The nursing drought is a very important issue right now. Without adequate health care, Americans would have nowhere to turn except a turn for the worst. By addressing both the shortage and the quality of health care that the nurses should be giving, there are solutions that are slowly starting to show effects. Budget adjustments and grants can be utilized at both the level of the nursing program itself (very individualized) or as a statewide grant that is divied among the schools in the state. A nation wide budget solution has not yet been implemented--the Nurse Education, Expansion and Development Act was proposed in 2004 to authorize Capitation Grants for shcools to increase faculty and students. The act was re-introduced in 2009, and has yet to get the approval. Individual hospitals may use educational strategies to address their shortages as well. Some hospitals do this by partnering with the school of nursing nearby, subsidizing nursing faculty salaary, reimbursing nursing for educational advancement, and providing a flexible shcedule to acoomodate school and work schedules accordingly.
Many of the solutions are vague, but may be altered to better fit each indicidual program. If a hospital raised the wage of thier nurses, this would be more incentive to work there. THis, however, is not possible. If it were up to me, I'd start taxing or somehow getting a portion of the revenue brougth in by professional sports. The way our country awards individuals with earnings and bonuses is so backward. Teachers (from whom we learn life's lessons as well as history) and nurses (keep us happy and healthy) are two groups that do not get paid what they deserve. Of all the hours spent at the bedside with thier patients, some nurses give so much and do not expect anything back, althought it is always well overdue. Nurses are often the most selfless people to be found. Professional athletes have a stigma that they only care about themselves and make sure they are content before serving or reaching out to help others.
This solution may be better classified as a delusion. Never in a million years would we be able to turn this society around to placing more value on the ones who serve us most rather than the ones that have a specific athletic or muscial talent. However, individual gains can be made.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Scholarly Shortfall= Nursing Drought
As baby boomers begin and continue to retire, the demand for health care professionals is on the rise. Demographic changes may limit the access to health care unless the number of care givers rises in relation to the rising elderly population, which is actually expected to decrease by 40% in the next 20 years. There are also several other factors affecting the "nursing drought" including retirement-aged nurses planning for their future, educational programs experiencing budget and expansion restrictions, and the impacts of job satisfaction causing many to leave the profession.
This is a serious problem. Without adequate staffing, patients cannot safely be cared for--the drought is potentially causing a vicious cycle of inadequate care and ill or injured patients, with these illnesses and injuries possibly caused by the lack of personnel in the institution. The problem is not the demand--the problem is the supply of trained professionals that qualify for the health care positions. The nursing workforce is expected to grow by 22% by 2018 due to the creation of more RN positions. Also, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, 32 million Americans will soon gain access to health care services provided by RNs or ARNPs. In addition to this, the qualified nurses and ARNPs are getting older--average age is up from 45.2 to 46 years old. This correlates to more nurses retiring, several at the same time--making large amounts of vacancies and no one to fill them.
These vacancies can lead to employed nurses putting in overtime hours and becoming burnt out which decreases their job satisfaction. Many individuals that experience this go and seek work in another field, feeling that the demands of health care are too much for them to handle.
However, educational programs are coming up short on faculty to train and provide individuals the information to become nurses or health care professionals. In 2010, U.S. nursing schools turned away 67,563 qualified individuals simply because they did not have the faculty to educate them or the budget to support a larger program. This is where I come in. I am a student trying my hardest to get into nursing school. I have training. I have experience. I have the minimum requirements, but apparently "minimum" means "inadequate" these days. If the government is able to provide more funding, then I would be able to help others without trying to worry about whether or not I am able to get the training I need. So many more people would get the opportunity to learn and work as a nurse and help Americans with their health care needs. The nursing drought would be forgotten, vacancies would be filled, and job satisfaction for RNs would increase dramatically.
Solutions to this problem are being explored, although to many they may seem looming or impossible. More to come on this topic....
Sources:
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media/factsheets/nursingshortage.htm
http://www.uscollegesearch.org/blog/medical-assisting-info/solving-the-nursing-shortage
This is a serious problem. Without adequate staffing, patients cannot safely be cared for--the drought is potentially causing a vicious cycle of inadequate care and ill or injured patients, with these illnesses and injuries possibly caused by the lack of personnel in the institution. The problem is not the demand--the problem is the supply of trained professionals that qualify for the health care positions. The nursing workforce is expected to grow by 22% by 2018 due to the creation of more RN positions. Also, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, 32 million Americans will soon gain access to health care services provided by RNs or ARNPs. In addition to this, the qualified nurses and ARNPs are getting older--average age is up from 45.2 to 46 years old. This correlates to more nurses retiring, several at the same time--making large amounts of vacancies and no one to fill them.
These vacancies can lead to employed nurses putting in overtime hours and becoming burnt out which decreases their job satisfaction. Many individuals that experience this go and seek work in another field, feeling that the demands of health care are too much for them to handle.
However, educational programs are coming up short on faculty to train and provide individuals the information to become nurses or health care professionals. In 2010, U.S. nursing schools turned away 67,563 qualified individuals simply because they did not have the faculty to educate them or the budget to support a larger program. This is where I come in. I am a student trying my hardest to get into nursing school. I have training. I have experience. I have the minimum requirements, but apparently "minimum" means "inadequate" these days. If the government is able to provide more funding, then I would be able to help others without trying to worry about whether or not I am able to get the training I need. So many more people would get the opportunity to learn and work as a nurse and help Americans with their health care needs. The nursing drought would be forgotten, vacancies would be filled, and job satisfaction for RNs would increase dramatically.
Solutions to this problem are being explored, although to many they may seem looming or impossible. More to come on this topic....
Sources:
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media/factsheets/nursingshortage.htm
http://www.uscollegesearch.org/blog/medical-assisting-info/solving-the-nursing-shortage
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