The national healthcare issue that has affected many facilities worldwide in this time is the nursing shortage. According to the Journal on Nursing Education, “Beyond the obvious and most discussed risks of prematurely ending social distancing restrictions, such as a second and third wave of infections, more illness and deaths, and more long-term damage to the economy, an equally important risk to public health has not received the media attention it deserves: an acute and perhaps dramatic escalation of the national nursing shortage” (Spurlock, 2020). Nurses play a vital and centralized role in the healthcare system. The same article projects that the national nursing shortage will remain in effect well into the year 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the healthcare system with a devastating blow. Hospitals were not prepared for the impact it would have on nursing personnel as well as supply. Working in a high acuity Emergency Department during this time in a considered “hot zone” was difficult and proved that the nursing shortage was real, and the surge of patients was overwhelming COVID-19 pandemic and Nursing Burnout discussion essay.
The healthcare organization that I am employed saw the ugly face of this pandemic up close and personal. Staffing ratios were inadequate at most times and the already minimal critical care beds remained occupied with patients who had contracted the virus. We brought in travelers to help and offered extra shift bonuses for staff to stay over or come in extra just to be able to keep up with the surge. However, inevitably the more staff were there the more staff got sick and were out of work. In order to keep up with he amount of tests that were being done, the hospital followed suit with many of the other healthcare organizations throughout the country and opened drive-thru testing centers for those whose symptoms did not pose an immediate emergency. This lessened the surge and workload on the already overworked staff in the Emergency Department. However, along with the rest of the country ideas to deal with this pandemic were being thought of on a reactive basis instead of a proactive approach.
The nursing shortage became even more prevalent after subsequent waves of the pandemic and nurses and hospital personnel were provided inadequate personal protective equipment resulting in higher numbers of nurses testing positive for the virus. According to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, “COVID-19–related shortages of personal protective equipment and drugs continue to plague the US healthcare system, but now in the third US pandemic wave, nursing and other staffing shortages are sweeping the country” (McLernon, 2020). To deal with these nursing shortages some states have begun to allow asymptomatic nurses who are positive for COVID-19 to take care of COVID patients. Though the healthcare facility I am employed has not implemented this practice and I hope they do not, it is safe to say that these are trying times and whatever the response for the further nursing shortage is it will most likely not be ideal for this worsening healthcare issue and the increase in burnout and mental health concerns for this profession will be seen for years to come COVID-19 pandemic and Nursing Burnout discussion essay.
References:
Spurlock, D. (2020). The nursing shortage and the future of nursing education is in our hands.
Journal of Nursing Education, 59(6), 303-304. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.3928/01484834-20200520-01
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