Learning and Workforce Development in the Current Nursing Shortage - Essay Example

?Running head: Nursing shortage The current nursing shortage/opportunities for lifelong learning and workforce development Introduction The nursing profession is currently facing an impending shortage, one which is expected to peak by 2020. Based on predictions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses is the top profession set to experience job growth in the years 2002 to 2012 (ANA, 2011). Based on their report, there are about 2.9 million RNs to be employed by 2012; however the openings will be about 1.1 million. Along with current trends in nurses retiring and leaving the profession, nursing shortage of about one million nurses will be experienced by the end of 2019 (ANA, 2011). There are several reasons why this trend is being seen in the nursing profession. For one, the current nursing population is aging rapidly. Based on 2004 reports, the average age of nurses was pegged at 46.8 years of age. Noticeably, even as overall employment for RNs increased significantly since 2001, most of the growth was attributed to nurses over 50 years or to foreign-born nurses. In the next few decades, nurses will continue to age with the largest population of nurses in the 50 to 60 age range (ANA, 2011). By the year 2020, their numbers are set to be the same size as today, falling to about 20% the projected workforce requirements. Nursing shortages have a disastrous effect on the delivery of patient care because it compromises the quality of care administered to patients. As was demonstrated above, nursing shortages are rampant in most hospitals today, most especially in acute care, and long-term care settings (Goodin, 2003). Various factors contribute to this shortage, with some of these factors attributed to baby boomers nearing retirement and with some factors attributed to women seeking other work opportunities. With most women now opting for other more glamorous professions, the number of new and younger nurses has been expected to decrease. Even as older students enter into nursing school, the age of new nurses also increases and their number of years in the practice decreases. Moreover, there are still lesser males and racial minorities in the nursing practice. The shortage in nurses being experienced in the US is seen to be a much more significant shortage as compared to previous shortages (Goodin, 2003). Analysts claim that this shortage cannot be remedied by short-term strategies which may have worked before. Nevertheless, the current shortage is set to increase salaries and work flexibilities for nurses. Improvements in the nursing profession are set to impact on recruitment. These improvements include increase in opportunities for practical nurses, use of information technology, and the recruitment of skilled nursing professional (Goodin, 2003). In order to implement these improvements, nursing education has been set to coordinate with the health care industry in order to develop effective solutions for nursing shortage – with a focus on recruiting students and campaigning in the media to boost the image of the nursing profession (Goodin, 2003). The health care industry has presented with various unmet needs in recent years; and the nursing shortage has not helped the situation in any way. Nurse managers are in need of strong management skills and in terms of managing both the administrative and the financial end of health care delivery (Gullatte, 2005). In most cases, the financial situation of the health care industry has been worsened by the current health crisis and acute care institutions have been affected most by financial difficulties. In order to improve the management of these issues, nursing educational institutions have been called on to resolve and work around these issues. The need to introduce developments in the nursing workforce has been pointed out by various experts. Since there is a nursing shortage, the existing workforce must be adept in facing the different health issues which present among their patients. There is a need therefore to implement workforce developments in the practice. The nursing profession has been ineffectually plagued by shortsighted solutions to the nursing shortage issues; however, in the long run these solutions have not sustained nursing as a profession (Williams, 2001). Solutions in workforce development have been implemented and these solutions have achieved some form of progress in the nursing profession. One of these solutions refers to recruitment and hiring efforts. Experts suggest that recruitment strategies have to focus on attracting younger people – even men and ethnic minorities. The recruitment of students has been considered an effective long-term solution. Some analysts claim that children have to be reached earlier than high school because these students often have made up their minds about who they want to be when they grow up as early as the fifth grade (Nevidjon and Erickson, 2001). In this case, there is a need to reach these students and teach them about the nursing profession from a very early age. Through early exposure to the realities of the nursing profession, more young people can be recruited to pursue careers in nursing. The issue of finances has also emerged with the education of nurses. Various nursing organizations have thrown in their support for the availability of grants and loans for potential nursing students. The AACN, ANA, American Organization of Nurse Executives, and the NLN have all supported the notion of supporting nursing students and nursing schools in different areas of the nation (Goodin, 2002). In order to further support the nursing education program, these programs have been assured flexible and adaptable scheduling, as well as provisions for accelerated programs, and distance or web-based enhanced learning programs. All these efforts are in line with making the nursing education program more user-friendly (Heller and Nichols, 2001). The nursing shortage has also called for the possibility of reaching unemployed and immigrant nurses in order to eventually implement workforce development. There are many unemployed nurses or nurses who are not working in health-related fields. In 2000, there were about 18% RNs not working as nurses and yet there are various employers seeking to tap into this workforce and employ them as nurses (HRSA, 2001). These are called re-entry nurses; and they are valuable resources because they already have the skills related to nursing; their current skills just need to be updated (Domrose, 2001). Employers can offer refresher trainings for these re-entry and immigrant nurses. These trainings can also include preparatory courses and review classes for licensure examinations, as well as trainings in English as a second language. These trainings can be offered free of charge in order to motivate these immigrant and re-entry nurses to practice in the nursing profession (Second Career Nurses, 2001). Continuing education programs must also be encouraged among nurses. These programs can include post-graduate degrees and advanced clinical degrees in various field of nursing. These advanced practice areas include practices as nurse-midwives, nurse anesthetists, paralegal nurses, nurse telemetrist, maternal and child care nurse, and similar specializations in the field of nursing (Alspach, 2000). Fast-track programs can assist those pursuing post-graduate degrees. These programs can be discussed with students while they are pursuing their baccalaureate degrees in order to encourage them to pursue graduate studies immediately after their bachelor’s degrees. Grants and loans can again be offered at this stage in order to ensure that these students would pursue graduate studies. Having nurses in the post-graduate levels helps ensure that they would be available in the academic field – as clinical instructors in universities (Boyden, 2000). Since issues with entry into nursing schools involves the limited number of slots made available to enrollees due to teacher shortage, these post-graduate nurses can be tapped as a resource to resolve this issue. One of the major dilemmas which the nursing profession is currently facing is on how to retain its currently employed nurses. RNs held about 2.2 million positions in the year 2000 and most of these were in hospitals; some worked part-time in the nursing profession (USA Department of Labor, 2002). Since the age of the RNs has continued to rise in recent years, different managers and employers have to be sensitive to the physiological needs of older nurses. These nurses are more vulnerable to injuries and they cannot perform to their fullest extent (Buerhaus, et.al., 2000). The actions of the managers must also be focused on retaining the numbers of RNs who are already employed as such. In order to retain their numbers and to stay competitive in the labor market, managers have to improve their personnel policies and benefits, as well as provide opportunities for these nurses to advance their careers (Aiken, et.al., 2001). Moreover, their contributions as nurses in the health care practice must also be given utmost recognition and monetary compensation. These nurses must also be paid based on the degree of work and expertise which they render in the hospital and in the health care delivery industry (Williams, 2001). The annual pay of nurses during the 2002 assessment by the Department of Labor has been set at an annual median rate of about $44,000. Considering the amount of work which nurses render, and in order for the current nurses to be retained, these rates have to be increased. Bonuses and other incentives also have to be offered to these nurses in order to ensure that more nurses would be enticed to keep their RN positions (Aiken, et.al., 2001). Only if the nursing profession starts to respond to the challenges which nurses currently face can the nursing profession truly sustain its numbers. However, many nurses have already reached the highest salary they can possibly get in their workplaces. It is also unfortunate to note that the increase in their salaries progresses at a slow pace, with their rates not increasing based on their terms or years in service (Mee and Carey, 2001). In order for any gains to be achieved in this regard, changes in salaries and benefits have to be made commensurate to the experience and increased skills of the nurses (Farella, 2001). Without such considerations and improvement, the current nurses would be tempted to opt for other careers or professions. A major part of the workforce development in the nursing profession is related to the improvement of the image of nursing. For the most part, the people seem to perceive nurses as one step above house-maids. They see nurses as assistants to doctors – incapable of independent actions without the doctors say so. They see nurses as the member of the medical team who would help them urinate, who would tell them to drink their medicine, or who would brush their teeth or wash their hair. In other words, the image of nursing is something which hardly befits a competent and independent health care professional. This unflattering, but inaccurate and incomplete image of nursing, is turning off many potential nursing students in enrolling nursing. For which reason, there is a need to improve and change this wrong image of the nursing profession. One sure way of doing this is to encourage the nurses themselves to talk about their profession with their family and friends and to describe their work as more than just following doctor’s orders or cleaning up after patients. In other words, it is important to expose the younger students to a more positive and accurate images of nursing (Gabriel, 2001). This process can be started in schools through guidance counselors who sometimes participate in career counseling. Web-based career information can also be used to reach a wider audience – using accurate and positive portrayals of the nursing profession. With these adjustments, it is possible to gain a stronger following among the young students. Conclusion The discussion above sets forth how the current nursing shortage is affecting the nursing practice and the general healthcare delivery. This shortage is compromising the quality of nursing services, and it is also prompting various health care authorities to come up with different ways in order to resolve this issue. Improving the hiring and recruiting of new nurses, as well as providing them with good incentives to join the nursing profession are some of the measures being applied in order to improve the workforce. Moreover, the ability to retain the services of the current nursing population has been accepted as a major challenge for nurse managers. Implementing these changes in the nursing profession are remedies which are set to assist in developing the workforce and in resolving the shortage issue. Works Cited Aiken L.H., Clarke S.P., Sloane D.M., Sochalski J.A., Busse R., Clarke H., Giovannetti P., Hunt J., Rafferty A., Shamian J. 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