Nursing Shortage
Through US history we have experienced series of nursing surpluses and shortages, however, our current shortage can be described as unique and characterized as something we've never seen through history. In 2017 the United States is in the belly of the largest nursing shortage that we have ever seen. Nursing or Register Nurses (RN) is the nation's largest health care profession with 2.7 million people, however, there is an amazing 400,00 nursing vacancies projected for as early as 2020. The need for nurses has always been cyclical in nature. Today, trends of an aging work force for RNs and limited nurses to fill the impending vacancies in the field are some of the unique components that bring new dimension to this old problem. Today's nursing shortage won't be solved by any technics we used in the past. Our strategies to reduce this impact will need to be creative and focus on long-term growth. This sour situation can look like lemons now, however, it may be strategies to turn this into lemonade.
The core of healthcare can be looked at as nursing. The astonishing lack of appreciation for the practice can be another threat to the accumulation of more professionals in the field. Nurses feel like they are not respect and get little praise, yet do most of the work. This along with other factors we will venture, has made today's generation uninterested or motivated to become nurses which has caused the enormous shortage. We have waged war on this issue as the government (working with state officials) increase incentives to create more modernized standards for clinical care. Ultimately it is the responsibility of present and future generations to put nursing as a top priority once again.
As a nurse, one of their major duties is to develop a professional connection with the patients. Constant changes to the nursing practice has practically eliminated this part of their duties. This jeopardizes the quality of care for the patient that a nurse can provide, which spikes concerns for the profession and another factor in the shortage of these care givers. Veteran nurses rarely adjust well to these changes and find they are underprepared in an environment with diminishing resources. As the shortage grows, we find these same veterans required to do more work in less time with less help. Balancing an overloaded schedule and maintaining a positive yet professional attitude has proven to be a challenge.
For a little over sixty years now, the familiarization of patient's needs have been cut in half. With a higher demand and a dwindling supply of nurses it's just no time for "sit-downs" and most patients are serviced with little to no empathy. Graduating nurses are taught to be quick with assessments and require more observation than verbal communication. In reality the nurse probably was a little short with the patient and maybe even a little overwhelmed, however this should not be regurgitated back at the patient. They are in need of professional medical assistance and unaware of the difficulties at hand. This type of practice in any customer service type of platform can easily be mistaken as cold or rushed which alludes to bad experiences and lack of respect for nursing by patients. This in-turn can make the position less attractive for inspiring nurses. (Nelson and Gordon 30-39) A good attitude is not in a job description it is a lifestyle.
Our self-responsibility and the desire to make conditions better for the well-being of this country will see this crisis to the end. (Vallano 101-107) In the next decade the nursing occupation is projected to have the largest number of openings says the Federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Younger generations need to take more aggressive approaches to this career because the demand of nursing most likely won't be dwindling down. Considering the 80 million "Baby Boomers" who are rapidly leaving the workforce, running out of qualified nurses is a growing issue. The economic long-term effects of this nursing shortage by definition states that the demand for the services increases as the supply of capable and availability of nurses decreases.
Currently, there are a number of measures being taken to solve the nursing shortage. Encouraging younger people (such as high school students) to pursue degrees from universities. Also ways to prevent nurses from leaving the field are also being highlighted. The main focus now is to increase the supply of new graduates from accredited programs. To insure we have an adequate number of nurses graduate one has to first recruit them. Ambitious recruiting campaigns are what most universities are trying to preserve the field. In accordance to Abrahamsson & Hossler (1990), Smith, Barrett, Gerlach, Goodrich & Rose (2003), recruiting tactics such as media, direct mail, high school counselors, and visits from actual RNs to campus, provide exposure and information to the decaying field. This has help motivate the prospective students to get more information and apply of the degree (cited in Hayes, 2007, p. 262). Hayes suggests "there is a concern that the positive aspects of nursing are dominant, promoting unrealistic career expectations" (p. 265). The importance of students making informed decisions when choosing a career path is very prevalent to the increase of the RNs. Often times, students will enroll to obtain a degree that they are misinformed. Part-way through schooling they come to the realization that this is not what they were looking for and question their career path. This can lead to drop outs which in turn wastes university resources which could have been spent on a student who is following through to graduation. You can see how none transparent methods of recruitment can be detrimental to resurrecting the growth of the registered nursing field. Retention of RNs is just as, if not more important as recruitment. These two key elements are vital to solving the nursing shortage.
Many time nurses will become part-time, take early retirement or leave the field all together. This is usually due to stress related burnouts and working non-nursing tasks due to vacancies in the health care world in general. Hassmiller & Cozine (2006) has suggested ways to keep long-term employees "Improvements must be made in the organization of work and use of information technology, physical design and allocation of space, hospital leadership and culture". Also, making it easier for foreign trained nurses to obtain licenses and this will also benefit the resolve of nursing shortages.
Another angle in the effort to increase Registered Nurses is to encourage more males. In the past four decades more, males have entered the field, however, men still make up a relatively small percentage of the nursing workforce. A study by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2013 states that the number of male nurses have tripled between the time frame of 1970 and 2011 to about 330,000. Despite this growing number, male nurses only account for about 10% of all nurses in the U.S. This can somewhat be contributed to societal gender stereotypes and the lack of male role models in the field. Men are often pushed/influenced into a doctor role. Though this has not rendered a problem in the past, with the shortage of nursing because of the aging baby boomers, the need for gender diversity is extremely important.
We are not there yet, however, the need for more male nurses is a high priority for experts who agree that the profession be more in-tune with male background and perspectives. Gender diversity will surely be key to understanding different perspectives and will have professional benefits not only to patients, but men who are in or leaning towards a nursing opportunity. What needs rot be done in this to promote better language when describing the role to males, also emphasizing that nursing is a career for men and women by promoting campaigns and outreach with male nurses. Early exposure to nursing like this can definitely shift the way males view the position which can cause a spike in male interest but most importantly male enrollment. The American Association for Men in Nursing has two major initiatives to encourage men in nursing.
1. Allowing millennials to run its membership program.
2. Giving best workplace and best school awards to organizations with evidence-based programs that promote gender diversity.
There is firm evidence that the USA has a nursing shortage. We have discussed a multitude of contributing factors in this shortage, however, now is the time to become proactive to help secure the future of this professional field. Nurses can stand fun the forefront of resolving this by forming partnerships within the profession and with influential parties. The time is now! To create an environment that serves the interest of patients and protect the identity of the profession we may need to rebrand it all together. Allowing a more flexible work place, more liberties for nurses to set policies and orchestrate planning for the field, better options for career progression, compensation, and better recognition of work are simple elements that can redirect the plummeting number of RNs. Even if we were to address only half of these things we would promote growth by retaining or vets and attracting new nurses who are ambitious to finding a great profession. Failure to act on this can potential lead to more erosion of the care community and the profession. Lets get behind this lemonade stand and start serving!
Summary: This essay is for English 102 class and the research was done on the recent decline of nurses
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