Healthcare providers like nurses face a host of issues that impact the quality care delivery to patients. One of these issues is scarcity of nurses or nursing shortage. Studies and estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the healthcare sector requires over 200,000 nurses each year till 2025 to bridge the current levels of shortage (BLS, 2019). The lack of sufficient nurses in healthcare facilities affects the quality of care offered to patients. Inadequate nurse staffing levels lead to adverse outcomes for patients and burnout for nurses as well as high turnover rates and leaving the profession altogether. The purpose of this paper is to discuss nursing shortage as a pertinent healthcare issue and a summary of two articles about the problem. The paper also looks at how other organizations are dealing with the issue and strategies to address the organizational impact of nursing shortage.
Many states and hospitals are grappling with nursing shortage that is affecting the quality of care. The emergence of the Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVId-19) pandemic, an aging population and retiring of baby boomers’ generation from work as well as reforms in the healthcare are placing an increased demand for healthcare services. The implication is that more healthcare workers, especially nurses, are needed to bridge the gap. Inadequate nursing levels have significant negative effects on patients. These include increased risk of medication errors, possible burnout and overall mental health issues because of stress and depression associated (Nelson & Wein, 2018). Further, nursing shortage means that nurses have increased workload. With only California having legal mandates on nurse staffing ratios in the country, many facilities require nurses to work long hours or shifts to meet the care demands. Nursing shortage increases a nurse’s susceptibility to adverse patient events like the risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
Our facility faces a nursing shortage issue that impacts the delivery of quality care to patients. The facility has 20 job postings for registered nurses’ positions. Five of these nurses are required in the emergency department. The number does not include five nurses that are at different stages of orientation. The facility and its emergency department have one the highest turnover rates for nurses working in ED. The department has reduced the number of beds because of insufficient levels of nurses, especially during the day. Critical care technicians are short-staffed and are positioned in strategic areas that include triage, and pediatric unit. The nursing shortage issue in the facility has led to a stop on reimbursement due to five recent deaths that many attribute to inadequate number of nurses to serve patients in different departments.
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