Shortage of Nurses, when will it end



Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing the existing shortage of nurses and how the situation can be dealt with effectively in order to ensure the health care crisis caused by the shortage of nurses can be dealt with effectively.

Shortage of Nurses, when will it end

Introduction

Shortage of nurses is a situation where the demand for nurses and registered nurses exceeds the available supply within the country and globally. The ration can be measured as nurse to population ration and nurse to patient ratio. This situation is exceedingly increasing in both developed and under developed countries. Nursing shortage Lack of supply f nurses is not the only factor behind this shortage many cases arise where the shortage arises simultaneously with increased admission rates of nurses into nursing schools. According to the WHO, there is a total shortage of 4.3 million nurses' worldwide.

At some stage of life people have relied on the healthcare of a registered nurse, nursing is the largest segment of the healthcare system worldwide, nursing creates an impact and is essential in order to tend to patients for the constant attention and care. However there is still an alarming decline in the availability of nurses within the United States and internationally. This nursing shortage puts the whole healthcare system into threat since the nurse per patient ration is declining and the US is headed towards a serious issue due to this shortage. The shortage is resulting in severe loss within the healthcare system since the patient care required in speeding the patient's recovery is jeopardized. This shortage also affects the quality of care nurses provide, since nurses are now being assigned to additional patients the quality of treatment and the level of dedication has been affected. 30 states in the US are currently experiencing a shortage (Nurses NPR, 2007).

Discussion

History behind the shortage

Healthcare systems have always faced a minor shortage of nurses since the 1960's by they were for short durations and usually dealt with fairly quickly. However the nursing shortage that began in the 1998 keep progression towards more shortage instead of resolving the issue the matter keeps growing and is far worse today. The expected shortage of nurses if predicted to rise drastically in a few years since 80 million baby boomers are all headed towards retirement creating a critical situation for the healthcare system since the experienced nurses will all be retiring there is an increase in the demand for nurses which isn't being filled as fast as it should. The shortage began is the 1990's when the government wanted to cut costs and their solution was cutting nurses from the system and hiring various lesser skilled workers. In the state of Massachusetts the highest number of nurses were laid off approximately 27%

This had a direct toll on many people and the profession of nursing lost its charm for many individuals. But as nurses started leaving patients began suffering. A study conducted by the Journal of American Medical Association found that a nurse ...