The Nursing Shortage - Essay Example

A NURSING SHORTAGE AND RECRUITMENT A Nursing Shortage and Recruitment: Aged, Inadequate enrollees and Insufficient Wages DateAbstractNursing shortage is the demand and need for RN services greater than the supply of RN’s qualified, available and willing to work. The causes for the nursing shortage are more professional career opportunities for men and women; an aging nursing workforce; and the public perception of low nursing wages; difficulty working conditions and lack of career growth. Retention is the significant intersection of these two shortages.

Retention involves improving the work environment, retaining the aging nursing workforce, improving the image of nursing and increasing recruitment efforts. It is vital to know that recruitment is not enough to assure an adequate supply of nurses. American Nurses Association has created a national initiative to deal with the issues that have galvanized the profession. Every hospital in the country must focus on both retention and recruitment as future cornerstones of an adequate workforce.A Nursing Shortage and Recruitment: Aged, Inadequate enrollees and Insufficient Wages A nursing shortage as defined by IOM “is a condition whereby there are not enough of professional nurses to provide quality of care of patients” (as cited in Quinn, 2002, p.2). National studies and reports have identified factors that have led to a profound nursing shortage: the aging of society (Martin et al., 2001); an aging nursing workforce (Buerhaus, Staiger, and Auerbach, 2000a; Minnick 2000) a decline in nursing enrollments (American Association of Colleges or Nursing [AACN], 2001); this shortage is uniquely serious in that it is connected to both an increased demand for, and also a decreased supply of nurses.

There have been lots of articles published in both nursing journals and public newspaper across the country about the worldwide nursing shortage. First and foremost is aging of the nursing workforce. The average age of nurses in the United States is 46 (Buerhaus, 2000). There has also been declining enrollment in nursing programs over the past decade, as women are able to move into other science focused roles besides nursing (Buerhaus, 2000). Also, highschool counselors tend not to recommend nursing to male or female students interested in science.

The salary structures in many health care facilities keep experienced registered nurses at lower salaries compared to other industries. A decreasing emphasis on retention of working nurses by many hospitals has caused nurses to feel that their concerns about stress and patient safety are not being heard or acted upon. Poorly trained managers or brusque, unkind preceptors often leave staff nurses feeling undervalued and not appreciated. The presence of the registered professional nurse in the operating room (OR) promotes the health and safety of surgical patients.

The association of perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) has grave concerns about the worsening shortage of qualified health care perioperative personnel, specifically professional nurses (American Hospital Association [AHA], 2001). AORN members have voiced concerns about and provided anecdotal reports of patients’ injuries or “near-misses”, related to staffing shortages. Increasing numbers of reports are received about delays or the cancellation of surgery due to inadequate staffing. AORN members are also concerned about the increased burden placed on OR nurses to work extra hours, take more call hours, or work in unsafe conditions.

In response to these issues, the AORN board of directors has committed organizational resources to provide member support and develop resources to assist members address local, regional, and national shortages of nurses, specifically OR nurses. Evidence shows that staffing shortages contribute to increased mortality. A land mark study by Aiken, Clarke, Cheung, Sloane and Silber (2003, p 511) found that nurses reported greater job dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion when they were responsible for more patients than they could care for safely.

The Philippine leads all countries in global nurse emigration. Today, Filipino nurses represent over 75% of the foreign nurse labor force recruited to and working in American Hospital, most of which are inner-city municipally operated institutions with reported shortages of nursing personnel. Between 1945 and 1990, thousands of nurses migrated to the United States to either learn or work. (Brush, 1993, p. 45). The author of this paper choose the insufficiency of wages among nurses who work long hours and responsible for patients but have a job dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion.

Moreover, it is evident that nurses migrated to another country to have large salary. They work for others and serve others. Meanwhile their country has lost many nurses due to low compensation of salary. The result revealed that most of being recruited are all Filipinos. Furthermore, in conclusion the shortage of nurse is actually because of unimproved wages compensated by the nurses who work long hours and care for the patient that are not equally proportional to the number of nurses.ReferencesBarker, Anne M. (2009). Advance Practice in Nursing.

40 Tall Pine DriveRafferty, Anne Marie, Robinson, Jane and Elkan, Ruth. (1996). Nursing History and the Politics of Welfare.29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001Robinson, Jerrie A. (2011). Capella University. School of Human Services. Retrieved November 12, 2011Turner, Susan Odegaard. (2007). The Nursing Career Planning Guide. Barb house, Barb Mews, London W6 7PA.: Aspen Publishers, Inc.