Is there REALLY a nursing shortage?

What do nurses think about the nursing shortage and the aging of the nursing work force?

• I am writing a paper and would like to know what nurses, especailly RNs, think about the current shortage and the aging of the nutsing workforce. In addition, I would like to know ...show more

• Answer:

  ...Safe Staffing is very important in the nursing field, for nurses and their patients. Safe staffing will allow the nurse to be able to provide a higher quality of care to the patients. While allowing the nurse to feel more comfortable in the nursing role and preventing burnout and fatigue which lead to a lower quality of care as well as increase the turnover rates for nurses. Many factors are influencing the current nursing shortage. Some of the factors affecting the nursing shortage are that there is an increase demand for nurses due to population growth, a growing elderly population with increasingly complex medical needs, and medical advances that require more nursing time (Erickson and Grove, 2007). Other factors are due to the current and future supply of nurses, fewer women are choosing nursing as a career and the current nurses are getting older and fast approaching retirement. Another big factor in the shortage of nursing is burnout due to job dissatisfaction. Studies show the correlation between burnout and terminating employment. These studies show that burnout might be one of the biggest reasons a nurse would quit her job. “Nurses’ negative feelings about their jobs, including their feelings of burnout, tend to be influenced more by the organizational practices governing the workplace than by the challenges inherent in caring for others (Erickson and Grove, 2007).” A huge factor in job dissatisfaction and burnout is inadequate staffing partly due to the nursing shortage (Erickson and Grove, 2007). Nurse Staffing Affects the Quality of Patient Care “If the environment of care is toxic, nurses will leave, patients will suffer, and in the end, hospitals will lose the money they are trying to save (Curtin, 2003). Nurse staffing directly affects the quality of care that patients receive. Collaborative research shows that having a higher number of registered nurses reduce mortality, length of stay, patient falls, medical errors, nurse turnover and hospital costs. While increasing patient satisfaction, positive patient outcomes, and satisfaction of pain control. Another nurse staffing issue that affects the quality of care that patients receive is overtime. Nurses that work more overtime have shorter reaction time and decreased judgment, which leads to increased errors and a decrease in patient safety. In addition, affecting the outcomes of patients are levels of education and experience (Curtin, 2003). I think professional nursing organizations are an excellent way to stay informed on current nursing issues and to remain involved. A nurse should be politically active and aware. P.s. I am not a nurse, yet.