The Acute Care Nurse Practitioner,The Certified Nurse Midwife - Assignment Example

Nursing Number There are quite a number of challenges that bombard the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in their daily roles and duties but perhaps one of the most prominent of these challenges is the glaring work overload faced by these practitioners (Phillipson, 2009). This overload is largely a result of inadequate staffing of these practitioners that is evident in our medical facilities so that the few practitioners available are left to cater for a huge number of patients. Today’s shortage of these practitioners is unlike any that has ever been witnessed before with indicators showing the trend could get even worse.

This phenomenon is driven majorly by a largely ageing nursing population and few numbers of incoming nurses to fill this void. There is a considerable rise in the number of people seeking the cares of these practitioners with healthcare and medical needs, putting considerable strain in the health care system and in the process, necessitating an urgency to curb this shortage. Generally speaking, research upon research has identified four main reasons behind this problem (although there are several minor causes too, that would need to be delved into at hospital and care center levels).

These are the ageing practitioner population, declining enrolment, changing work climate (such as lesser pay, increased patient loads, unpalatable work shifts and mandatory overtime, decreased time to provide direct patient care, assignment of non-nursing tasks, poor patient and relatives’ attitudes, skipping meals to attend to work, poor health and safety such as chronic effects of stress and overwork, possible nosocomial infection (such as HIV, Anthrax, Hepatitis, etc.) making nurses feel unsafe at work) and a poor image of nursing in particular (Phillipson, 2009).

Some of the solutions that can be used to curb this escalating shortage include conducting recruitment efforts, for example by promoting pursuance of such careers in schools, advertising for vacancies, reducing training period and time it takes for one to become a registered practitioner while not compromising on the quality of training and also by encouraging more men to consider nursing as a career choice. Secondly, there’s need to explore retention efforts by providing opportunities for career advancement, encouraging flexible work schedules, good retirement benefits and by encouraging these practitioners to feel free to be at the forefront in resolving workforce issues and devising solutions for the same.

An elaborate emphasis on the irreplaceable importance of these practitioners to the society and better pay and retirement packages will go some way in improving the image of these careers and attract potential workforce. Lastly, supporting legislation that can help rectify this shortage would be handy, for example by lowering grades required to enter training schools and by providing scholarships and loans to students pursuing this course (Phillipson, 2009).ReferencesPhillipson, C. R. (2009).

Gerontology. S.l.: Sage.