Nursing Shortage Essay

Nursing Shortage Essay
Over time there have been many opportunities for nurses to have a positive impact through
community service. In the world around us there have been and currently are many health issues.
From the common cold to the many diseases there is much work to be done. In most countries of
the world there was and still is a shortage of nurses. Due to the lack of nurses being available to
provide necessary care to those with severe illnesses, millions die every year.
Throughout history there have been three great pandemics of plague. Each plague itself caused a
devastating mortality rate of not only people but also animals. For instance, the Black Plague also
known as the Black Death or Bubonic plague is known as one of the most devastating pandemics in
...show more content...
In the past decade at an alarming rate Malaria has been escalating, especially in Africa. In Africa
alone Malaria cases account for 90% of the known cases in the world. There are an estimated 400
million cases of this disease each year which is said to cause 1.5 – 2.7 million deaths.
The number of children affected by Malaria is growing, and due to the lack of medical assistance,
that number will continue to escalate if left untreated. Nurses and other medical personnel have the
power to introduce a positive impact on a country so affected by diseases. Nurses, who travel over
to Africa with the intent of helping these people, create the opportunity to improve the health of the
population in the area. Nurses not only have the power to cure those that are sick and prevent future
outbreaks but they also have the ability to educate people and provide medical supplies to poverty
stricken areas.
Another disease that is going untreated in places around the world is Ebola. According to the New
England Journal of Medicine since the Ebola Virus was first detected in 1976, no previous Ebola
outbreak has been as large as the current epidemic. To date over 1000 people have died from Ebola
including numerous health care workers in 2014. The number of current cases in the outbreak
currently exceeds the number from all previous outbreaks combined. One of the first outbreaks of
plague that is known about is the bubonic
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Nursing shortage According to Canadian Nurses Association(2009), human health resources have
stated that by the end of 2011 Canada will experience shortage of 78 000 registered Nurses (RN) and
shortage of 113 000 nurses by the end of 2016. Globally there will be shortage of 4.3 million health
care workers. It was also shown that approximately 38% of new graduate nurses leave their
workforce within the first year of employment (Lavoie–Tremblay, Wright, Desforges, Gelinas,
Drevniok & Marchionni, 2008). According to registered Nurses Association of Ontario (2011), full
time positions of RN dropped to 57.9 % in 2010 from 58.9% in 2009. With the current trend it is
expected that the Canadian Nursing shortage will increase significantly. In...show more content...
Workload was described to be heavy, stressful, increase in intensity and overtime hours. As a result
25.8% consider resigning, 20.2% consider retiring and 25.6% consider leaving profession. Another
problem that was observed at individual level was poor commitment to care. One of the factors that
often limited nurses to provide therapeutic care was the change in nurse to patient ratio. As nurses
assignments increase with the increase in the number of patients (i.e. 1 nurse to 6–8 patients) the
quality of care provided decreases. Nurses' ability to maintain safe environment became challenging.
As part of caring, nurses also showed decreased amount of time spent with their patient. This
eventually led to nurses being less satisfied with their current job. Self – efficacy was often low.
Nurses felt that they did not have enough knowledge and skills required for professional practice
(Newhouse, Hoffman, & Hairston, 2007). This often led into stressful transition and the ability to
care for a patient even harder. New graduate nurses often had difficulty maintaining leadership role.
They often felt that they did not have the ability to self advocate and raise their voice to be heard
by others. They often feared that they would be over heard and that no one would listen to them
(Mooney, 2007). Organizational level At organizational level lack of interdisciplinary is one of the
major problems contributing to nurses

Physician and Nursing Shortages Essay
Physician & Nursing Shortages Impacts they have because the Affordable Care Act and Reform
Marquitha Howell 9/28/2013 Healthcare reforms including Obama Care, formally named the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act greatly impacts physicians and nursing shortages. There are
several provisions which could direct impact physicians and nurses through incentives for potential
recruitment, grants, training and retention. Through potential initiatives, the act may indirect effects
that may question or present new reimbursement alternatives and models of health care delivery
options. Healthcare reforms will allow millions of additional working as well as no working
Americans to obtain healthcare coverage and this...show more content...
The Affordable Care Act set forth millions of dollars to address the problems and concerns that are
associated with existing physicians shortages. The Affordable Care Act also has provisions that are
aimed to improve the education, ongoing training as well as to help with the recruitment of
nursing, physicians, doctors as well as other health care personnel. In addition, there are provisions
in place that help to increase workforces' cultural competency, enhance faculty training of
healthcare professionals, and diversity. The provisions also play a vital role because of the fact
they are put into place to examine innovative reimbursement and care delivery models that highlight
primary care services value and offer in improvement in the patient care coordination. On an
average, primary physician groups may see about four or five patients within an hour, probably
about one patient every fifteen minutes. Because of increase productivity and cost restraints and
pressures, this number could increase dramatically. This trend, unfortunately, will be matching the
burden of physicians declining incomes and job market. A lessor number of physicians earn what
physicians earned many years ago. Primary health has been affected more as compared to services
rendered. Additionally, the shift to a bundled fee for performance from the fee for service
reimbursement system for force solo practicing physicians and small group practices into forming or
partnering into

Essay On Nursing Shortage
Nursing is an age–honored tradition and plays one of the most important roles in the healthcare
environment. Nurses are essential to patient safety and play a key element in patient advocacy.
Unfortunately, a changing economy and declining finances have created a shortage of nurses in the
United States (US). Legislature allows citizens of the US to affect change in order to adequately
meet the needs of its people. Therefore, it has become necessary to create a bill that speaks to the
nursing shortage in the US. The National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act (В§
864, 2015–2016) addresses the current shortage of nurses in the United States. Within the bill are
specifics in regards to acceptable nurse–patient ratios, the role of nurses as patient advocates, and
mandates regarding job security and licensure...show more content...
It refers to the amount of goods or services available relative to the demand of said goods or
services (Guell, 2012). When correlated to nursing, supply and demand refers to the amount of
nursing staff available to provide health care services versus the number of patients requiring care
(Littlejohn, Campbell, & Collins–McNeil, 2012). There is currently a shortage of nurses in the
United States which ultimately impacts patient care. A report by the Bureau of Health Resources
and Services Administration (HRSA) notes that by 2020 there will be a shortage of one million
nurses in the United States (as cited by Littlejohn et al., 2012). Research further indicates that patient
care is negatively impacted when the number of nurses available to provide care on hospital wards
is low. Evidence indicates that when nurses care for more than eight patients at any given point in
time the risk of patient death increases. Providing patient care that is humane requires meeting
minimum nurse/patient ratios in order to provide safe and dignified care ("Safe Staffing,"

The U.S. nursing shortage had been a serious issue for quite sometime now and continues to
escalate. As the nursing workforce continues to age, nurses leave the profession faster than they can
be replaced and the crisis continues to grow. Nurses are leaving for different reasons. What is being
done to solve the nursing shortage here in the United States? Nursing recruitment and retention is
one of many solutions that can alleviate this problem. "Nurses are privileged to belong to a
profession that commands a level of credibility and respect that few others in health care or any
other field can claim. According to the Gallup Organization's 2005 annual poll on professional
honesty and ethical standards ranked nurses number one. With one...show more content...
This legislation has a great impact for me as a nurse. The place where I work provides educational
incentives that include tuition reimbursement for nurses who wanted to continue their education.
They have education opportunities given to nursing assistants who wants to go back to school to
get their license as a registered nurse or licensed vocational nurse, an ADN nursing graduate who
wants to advance their education and go for the BSN, and BSN graduates who want to go for their
Master's degree and many more. They also provide training programs for nurses such as lengthy
orientation programs and preceptorships for new nursing graduates and new hires that require more
intense orientation. There are legal responsibilities that we have as professional nurses. Because of
the nursing shortage, one of the major issues of concern is staffing. Inappropriate staffing can
threaten patient's safety. Inadequate staffing can also affect the nurse's health,

Summary: The Nursing Shortage
After reviewing various literature regarding nursing shortages, there is a national problem. Huber
speaks about the nursing shortages and discusses various contributors and strategies to fix the issues
(2014). The various contributors would be nursing graduate numbers, aging nurses, and nursing
recruitment/retention (Huber D. , 2014). There are currently not enough students graduating nursing
school, this is due to limited faculty restricting enrollments, more push for bachelor prepared nurses,
and minimal school budgets (Huber D. , 2014). For nurse's demographics, Huber describes it as an
aging population with more retiring and the median nursing age increasing (2014). This is described
as the graying factor (Huber D. , 2014). Recruitment...show more content...
Nurse practitioners are advanced practice registered nurses (APRN), thus by looking at the nursing
shortages, one can assess the availability of APRN's (Punke, 2017). Shortages are different in every
state in the US, some states in the mid–region even have a predicted surplus of nurses (Punke, 2017).
While using the data for individual states, leaders and school programs can assess how they can help
with the national shortage (Punke, 2017). State's also have their own definition on the scope of
practice for nurse practitioners, thus limiting the full potential that they can offer (Punke, 2017).
Additionally, schools are not adequately staffed to help increase the nursing population quick
enough, thus rejecting many applications every year (Punke,

Reasons For Nurse Shortage Essay
Nursing Shortage It is likely that most people have heard about the nursing shortage for years now,
and perhaps they believe it's been fixed. However, the nursing profession is experiencing a
reoccurring deficiency. According to Brian Hansen, (2002), there was a nation wide shortage in
2001 of 126,000 full–time registered nurses, but the shortage will surge to 808,000 by 2020 if
something isn't done. This pattern is a persisting cycle of high vacancies followed by layoffs and a
high over supply of registered nurses. Various factors contribute to the lack of nurses within the
health care facilities, but today's shortages are a little different. Many feel that this scarcity is severe
and long–drawn–out. The four major issues contributing to...show more content...
By 2010, unless many more young people become nurses, about 40 percent of the nursing work force
will be over age 50, according to the General Accounting Office ("Nursing Workforce", 2001). Supply
The supply of nurses is not sufficient to meet the current demand, and the shortage is projected to
grow further as future demand increases. Most corresponding factors that are affecting the supply of
nurses are also impacting the quantity of nurse educators. Therefore, the understaffing of nursing
educators is also impacting the amount of nursing students available. Retaining Retaining a stable
and sufficient supply of nurses is an important hospital and nationwide concern. Numerous factors
affecting retention of registered nurses comprises of practice autonomy, managerial respect,
workload, and inclusion in decision making, flexible schedules, education, and pay ("Recruitment",
2013). Hospitals not capable of retaining qualified registered nurses may result in the loss of
experienced and knowledgeable staff. Additionally this will lower hospital productivity during this
transition. High turnover rates for registered nursing staff may also impact job fulfillment and
nursing moral altogether. Retaining qualified registered nurses will enhance patient care quality and
satisfaction. Recruitment Recruitment of registered nurses is invaluable for any health care facility.
When vacancy rates reach high digits, the cost to the facility is significant,

Essay about The Nursing Shortage
The Nursing Shortage: Why Today's Shortage is Unique Introduction: The nursing profession has
experienced shortages many times in the past. This pattern was cyclical, with periods of high
vacancy rates followed by layoffs and an oversupply of registered nurses. Today, we are
experiencing another drought for nursing, but due to many factors, this shortage is different from
anything the profession has witnessed in previous years. There are many that feel this shortage is
severe and prolonged because the solution is complicated, and not simply a matter of a decrease in
the number of registered nurses in the United States. Within the content of this paper, I will be
presenting a description of the current nursing shortage. An...show more content...
This, in turn, means that the patients that are in the hospital are more acute and require intensive
nursing care. The role of the registered nurse must now include greater professional judgment,
management of complex systems, and greater clinical autonomy (Lippincott, 2003). The pressure
to contain costs and meet the needs of the rising levels of severe illnesses of inpatients make it
imperative for hospitals to seek out ways to redesign delivery of care without compromising
quality of care (Tappen, 2004). The structure, organization and financing of health care are
rapidly changing. Patients previously hospitalized are now treated on an outpatient basis, relying
on care through different delivery systems. Hospital communities are trying to increase health
care services while raising prices as little as possible. Trends in Registered Nurse Supply: The
average age of RN's is increasing. In 1996, the average age of the RN was 44.3; in 2000, it was
45.2. Not only are there more older nurses in the workforce, but the average age at graduation from
the basic nursing education program are also increasing. The aging of the workforce will continue
and they will retire sooner. This shortage is not going to resolve itself any time soon. With the
coming overall workforce shortage due to baby–boomer

Nursing Shortage: A Case Study
There are two challenges that remote population are facing for access the healthcare – nursing staff
retention and partnerships with remote community. Nursing shortages are a worldwide problem that
has the potential to generate unfavorable impacts on the quality of nursing care (Chan, Tam, Lung,
Wong, & Chau, 2013). There are many factors that may contribute to nursing shortages such as aging
faculty, reduced younger hiring pool, poor salaries and working conditions, the negative image of the
nurse, role dissatisfaction, and low enrollment rates of nursing students (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013). One
solution to reduce nursing shortages is to improve working conditions. This improvement relies on
the mobilization of resources to address high nurse–patient...show more content...
Forming partnerships with communities would provide an opportunity to improve accessibility of
care for remote population. To collaborate with the community and other health care provides helps
for assessment of assets and needs of the community (Stanhope, et al., 2011). Health promotion and
disease prevention programs should be established to reduce the incidence of injury and disease.
Collaboration with community can also assist community members to in taking responsibility for
maintaining or improving health by provision of health knowledge and increasing controls over
health determinants (Stanhope, et al., 2011). First aid training is an example of a local
health–related education program that can be established; community members should be
encouraged to enroll in these programs and serve the community afterwards. Interprofessional
partnerships involves health care professional from different disciplines and work together to
improve health outcomes. An interprofessional healthcare education can lead to effective and
sustainable partnerships, which can strengthen the health outcomes for the remote

Nursing Shortage Research Paper
The United States, along with other countries, are in danger of experiencing serious breakdowns
in the health care system if the current nursing shortage is not addressed. Just like with any other
shortage in staff, an organization needs to look within or outsource ways to recruit and minimize
turn over. The media has been reporting a shortage in registered nurses (RNs) for many years. This
shortage in RNs is found most prevalent in hospitals. Some reports say that absence rates of RNs
employed ranges from 10.2 percent to 13 percent (Spetz & Given, 2003). In order to understand the
deficiency of RNS, we must start with asking ourselves, "What causes the shortages?"
Joanne Spetz and Ruth Given found that adjusting the nurse's wages might be

Article Analysis: The Nursing Shortage Essay
Article Analysis: The Nursing Shortage
Nursing shortages have occurred in health care throughout history, and especially since World War
II. Just as the legion of baby boomers is about to swell the need for quality health care, America's
nursing population is aging and more nurses are moving into primary care settings and into other
disciplines. As a result,
America's hospitals and other institutions need more nurses, especially those who deliver specialized
care. As a healthcare provider and businessman this topic is of a special interest to me because
nursing shortage have caused my business to loose million of dollars in the past five years. This
paper examines the nursing shortage in the health care industry, the use of...show more content...
The purpose of this study is two fold: (1) to identify if there are shortage of nurses and recommend a
prevention model that would assist nurse executives in attracting and retaining nurses in the acute
hospital setting and provides recommendations on how best to increase the nursing supply. (2) to
examine the relationship among health care professionals, commitment to the organization, and
perceptions of collaboration among nurses and physicians.
During a major nursing shortage in the early 1980s, the American
Academy of Nursing (AAN) conducted an extensive research project to identify hospitals in New
York that was successful in recruiting and retaining nurses. The objective of the project was to
evaluate characteristics of hospital structures that supported professional nursing practice (Aiken et
al., 2000). The result of this research lead to the following questions that guided this study: (a) did
the nurses consider the hospital a good place to practice nursing; (b) did the hospital have the ability
to recruit and retain nurses (c) was the hospital located in an area, within a city, considered to be in a
competitive marketplace and; (d) will team collaborative effort with other health care team improve
patient outcome.
This study used a cross–sectional, non– experimental, retrospective design to identify the hiring
criteria, vacancies, nurse–patient ratio, job satisfaction

Nursing Shortage In Nursing
How nervous and worried should one patient be when he or she presses the call button for a nurse
and they don't show up for an hour? Nurses are becoming worried because of their departments are
very understaffed and are scared that their patients are in danger. I conducted an interview with
Jeanne Kenndey from Ivinson hospital in Laramie Wyoming, and she stated; "we really short–staffed
and we can't schedule for the Acuity and the amount of patients we get so we just have to work with
what we have and hope for the best so it's really unpredictable of how we are going to be able to
take care of people" She described to me why it was this way; " yesterday was really hard we were
really busy you were short–staffed and we had a bunch of sick patients that if anything had gone
wrong it could have been really bad" Even in small towns being short staffed is becoming an issue
and every nurse is scared that their department will fail in an attempt to save everyone. In a study
ran by multiple individuals who have their PHD such as; Linda H Aikens, PHD, RN; they found that
in the hospital setting every 100 patients who died where with nurses who were assigned 4 patients,
but 131 patients died when nurses were assigned 8 patients. (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama
/fullarticle/195438) Nursing shortage is a scary idea for everyone, but it has been a well–known
problem to America for the past couple of years. The shortage has resulted from a number of factors
but the main one is

Shortage Of A Nurse Essay
What attributes to the shortage of nurses? When I'm at a hospital I always see nurses. When I'm
at school in my nursing class, I'm surprised to see how many people are going towards nursing
major. It a competitive major to go with. It came to a surprised when I found an article by
Rebecca Grant called, "The U.S. Is running Out of Nurses." Rebecca said, "Which is just one of
the reason why the prospect of a national nursing shortage is so alarming. The U.S. has been dealing
with a nursing deficit of varying degrees for decades, but today–due to an aging population, the
rising incidence of chronic disease," (Grant 1). The thought of knowing that there are so many
upcoming nurses and how many nurses I see at a hospital, made me amaze to know...show more
content...
Some of the reasons that are leading to shortage of nurses is the aging population, chronic disease
and aging nursing workforce as Rebecca mention in her article. There is an increased to the
emerge of registered nurses, per, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "1.2 million vacancies will emerge for
registered nurses between 2014 and 2022. By 2025, the shortfall is expected to be "more than twice
as large as any nurse shortage experienced since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the
mid–1960s," (Grant 2). This is important because it's giving me a background of the upcoming
nurses in the future. This calculation might be less, or greater than what might come, but it is a
close calculation. Even so, the calculation of older people in hospital, or nursing home also
increased, "Today, there are more Americans over the age of 65 than at any other time in U.S.
history. Between 2010 and 2030, the population of senior citizens will increase by 75 percent to
69 million ... in 2050, an estimated 88.5 million people in the U.S." (Grant 2). In this calculation,
there are going to be more people to take care of then how many nurses we will receive. As the
population ages, there will be a demand for health–care service. If there aren't enough services, this
leads to shortage of

Nurse Shortage In Nursing
Nurse Shortage Recent visits to my doctor office has left me thinking about the long wait time
and stress on all the staff during my visit. Same thing happened when we got sent into urgent care
when my son had a run in with a fence. What should have been a quick visit in both locations
became over baring and way to long. The Rio Grande Valley has seen a growth in population the
past few years resulting in a shortage in nurses needed our health care system. As a personal
experience that I have had since I work in the health care system is that it is very hard to call to
the doctor's office and get them to help us out. Front page newspaper stories paint a picture of a
nursing shortage born of increased patient loads and escalation pressure to treat more people, more
quickly, for less money (Facts About the Nursing Shortage July 2001). My on–line source only
reflected something we are currently hearing from many doctor offices. When confronted with wait
times from my own customers I talk with them about the need to get their nurses on the line for
questions and the lack of such help in their doctor office....show more content...
Who can only move as quickly as possible after the nurse has done our intake. Without our first visit
to the nurse station the doctor cannot work on us slowing down an already slow process. "The
nursing shortage impacts access to care and creates stress and burnout for the working nurses in
the RGV" said Sylvia Vargas, RN, a family nurse practitioner, member of the Texas A&M Collage
of Nursing's Clinical Advisory Board and native of the RGV (The Rio Grande Valley Needs More
Nurses January 29,2018). Imagine just how much we could accomplish if we worked through the
shortage we

Nursing Shortage
Nursing shortages and patient safety
Heavy workloads for nurses is a major problem in our health care system due to, "increase
demands for nurses, inadequate supply of nurses, reduced staffing, increased overtime and
reduction of patients stay in hospitals" (Gurses, 2008). The demands for nurses are also increasing
due to the aging population. It was estimated that between 2000 and 2020, the United States
population would grow by 31 million people with the population ages over 65, to increase by 19
million. The current supply of nurses is not adequate to meet this demand with a shortage to become
even more severe as demands increase. The increase in health care costs have resulted in hospitals
reducing their staff levels which in return increases...show more content...
M., Gholami Fesharaki, M., & Mehrabian, F. (2014). Factors affecting intensive care units nursing
workload. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 16(8), e20072. http://doi.org/10.5812/ircmj.20072
Gurses, C.P. (2008). Nursing workload and patient safety–A human factors engineering perspective .
Patient Safety and Quality an Evidence–Based Handbook for Nurses. ed. Hughes, R. G. Rockville,
Maryland. Publication No.: 08–0043
Sawaengdee, K., Tangcharoensathie, V., Theerawit T., Thungjaroenkul, P., Thinkhamrop, W.,
Prathumkam, P., Chaichaya, N., Thinkhamrop, K., Tawarungruang. C., and Thinkhamrop, B. (2016).
Thai nurse cohort study: cohort profiles and key findings. BMC Nursing,

Nursing Shortage Analysis
The U.S. healthcare system is no stranger to nursing shortages. In very simple terms, this type of
shortage happens when a lack of skilled nurses negatively impacts individual patient care; shortage
occurrences can transpire at a local, national or international level. It is a recurring problem we
have been faced with for the past five decades. However, what we will be up against between now
and 2025 is a predicament of far greater proportion than ever encountered before. "Considering the
impacts this prolonged shortage will have on the U.S. healthcare system, nursing and other
health–related organizations have even brought their concerns to lawmakers in the central
government for immediate consideration" (Janiszewski Goodin 335). This quote...show more
content...
An aging faculty, administrative constraints, fierce job competitiveness for prime clinical sites
among faculty, and non–competitive wages limit nursing schools across the country from accepting
all nurse applicants. In addition, new qualified and experienced nurses are not looking to shift or
begin their careers in education because the pay is simply not there to support it. "According to the
American Association of Critical–Care Nurse's report on 2014–2015 Enrollment and Graduations in
Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away 68,938
qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2014 due to an
insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget
constraints. Almost two thirds of the nursing schools responding to the survey pointed to faculty
shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into baccalaureate programs"
(Rosseter). Is this where the bottleneck is happening? The National Advisory Council on Nurse
Education and Practice (NACNEP), issued a report addressing the one factor that limits the nation's
ability to produce more nurses: "the shortage of nurse faculty to educate those who desire to enter
the nursing profession". With retiring educators who belong to the baby boomer's generation, the
struggle for school administrators to find new and qualified faculty will dramatically intensifies over
the next ten years. Several strategies for countering a faculty shortage have been brought forward but
as Dr. Ada Sue Hinshaw, PhD, explains, this situation will be one of the most challenging concerns
of the next decade. "Each nursing program is confronted with the issue of a shortage of nursing
faculty and each must treat

Have you ever thought about the role a nurse has between his or her client? A nurse's role is more
than just helping clients when they are not feeling well. In 2007 there were a reportedly 12 million
nurse's employed (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). That is a large amount of nurse's that are
employed in the world. A nurse protects, promotes, optimizes health and ability, prevents illness or
injury, alleviates suffering through treatment and diagnosis of human response, and advocates in the
care of individuals, families, communities, and populations (Amercian Nurses Association, 2012). A
nurse stands for many good qualities but, why is there a big shortage of nurses? The American
Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is very...show more content...
Some believe it is because of retirement. The Toronto Star reported in 2001 that 14,000 of their
81,000 nurses were due to retire by 2004 (Honor Society of Nursing, 2001). The huge shortage of
nurses has had an impact on patient care (Rosseter, 2011). They would need more graduating nurses
to fill those open positions. There are several hospitals, long–term care facilities, and home health
agencies with multiple jobs open due to the shortage of nurses (Honor Society of Nursing, 2001).
Experts also believe that nurses are enrolling into school at an older age averaging at 31 year age
opposed to 18 years of age (Honor Society of Nursing, 2001). Some jobs are even offering a sign–on
bonus so they can fill these open positions. To new graduating nurse's this can be a good incentive
since the medical field is competitive. Rachel Gotbaum did an interview on nursing shortage in
2007. There were multiple interviews with health care professionals through her interviews she
found that "In the next decade 80 million people will retire. She has stated that since health care
changes constantly that nurses need to continue their education no matter how old or how many
years they have been in the medical field. When medicine is involved you should always be
up–to–date on the latest technology and diagnosis. Nurses may become suddenly ill or injured
were they are no longer able to give care anymore. You can never plan if an

Nursing Shortage And Increased Workload Essay
Hospitals nationwide are experiencing nurse shortage and increased workloads because of shorter
hospital stays, fewer support resources and higher acuity in patients (Vahey, D. C., Aiken, L. H.,
Sloane, D. M., Clarke, S. P., & Vargas, D., 2004). Higher nurse workloads are directly associated
with job burnout and job dissatisfaction which in turn causes more voluntary nurse turnover and
relates to the increased nursing shortage. According to the Missouri Hospital Association the
turnover rate of nurses has increased by fourteen percent in the last five years (Browning M., 2012).
Nursing shortage is a real threat to the patient population. According to the Quality Health Outcomes
Model by the American Academy of Nursing by Donabedian, effects of the healthcare interventions
are characterized by the environment the staff works in (Vahey et al., 2004). Donabedian describes
that quality metrics can be divided into three broad categories, structural, process, and clinical.
Structural measures the setting in which the health is carried out such as the level of education the
nurse receives before entering the work field, staffing adequacy, and nurse autonomy. Process
measures the care the patient actually receives such as monitoring quality care measures like a
decrease in catheter–associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI's), continuity of care,
patient–centeredness, and nurse surveillance on particular units. Clinical measures the clinical
outcomes such as mortality rates and

Essay about The Nursing Shortage
Table of Contents
The Problem2
The Causes of the Nursing Shortage2
The Impact of the Nursing Shortage5
Current Federal Legislation6
Alternatives8
Recommendations9
Works Cited11
The Problem 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...show more content...
Although the largest profession in the health care industry is nursing, a larger number of people are
getting older and living longer. This means that more people will need nursing care, whether it's in a
hospital, a long–term care facility or at home. It is projected that long–term care facilities will need
66% more RNs by 2020 (Addressing the Nursing). The increase in life expectancy has amplified the
complexity of health care because more people are living with chronic conditions. The American
Nurses Association reported that "a large cross–sectional study of over 1,000,000 adults revealed
that 82% had one or more chronic conditions" and we are seeing an increase of those age 65 and
older living with multiple chronic conditions (Mion). Now, more than ever, there is a high demand
for the best delivery of medical care.
As the general population continues to age and grow, the nursing workforce is aging alongside.
Approximately half of the current nursing workforce is apart of the baby boomer generation
(Mion). RNs are eligible to retire at age 55, which will affect the majority of "baby boomer" nurses
between 2005 and 2010 (Mion). According to the Nursing Management Aging Workforce Survey in
2006, "55% of surveyed nurses reported their intention to retire between 2011 and 2020" (Nursing
Shortage). The demand for skilled nurses is growing at an exponential rate. According to information
from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the supply of nurses has been

Essay On Nursing Shortage
Nursing Shortages and their Future Impacts The US healthcare system is no stranger to nursing
shortages. It is a recurring problem we have been faced with for the past seven decades. However,
what we will be faced with between now and 2025 is a predicament of far greater proportion than
ever encountered before. "Considering the impact this prolonged shortage will have on the USA
health care system, nursing and other health–related organizations have even brought their concerns
to lawmakers in the central government for immediate consideration" (Janiszewski Goodin 335).
This quote is from 2003 and sadly, the state of today's nursing shortage is still blatantly apparent.
Not necessarily because nothing was done back in 2003 to fix it, but...show more content...
This shortage was driven by a demand for more nurses as hospital use increased with better quality
of life and higher health standards, developments in patient care technology and a reduced number of
working hours for nurses as they sought better work/life
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conditions. For the next 50 years, and through World War II, the US healthcare system would suffer
an array of nursing shortages, each unique depending on the socioeconomic and cultural context of
the times, but equally similar when looking at the reasons for which they occurred and how they
were addressed (Whelan). During the 2nd World War, roughly a quarter of all US nursing staff
enlisted. As a result, civilian hospitals were adversely affected as their supply of nurses decreased.
The US Government was forced to step–in to counter the newly created nurse shortage and in 1943,
created The Cadet Nurse Corps program under the Bolton Act. A substantial amount of federal
money was allocated toward the education and financial support of nurse students and teaching
hospitals, the desired effect being the creation and revitalization of nursing staff for civilian patient
care in a short period of time. These young new nurses were not required to serve in the military and
could dedicate themselves to their newfound careers

Nursing Shortage Essay

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