A Issue of Nursing Shortage in United States

Category: Nursing
Last Updated: 16 Mar 2023
Pages: 2 Views: 85

Nursing Shortage

One major problem that health care faces today, is the shortage of nurses. In a poll conducted by the American Health Association, labor and staffing issues were the second biggest concern of top healthcare officials. Nurses are known for their long hours, low pay, and very stressful jobs. Also older nurses will soon be leaving the field as retirees. With a declining amount of nurses, and a hospital industry that is constantly expanding, the need for nurses is rapidly growing.

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The average age of nurses is 44 years old opposed to 40 in 1980. When nurses retire or decide to go to a less demanding profession, there are fewer qualified even if the hospital is able to recruit and find nurses for these available openings. The cost of turnover is also extremely expensive. The average cost of turnover for one nurse is between 50,000 and 60,000 dollars. The expensive nature of turnover isn't the only problem related to it. Turnover can result in lower productivity because the hospital is trying to find a replacement and when they do find the replacement that person still needs time to learn the system.

Secondly, fewer women are becoming nurses since the economy has also now left the door open for women to explore other trades or professions. Nurses typically have to take care of patients in a hospital 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With most nurses having kids at home, it is not appealing for them to work in a field where they must take care of other peoples needs. Home health care, longterm care, and ambulatory services are easy alternatives for a less stressful and sometimes higher paying job. This also gives nurses more time to balance work and family life. A poll from AMA said that 60% of nurses are now working outside of hospitals. Also, well over 40% of women are now entering medical school rather than nurses seeming to be the only alternative for women if they wanted to enter the healthcare industry.

There are a couple of things that can be done to alleviate this shortage. First healthcare officials should go to high schools and hold seminars. At least get the idea of nursing into students minds. Also, hospitals should have on-site child care centers so working nurses have a convenient, and reliable place to leave their children without having to keep them at nurseries or with sitters, as well as establish a closeness to them while at work. Hospitals could make their nursing schedules as flexible as possible and not force nurses to work overtime. If the nursing profession can get rid of the label of low and extreme stress, then more and more people might consider becoming a nurse. Another solution might involve some states having nursing school including tuition reimbursement policies for nurses similar to what the military carries out.

In conclusion, the hospitals ability to offer job stability and offer training and educational advancement will ultimately result in fewer turnovers, which will save them money, and they will have the desired amount of nurses.

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A Issue of Nursing Shortage in United States. (2023, Mar 16). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/a-issue-of-nursing-shortage-in-united-states/

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