The first challenge I want to talk about is shortage of nurses, in most all fields of nursing. I believe this is due to the high nurse to patient ratio, and poor compensation of the nurse for their services rendered. This leads to high turnover rates in hospital, and travel nurses come into the hospital. I worked as a travel nurse and I could see why travelers were needed at the hospitals I worked at. Another challenge related to this is burnout of nurses. I have seen job postings for travel nurses with a 1:8 nurse to patient ratio. This is not safe for any nurse. It is physically and mentally exhausting to work a 12 hour shift on a Med-Surg floor with no nurse’s aide with let alone six patients. Baby boomer nurses are retiring, which is requiring a number of nurses required to work overtime, which also leads to high nurse to patient ratios. NURS 3100 3101: Issues and Trends in Nursing. By doing this, there could be possibly a sentinel event or near miss event. A solution to fix this would be mandating nurse to patient ratios at a safe number, nurse managers making sure they have enough staff for each shift, and possibly give more incentive for nurses to come to said hospital. I would like to get involved with a passing a bill to limit nurse to patient ratios as my legacy and doing so by furthering my education.
My second challenge is the shortage of physicians. As America’s population ages and demand outpaces supply, a physician shortage will intensify. Americans are living longer and requiring more care later into life, and doctors themselves are aging out of the profession. Older patients use two-to-three times as many medical services than younger patients. The supply of physician assistants and nurse practitioners is predicted to increase, which will be mainly needed in primary care. This is another reason I am continuing my education to become a nurse practitioner.
response
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and I agree with you on both of your points. The shortage of nurses in all fields of nursing, poor compensation, and high nurse to patient ratios all contribute to nursing mistakes, nursing burnout and high nursing turnover rates in hospitals. This is not safe for neither nurses nor patients. I think a bill mandating safe nurse to patient ratios is an excellent idea and one that could help ensure higher rates of patient safety. Your willingness to get involved to help pass such a bill certainly demonstrates a strong clarity of purpose and contributes to your legacy of making meaningful transformations in the field of nursing (Hegge, M. 2011). NURS 3100 3101: Issues and Trends in Nursing
Your second point regarding the need for more providers is one of the main reasons I am in this program. As you pointed out, our physicians themselves are aging out of the profession. I’ve seen this firsthand as my father, a cardiologist, just recently retired. And, with Americans living longer and needing more medical care, both primary and specialized, the need for physicians and mid-level providers, both physican assistants and nurse practitioners, will be great.
References:
Hegge, M. (2011). The empty carriage: Lessons in leadership from Florence Nightengale. Nursing Science Quarterly, 24 (1), 21-25.
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