The Nursing Shortage

Although African-Americans represent the largest minority group, studies show they have the lowest success rates in nursing programs. According to the AACN (2013), “African-American nursing students have the lowest graduation rate when compared to other minority groups”. The lack of minorities providing care negatively effects healthcare outcomes and accessibility. In order to increase the number of African-Americans nurses practicing, it is essential to gain an understanding of the conditions that lead to successes and failures. The purpose of this study is to provide insight into the positive and negative experiences had by African-American nursing students, for development of appropriate interventions to increase the number of successful graduates.

It is no secret that the United States is currently experiencing a shortage of nurses . “The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics ( 2009 ) estimated that more than one million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2018 to meet the increased demands of the health care workforce” (). The stressful conditions under which nurses work, due in part to the nursing shortage, are among the risk factors that contribute to nurses’ abuse of illicit drugs and alcohol. Nurses are unique in that they work in an environment where they not only have access to controlled substances, but also are exposed to critically ill patients, traumatic situations, death and dying, the stress of which can increase the risk of substance abuse. (Epstein, Burns, & Conlon, 2010). Unfortunately, it is the patient that suffers the most.

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

There are numerous issues that cause the nursing shortage of today. “Baby Boomer” nurses are aging, retiring or coming to the end of their careers which will cause a rift. Many nurses are choosing to leave the nursing profession for other careers because of job dissatisfaction or

The national nursing shortage is an ever-growing concern, and it is essential for healthcare organizations to confront the looming issue. Possible solutions to the nursing shortage include retaining older nurses who are looking to retire, increasing the amount of students graduating from nursing schools, and drawing nurses back to the bedside who have left the nursing workforce (Hatcher, 2006). Leaders must assess the nursing turnover in their organization, and they must strategize on ways to retain those nurses. Organizations must implement techniques to retain older nurses to help combat the national nursing shortage and prevent a national healthcare disaster (Keller & Burns, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to identify the demographic breakdown of an organization, explain how the organization’s environment is conducive and non-conducive for older workers, and describe tactics to retain older workers.

There are many issues that affect the profession of nursing, for decades one issue that affects the nursing profession is the nursing shortage in the United States (U.S.). Even though the nursing shortage in the U.S. remains during the Great Recession of 2007 many older nurses did not retire as one normally would have while other nurses came out of retirement to help support their families (Snavely, 2016). According to Juraschek, Zhang, Ranganathan, and Lin (2012), starting in 2003 the age group of forty-five to fifty-four replaced the age group of thirty-five to forty-four as having the largest number of working registered nurses. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) states the number of jobs available for registered nurses (RNs) is expected to grow by sixteen percent by the year 2024, which equals 439,300 RN positions in the United States. However, some regions of the United States are going to be affected more by the increase in need for RNs leading to a nursing shortage in these regions of the U.S. Moreover, the nursing shortage is going to have a negative impact on patient care, nurse satisfaction, and health care cost which further exacerbating the nursing shortage (Snavely,2016). Factors contributing to a nursing shortage in regions across the U.S. are :1) aging nurses retiring as the recession ends, 2) nurses who re-entered the workforce due to the recession are leaving the profession or returning to working part-time, 3) the aging baby boomer

The national nursing shortage is an ever-growing concern and it is essential for health care organizations to confront the looming issue. Possible solutions to the nursing shortage include retaining older nurses who are looking to retire, increasing the amount of students graduating from nursing schools, and drawing nurses who have left the nursing workforce back to the bedside (Hatcher, 2006). Leaders must assess the nursing turnover in their organization and strategize on ways to retain those nurses. Organizations must implement techniques to retain older nurses to help combat the national nursing shortage and prevent a national healthcare disaster (Keller & Burns, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to identify the demographic breakdown of an organization, explain how the organization’s environment is conducive and non-conducive to older workers, and describe tactics to retain older workers.

"In 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) began a two-year study initiative to respond, the need to assess and transform the nursing profession."("The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health," 2010).An interdisciplinary committee was put together to report the nations issues impacting health care. Recommendations were set forth by the IOM in a way to improve and restructure the nursing profession to fit the future of the medical field. ("The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health," 2010) The recommendation from the committee starts with an action-oriented blueprint for the future of nursing also to identify matters of medical care, research, education. (AJN, American Journal of Nursing: 2010). The Affordable Healthcare ACT (ACA) of 2010 introduced new changes to United States healthcare system. These changes were the improvement of research and evidence-based practice, health awareness, prevention screenings, and community-based wellness promotion and applied. (Affordable Care Act, 2010) Before the IOM’s action-oriented blueprint nurses came up against barriers that prevented them from being able to the start to make those transformations. Today nurses have the potential to overcome obstacles by leading innovative strategies to transform nursing education, practice, and leadership. ("The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health," 2010)

American Nurses Association (ANA) is a professional nursing organization representing 3.6 million registered nurses in the United States (ANA, About ANA, 2017). Formed over 100 years ago in 1911, ANA has been growing its membership and expanding its role in the nursing community. The association has a simple mission statement, “ Nurses advancing our profession to improve health for all” (ANA, American Nurses Association 2015 Annual Report, 2015, p. 1). While ANA has a simple mission statement, the role of nursing organizations in the United States is not a simple task. Nursing is an evolving profession with many aspects.

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.

The national nursing shortage is predicted to continue to rise to levels that have not been seen since the 1960’s (Fasoli, 2010). Managers must create an environment that is conducive to employees. The leader needs to promote organizational commitment and retain employees by promoting a positive culture on the unit. Nurses want an environment where they can provide high-quality care to patients and leaders must help facilitate and maintain this environment. Employees also want to feel like their opinions matter to the manager, and they have a say in the future of the unit. Employees do not want to feel like they are not important, or their voices are not being heard.

This research paper is on The Nurse Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN). I will explain the primary mission of this organization and it’s contributing factor and benefits to nursing. The impact of the organization on the community, the political stand point and supportive issues it has on nursing, the resources it provides on the web and to health professionals and the public, the choices for scholarship and continuing education, if any local chapters are located in the community and participation is allowed, my consideration of joining this organization, and advantages and disadvantages of participating in this nursing

With our nation focusing more on health care and the overall wellness of its people, the demand for it has been rising. According to Dr. Paul Takiguchi, a dermatologist at Pali Momi “- the biggest issue is the shortage of physicians which includes dermatologists, thus limiting patients’ timely access to care.” Though it may not seem like a big deal, the effects of it are starting to appear today and will only become more prevalent in the near future. In order to stop the doctor shortage in the field of medicine, the government must make changes to the education and training of doctors.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Affordable Care Act challenged the nursing profession to grow and change the way they practice their profession. The IOM recommendations asked nurses to “envision a future system that makes quality care accessible to the diverse populations of the United States, intentionally promotes wellness and disease prevention, [and] reliably improves health outcomes”(Buxton & Scott, 2012 p.15) The goals it has set are nurses should practice to their full extent of practice, we are to achieve higher levels of education, nurses should partner with healthcare members to redesign healthcare, and more effective planning and policy making require better data collection.

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