preview

Reasons For Nurse Shortage Essay

Better Essays

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,

Get Access