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Topic 1 DQ 1
The nursing shortage is current and will continue to increase in the near future. A major event contributing to the shortage is the aging baby boom generating aging and reaching retirement age (AACN, 2020). Additionally, the Institute of Medicine has forecasted that the future is calling for 80% of nurses to be prepared at the baccalaureate level, whereas the current population of nurses only holds a 64.2% baccalaureate or greater level of education (AACN, 2020). There are currently more qualified nursing school candidates than exists faculty members that are able to provide education in nursing programs currently, resulting in qualified candidates who seek to enter the nursing profession being turned away due to lack of sufficient educational resources and programs (AACN, 2020). With the aging baby boom generation causing a shift in demographics in the United States, the need for more nurses exists as a result of the increase in geriatric population (AACN, 2020). The shortage of nursing staff and projected future requirements of nursing staff contribute to increased nurse patient ratios which has been found to increase job dissatisfaction as well as drive nurses out of the profession (AACN, 2020). These factors together combine to a current and increasing nursing shortage. Anecdotally, I have found that nursing units in two hospitals that I have worked in often times require nurses to take one or two extra patients during a shift, above the unit’s recommended nurse patient ratios, in order to accommodate the unit’s patient needs. NRS-440VN -O500 Trends and Issues in Today’s Healthcare. This has personally led me and fellow staff members to remain extremely busy during work, cutting time spent with patients down to a minimum, and increases both patient and nursing staff dissatisfaction. This further causes issues for hospitals and inpatient units as many patients utilize Medicare and medicaid which are government subsidized and only provide hospitals reimbursement based on patient satisfaction scores on post hospital admission surveys.One way the nursing profession is working on a resolution by recruiting more males into the field. Males currently constitute approximately 9.6% of the nursing workforce and often face various forms of discrimination in the field (Kronsberg, Bouret, & Brett, 2018). By reducing gender discrimination and lateral violence towards males in the field, the nursing profession can begin to address the nursing shortage by allowing a large recruitment of male nurses into the nursing profession (Kronsberg, Bouret, & Brett, 2018). This is a massive means to combat the nursing shortage, as the nursing profession is heavily viewed as a culturally female profession which contributes to a smaller participation of eligible males joining the nursing profession