The Issue of Nursing Shortage in the United States

Nursing shortages have always occurred in cycles. Recently, the shortage has become worse due to the implications of managed care as a way of controlling escalating health care costs. While the shortage did ease some during the recession of 2009, there is still a shortage in some areas of the country (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). Increased student enrollments and government policies have helped with the shortage, but the occupational outlook for nursing jobs is expected to grow faster than any other occupation through 2018. So it is essential that the supply of nurses increases to keep up with the demand. The current shortage is due to several factors. First, new nurses are needed to replace “baby boomers” who will be retiring in the near future. Second, as the population ages, there will be a demand for more healthcare, leading to a demand for more nurses. Third, new advances in patient care will lead to more people in the healthcare system needing more specialized care, and lastly, the affordable care act places a large emphasis on preventive care, leading to more people desiring wellness visits (Cherry & Jacob, 2014). Finally, according to Dall’Ora, Chiara, Griffiths, Peter, Ball, Jane, Simon, Michael Aiken, Linda H. (2015), “shifts lasting 12 hours or longer were associated with a 40 percent greater level of job dissatisfaction and a 31 percent higher risk of planning to quit. Job satisfaction and burnout in the nursing workforce are global

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

The United States healthcare industry faces many challenges everyday, such as the rising cost of care, medical errors, access and quality problems etc. Within the next few years, the United States will experience a shortage of Register Nurses (RNs). “Registered Nurses are considered one of the largest health professions in the health care industry. The Nurses duty is to provide direct patient care and can be done in a hospital, public health facility, nursing home and many other different settings. Other services included are patient education on disease prevention, administering treatments and promoting a healthy lifestyle.” ("The Future of the Nursing Workforce: National- and State- Level Projections 2012-2025”) The shortage will occur due to Baby Boomers aging and the demand for health care will dramatically rise. With the baby boomers aging, Registered Nurses are at the top of the list for demand in health care. Unfortunately the supply and demand does not meet. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2012-2022 released in December 2013, RNs will increase of about 526,800 within that time frame but will still have job openings of 1.05 million by 2020)”("Nursing Shortage") Indicating that there is no growth between 2012- 2022. There are multiple factors to this shortage and one of them is that nursing schools across the nation are struggling to increase the capacity of students to meet the rising demand. Considering the fact

This paper will examine the shortage of nurses and the impact on the nurse’s quality

The nation has a growing concern for the shortage of skilled nurses in the United States. The growing need of qualified nursing professionals reflects the growth of the aging population. As the retirement of healthcare professionals increase the need for replacement isn’t moving at the same rate. The nursing shortage places demand on nurses to work long hours, multiple jobs and overtime, which places them at risk for nursing errors. There are many incentives that show the increasing need for nursing professional. There are many different scholarships, grants and tuition reimbursement programs being awarded to produce more nursing professionals. The nursing shortage has led to a nursing crisis in most states. In the following research I will discuss some key factors about of nursing shortage, some factors that have an impact of the shortage in the nursing profession, and some economic issues. I will discuss different legislative acts and what was concluded from my research.

The American healthcare system is severely impacted by the shortage of nursing personnel. According to the American Nurses Association (2014), the nursing shortage has compromised patient safety, patient care and patient health outcomes. The nursing shortage can also cause medical errors, result in fatigue, injury and job dissatisfaction. The nursing shortage has been influenced by several factors. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the factors that influence nursing shortage in the U.S, present two strategies to address the issue and my personal recommendation.

With over 2 million jobs, registered nurses represent the largest health care occupation (Windle, 2008, p. 209). Although nurses are the biggest health care occupation, there continues to be a shortage in the United States. The shortage has worsened because of rising healthcare costs and a focus on cost containment, which has negatively impacted nurse work environments (Keeler and Cramer, 2007, p. 350). With demand for healthcare expecting to continue to increase and financial pressures becoming more burdensome, these shortages will likely become even more critical in coming years if not adequately addressed (Love et al., 2006, p. 558). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 1.2 million nurses will be required to fill new and vacated nursing positions by the end of 2014 (Windle, 2008, p. 209).

One of the few careers left in the United States that is said to be everlasting, seems to be getting a taste of reality. What once was a thriving career has steadily begun to struggle with a call to arms. Hospitals around the world are finding that the need for nurses is increasing as new nurse graduates are decreasing. Nursing schools are unable to produce enough new graduates to meet the need. Which causes a need for adequate instructors with the knowledge necessary to educate nursing students. Even with the rate of nurses graduating each year with Bachelors and Associates, why are we in such a drastic need for nurses? Has the population and illness increased so fast that our current

Buerhaus, Auerbach, and Staiger (2009), estimate the nursing shortage to grow to 260,000 by 2025. They pinpoint the rapidly aging workforce as a principle contributor to the projected shortage. A deficiency of this extent would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this nation since the 1960s. Further complicating the problem is the fact that a substantial portion of the nursing workforce is approaching retirement age. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2013) predict that within the next 10 to 15 years, more than one million registered nurses over the age of 50 will reach retirement.

In 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the United States would be 800,000 registered nurses short of the national need by the year 2020. Recently, this number has increased to over one million RNs short of the need by 2012. Although there has been some indication that the entry of older nurses into the profession, along with efforts to recruit foreign-born nurses, have helped to ease the shortage, scholars project that the predicted trends are likely to continue (Auerbach, Buerhaus, & Steiger, 2007; Buerhaus, Donelan, Ulrich, Norman and Dittus, 2006; Larkin, 2007). As such, the need for understanding the factors contributing to the nationwide shortage has never been greater.

Niles states that the nursing shortage is cyclical and began a decade ago. The author explains that the lack of facilities to train quality nurses is inadequate. That "without recruitment for nursing programs, the Health and Human Services Administration project the supply of U.S nurses will lag 36% behind nursing staffing needs" (Niles, 2013, p147). Due to this shortage employers are restructuring how they develop and design jobs. For example, redesign jobs

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

According to the Nursing Economics, the nursing shortage is caused by an aging workforce, attrition of older nurses and lack of young people and minorities attracted to the nursing profession. Some solution they offered involved factors that affect job satisfaction and work environment (Allen, 2008). Along with solutions like recruiting from the new student population, removing barriers to admission, working with the media to explain partnerships between a university and hospital, new programs and accelerated nursing programs, increased access to clinical settings, and a restructured learning with technology and other simulators. The short-term strategies were broken down to 5 main points, looking at non-traditional resources for faculty instruction,

Studies indicate that the American Nurses make up more than of the American Health care workforce. The figures are staggering considering that nursing remains the fastest growing profession in the United States. Nevertheless, in the last decade or so the country has had to struggle with an increasing demand for health care that has gradually outpaced the supply of this important segment of the health care sector. The review of the issue at different levels has revealed that more than 1.2 million vacancies for new nurses may fall vacant by the year 2022 with the shortage of nurses progressively turning into a looming crisis (ANA, 2016). Nonetheless, an argument that has emerged over the years as one of the leading causes of the looming crisis further complicates the process of dealing with the nurse's crisis.

According to Paller (2012), the nursing shortage in different countries for example the United States tends not to be the only growing problem, but has also become a complex one. Nursing shortage and nurse's turnover has become the worsening predicament in the health care industry in the United