Please respond to a minimum of 2 peers. Include the following in your responses: What similarities or differences do you see between your perceptions related to the nursing shortage and staffing and t

Jena,

How would you define the Nursing Shortage? What evidence would you give to support that definition?

The nursing shortage needs more nurses to treat the patients adequately. "For instance, in the United States of America (USA), there is an extreme shortage of nurses as it will need approximately 3 million nurses to fulfill its nursing gap, a demand that cannot be easily achieved and an estimate of 12.9 million deficit of skilled nurses and midwives by 2035. Furthermore, it is estimated that the shortage of nurses may exceed 500,000 by the year 2025, while in Europe, 590,000 nursing vacancies are estimated by year 2020" (Tamata and Mohammadnezhad, 2022). As one can see, many places need help with the nursing shortage and more bodies to fulfill these needs. Other factors such as age, retirement, insufficient nursing programs, and workplace/workforce dissatisfaction also affect the nursing shortage. 

In your opinion, what are the major factors contributing to the Nursing Shortage? Of these, which do you believe has the greatest impact and why? 

One significant factor contributing to the nursing shortage is nursing burnout. The coronavirus took a big hit on the nursing shortage because so many nurses were either working while sick or the conditions were too much to handle. This was one of the most significant impacts because almost every facility was not adequately staffed, people were running low on needed supplies, and a lot of patients were dying and dying fast. Another major factor that contributes to the nursing shortage is work environment issues. This includes heavy workloads, long hours, mandated hours, and exposure to high-stress levels that contribute to job dissatisfaction and burnout among nurses. This leads to nurses leaving the profession or reducing their working hours. The last significant factor contributing to the nursing shortage is the aging population and retirement. Many older nurses are now getting to a point where they are either done with bedside nursing or at the end of their retirement. This causes the experienced nurses to fall off, and only the new graduates are left working, which can cause issues within the workplace since there are few professional nurses left. This tends to put a strain on the existing nursing workforce. 

As a leader, how might you employ the ANA’s Call to Action to deal with the Nursing Shortage in your place of employment?

I could advocate for policies and legislation. Supporting and advocating for policies and legislation that promote increased funding for nursing education programs, improved working conditions, and better nurse-patient ratios. This can attract and retain qualified nurses. Another thing I would do is to lead in a positive work environment. I will create an environment that values and supports nurses, promotes work-life balance, and provides professional growth and development opportunities. This can help prevent burnout and improve job satisfaction among nurses. I will also invest in education and training. This can help enhance their skills and competence, making nurses more valuable assets to the organization and healthcare system. I will also create a diverse and inclusive workplace, so no one feels out of place. I can recruit and promote nurses from underrepresented communities. It will help address disparities in healthcare and improve patient outcomes. Lastly, I will enhance communication and collaboration to address the nursing shortage. I will encourage transparent communication between all staff and interdisciplinary cooperation and teamwork to optimize patient care. By implementing these strategies, I can help to address the nursing shortage crisis and create a sustainable and thriving nursing workplace/workforce. 

Logan,

• How would you define the Nursing Shortage? What evidence would you give to support that definition?

I would define the nursing shortage by a couple things but for an overall definition "The American Nurses Association estimates that more than a million new nurses need to join the workforce over the next few years to prevent a critical nursing shortage." (NurseJournal. (2023, March 21)). This shows the over the next few years we are going to need even more nurses than we already do. I would say there are many different factors that apply to this problem. Some of the problems consist of burnout, policy factors, training and enrolment, turnover rates, more people retiring than are coming into the field.

• In your opinion, what are the major factors contributing to the Nursing Shortage? Of these, which do you believe has the greatest impact and why? 

As I previously mentioned some of the major contributing factors would be the burnout rate, more nurses retiring than are getting hired, training and enrolment, as well as not having enough teachers for nursing schools. Part of this problem started a long time ago in the 1990s "In 1995, we graduated 97,000 RNs each year. But by 2000, we were graduating 30,000 fewer RNs. So this effect of decreasing interest showed up quickly and by the late '90s and early 2000s, we were having a large national shortage of registered nurses. The American Hospital Association reported about 125,000 vacant positions for nurses in 2001." (Baker, D. W. (2022, May)). With the problem of nurses decreasing since the 1990s and then Covid happened around 2020 which caused for an increase need in nurses these two are major factors for the nursing shortage. Another important factor is that not as many nurses are working in the ICU or ED where nurses are needed more of. "About a million RNs are working in inpatient care units, and about a third of those are working in ICUs and emergency departments." (Baker, D. W. (2022, May)). It takes time to get nurses trained in these departments as well even when coming from another floor. I would say burnout, a decreasing number of graduating nurses, policy factors and training/enrolment are the main impacts on the nursing shortage. The burnout and a decreasing number of graduating nurses are working with eachother in making the nursing shortage much worse and solving even one of these problems would help in the situation. Training and enrolment is another problem as nurses cannot just switch to an emergency department without any training, so getting nurses into those types of departments are important but also take time, so if there was a way to increase the training it would be beneficial. I think all of these factors put together are what is causing the country the problem of a nursing shortage and should all be worked on to help solve the situation.

• As a leader, how might you employ the ANA’s Call to Action to deal with the Nursing Shortage in your place of employment?

I think the first thing I would do as a leader would set long and short term goals for the staffing challenges such as having a short term employee like a travel nurse, then plan to have long term employees as well. These long term employees can help train the travel nurses and get them accustomed to the hospital quickly. I would employ how the hospital can better work with insurances to promote better pay rates for the nurses as they are working very hard, and this would help in keeping the employees around. I would also make a plan for the long term in order to meet the demands of future staffing issues that I may run into, and to have a training program for each floor that the workers feel confident working alone when they are done with the training. I would also want a work enviornment that all employees feel comfortable doing what they are there to do and to ask questions when they do not know something.