
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
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
As the forthcoming nursing shortage threatens the United States, organizations must be knowledgeable in the recruitment and retention of nurses. The challenge facing health care organizations will be to retain sufficient numbers of nurses to provide safe, efficient, quality care to patients. Organizations will look to recruit and attract quality nurses to fill vacancies. As turnover in nursing is a recurring problem, health care organizations will look for strategies to reduce turnover. The rate of turnover for bedside nurses in 2013 ranged from 4.4 to 44.6% (American Nurses Association, 2013). Nurse retention focuses on keeping nurses in the organization and preventing turnover. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of recruitment and retention of nurses, review the literature, and explore how recruitment and retention apply to nursing.
Dawson, Roche, Homer, and Duffield (2014), presented a qualitative design to reveal nurses’ experiences and perceptions of turnover in Australian hospitals and to identify strategies that will improve nurse retention, performance and job satisfaction. They analyzed 362 nurses from a national survey of nurses from medical-surgical units across 3 Australian states. The results found that key factors affecting nurse turnover were limited career opportunities, poor support, a lack of recognition and negative staff attitudes. These issues caused nurses to feel undervalued and disempowered. At the conclusion of this survey, it was shown that nursing turnover can be influenced by the experiences of nurses and positive steps need to be made to improve workplace conditions and nurse retention. Several studies were performed and it was found that participants highlighted the need for a quality preceptorship program for new nurses. Improving job performance and workplace conditions can reduce high turnover rates.
...parture from the nursing profession or retirement from the line of work. Several key elements have been established throughout the research that lead to theses nurses feeling the need to retire and include: burnout, physical demands, mental health, linkage to the organization, hours worked, organizational culture, work intensity, and fiscal requirements. Organizations are beginning to establish evidence-based strategies in an effort to retain older registered nurses. Human resources are beginning to formulate policies and procedures to meet the needs of these aging nurses, which focus on their safety, stress levels, preferred work setting, schedule, and job satisfaction. The ability to delay retirement of these nurses or creating career paths that help facilitate a transition to a different work setting could help ease the shortage of nurses in the next decade.
The leadership in nursing is obligated to identify the proper skill mix and administer the registered nurses who are in a position to ensure quality care and delivery of services. Due to this reason, an effective nursing model should assume the approach that is aware of the uniqueness of the patient care setting at various times throughout the year (Alligood, 2017). The model should include items such as education and training, patient acuity as well as the assistive personnel. In order to address the nursing shortage in the nation, the nursing leadership needs to utilize the financially based retention and the recruitment initiatives (Sitzman & Watson, 2018). The nursing leadership should consider applying the Watson’s theory of human caring to address the nursing shortage since it offers significant insights and solutions.