Nursing Shortage And Increased Workload Essay

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

Nurse staffing and how it relates to the quality of patient care has been an important issue in the field of nursing for quite some time. This topic has been particularly popular recently due to the fact that there is an increasing age among those who make up the Baby Boomer era in the United States. There will be a greater need for nurse staffing to increase to help accommodate the higher demand of care. Although nursing is “the top occupation in terms of job growth,” there are still nursing shortages among various hospitals across America today. The shortage in nurses heavily weighs on the overall quality of care that each individual patient receives during their hospital stay (Rosseter, 2014).

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

For over a decade researchers have been performing studies examining the effects patient-to-nurse ratios have on adverse outcomes, mortality rates, and failure-to-rescue rates of patients and on job dissatisfaction and burnout experiences of nurses. Aiken, Sloane, Sochalski, and Silber (2002) performed a study which showed that each additional patient per nurse increased patient mortality within 30 days of admission by 7% and increased failure-to-rescue by 7% as well. This same study also showed that each additional patient per nurse resulted in a 23% increase in nurse burnout and a 15% increase in job dissatisfaction. Additionally, Rafferty et al. (2007) performed a study in which the results showed that patients in hospitals with higher patient-to-nurse ratios had a 26% higher mortality rate and nurses were twice as likely to have job dissatisfaction and experience burnout. Blegen, Goode, Spetz, Vaughn, and Park (2011) performed a study where results showed that more staffing hours for nurses resulted in lower rates of congestive heart failure morality, infection, and prolonged hospital stays. The same study also showed that increased nursing care from registered nurses resulted in lower infection and failure to rescue rates and fewer cases of sepsis.

Inconsistent nurse-patient ratios are a concern in hospitals across the nation because they limit nurse’s ability to provide safe patient care. Healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians agree that current nurse staffing systems are inadequate and unreliable and not only affect patient health outcomes, but also create job dissatisfaction among medical staff (Avalere Health, 2015). A 2002 study led by RN and PhD Linda Aiken suggests that "forty percent of hospitals nurses have burnout levels that exceed the norms for healthcare workers" (Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalski & Silber, 2002). These data represents the constant struggle of nurses when trying to provide high quality care in a hospital setting.

The nursing shortage in healthcare has been a highlighted issue for many years. With the ever-growing health care system, hospitals and healthcare facilities often find themselves searching for ways to acquire new nurses and retain their very own. Throughout the years, the number one solution to this problem remains the same: decreasing nurse turnover, and increasing nurse retention. This paper discusses the causes of high nurse turnover rate, the negative effects on health care, and ways to improve the turnover rate.

Nurses make up the single largest health profession in the U.S. Nurses perform many different patient care task and deliver critical health care services in many different settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory care clinics, hospice, home health care and public health facilities. The distinction among the different types of nursing reflects education, role and medical background. Registered nurses have different levels of educational degrees. Every graduate nurse must pass the national exam, The NCLEX-RN, before they are licensed to practice. Registered nurses provide direct care services at many different levels, such as designing a plan of care for individual patients, educating patients on disease process and prevention, administering treatment and promoting health for patients, families and communities

Additionally, the study found that a high patient to nurse ratio resulted in greater emotional exhaustion and greater job dissatisfaction amongst nurses. Each additional patient per nurse was associated with a 23% increase in the likelihood of nurse burnout, and a 15% increase in the likelihood of job dissatisfaction. Moreover, 40% of hospital nurses have burnout levels exceeding the normal level for healthcare workers, and job dissatisfaction among hospital nurses is four times greater than the average for all US workers. 43% of nurses involved in this study that reported job dissatisfaction intended to leave their job within the upcoming year. (Aiken et al.)

31,000 were prelicensure applicants” (as cited in Ganley & Sheets, 2009, p. 401). As more

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

Studies have traced trends in hospital patient care both nationwide and internationally. Through this research there has been a correlation between poor staffing of hospital nurses with the increased occurrence of adverse patient outcomes along with nursing burn out. In a recent study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), am agency aimed at improving patient safety, linked hospitals with low nurse staffing levels to higher rates of poor patient outcomes with illnesses such as pneumonia, cardiac arrest and UTIs. Factors found that contribute to this include the growing acuity of patients, and the lack of qualified Registered Nurses who are qualified to take on available positions.

I chose to examine research related to the nurse-to-patient ratios and the variety of effects on safety and quality of care. Nurse staffing levels are directly correlated with quality patient care, safety, and nurse satisfaction. Todays nurse has a larger workload due to higher complexity of care, reduced staffing, and increased responsibility (Hughes, 2008). Low nurse staffing levels with an increased patient load leads to a wide array of problems such as medication errors, sentinel events, nurse burnout, reduced patient dissatisfaction, and overall decreased quality of care (Hughes, 2008).

One of the reasons for nurse burnout is inadequate staffing. Inadequate nurse staffing effects many individuals. Most importantly, patients, nurses as well as hospital administrators. According to Department of Professional Employee [DPE], (2016), staffing issues affect nurses as it leads to nurse burnouts and affects nurse’s health, increasing their risks for hypertension, cardiovascular disease and depression. Understaffing also leads to expensive human resources problems that can affect hospital administrator’s budgets. The harsh demands of nursing are forcing nurses to consider alternative careers. Studies have shown the overall turnover cost per registered nurse is $65,000 (DPE, 2016).

Implications for the current worldwide shortage of nurses are numerous, especially since nurses play one of the most important roles in the health care process. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (2005) notes that there is a direct correlation between positive patient outcomes and the quality of a nurses work environment. Atefi et al. (2014) agree with this information, writing that one of the most important factors impacting job satisfaction among nurses is their work environment. Research shows that long hours, heavy workloads, and uneven nurse/patient ratios negatively impact the nurse/patient relationship (Atefi et al., 2014). In order to effectively meet the needs of patients and minimize errors appropriate staffing levels must be met.

The workload is the amount of work to be done by a particular person, especially in a specified period (Carayon, 2015). For example, the amount of work done by a nurse in a single shift. Massive amounts of workloads result in stress to the employee (Nilsson & Furåker, 2012). Heavy workload for nurses is a major concern to many hospitals and care facilities (Fisher, 2014). Nurses are thereby experiencing heavy workloads as a result of inadequate nurses in the industry, increased overtime and decreased hiring, growing demand for nurses and reduced inpatient length of stay in hospitals (Harold, 2017). This reduction implies that it is only those patients that are in critical conditions are left in the hospital suggesting that they demand more attention and hence more work for the employed nurses (Carayon, 2015).