The Shortage Of Nurses With The Aging Work Force

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

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

Registered nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system, and make up the largest number of healthcare professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) “The employment rate for registered nurses is expected to grow by 16% between 2014 and 2024”. This is more than double the average rate of growth for a profession. The rapid growth rate can be attributed in part to better management of chronic diseases and the baby boomer generation. The growth in the nursing profession is paramount, however the demographics of the nursing population does not mirror the demographics of the population served.

During the 2nd World War, roughly a quarter of all US nursing staff enlisted. As a result, civilian hospitals were adversely affected as their supply of nurses decreased. The US Government was forced to step-in to counter the newly created nurse shortage

Why the dramatic shortfall in nurses? There are at least ten influencing factors associated with this looming crisis, and

quality of work. The supply of nurses in Canada has declined for the first time in almost 20

The nursing shortage began in the 1940’s during the World War II and has not changed over many decades. Predominantly females staffed the nursing field until the 1980-1990’s era. That is when the nursing profession was regarded as a less attractive career as other professions opened up to women that were once ruled by males. Between the 1990-2000’s, the shortage of nurses happened as a result of the implementation of managed care. The government and private insurer reimbursements declined and health care cost dramatically increased. Since reimbursements were reduced hospitals and health care corporations had to reduce staff in order to manage budgets. The nursing shortage of today is considered plentiful and complex (Huston, 2014).

The nursing shortage is an accumulation of multiple factors. The four primary contributions to the shortage include the aging registered nurse workforce, declining nursing school enrollments, the changing work climate, and the poor image of nursing (Love et al., 2006, p. 558). When it comes to the aging workforce, approximately one-third of the nursing workforce was over 50 years of age in 2000 and that fraction has increased to two-fifths in 2014 (Nevidjon and Erickson, 2001). Over half of registered nurses intend to retire between 2011 and 2020

Another growing issue that Canada faces in regard to the state of its healthcare is the global shortage of physicians and nurses. With the population continually getting larger, and older, medical personnel, in particular nurses, are becoming completely overwhelmed. Not only is the global nursing shortage having a negative effect on patients, nurses are being overworked to compensate for lack of staff. Since 2002, “...the nursing shortage has been termed a global crisis.”. (Sage Publications). The “supply and demand” of nurses must be met appropriately to ensure the future of Canada’s current healthcare

The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) (2009b) predicts a shortfall of nursing staff equivalent to 60, 000 full-time positions by 2022. In 2011, there was a deficit of 22, 000 registered in Canada, as reported by J. Shamian, past-president of the CNA (Winston, 2011). A healthcare human resource problem, such as the supply of professionally trained registered nurses requires long-term resolution strategies. The CNA suggests that newly registered professional nurses are not yet employed to their full potential in community settings: A shift is needed towards providing increased care in community and home care settings with a focus on health promotion and disease in order to support sustainable healthcare in Canada (CNA, 2012).

In the past couple of years, I have become aware, through personal experience, of nursing shortage in different settings. I was working at a nursing home where nurses often needed to work

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

There is a great deal of literature concerning the issue of nursing shortages of in-patient, psychiatric settings, and much of it says the same thing: psychiatric nursing has a bad rap, and the best way to combat it is with exposure of nursing students. Works by M. Cleary, S. Matheson, & B. Happell; K. A. Karlowicz and M. P. Ternus; M. Nadler-Moodie and J. Loucks; B. Happell and C. J. Gaskin; S. M. Valente and I. Wright; J. Curtis; and finally P. J. Morrissette all cite education and exposure to be essential to the recruitment and retention of licensed nurses to the psychiatric field.

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

The evolution of nursing as a profession had showed through time that it is both an art and science. Before the 19th century, the military and religious orders are the ones who perform the duties of how nurses work today. As time went by, different events throughout history such as wars and epidemics had shaped nursing to its present organization. Nowadays, nursing is pushing further towards the future in improving itself as a profession for better care and service to the community. The objective of this paper is to discuss the historical development of