Nursing Shortage and Its Impact on Patient Outcomes

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Nursing Shortage and Its Impact on Patient Outcomes

Introduction

The shortage of staff in the healthcare system is a growing challenge that has a significant effect on the delivery of medical services and consequently, patient outcomes. Due to their low numbers after distribution to various facilities, nurses are faced with increased workload and long shifts. Overworking can result in stress and fatigue, which impair cognitive abilities and reduce overall performance. Apart from that, when the professionals are tasked with extra work, they become prone to decreased attention to detail leading to medical errors.

At Chatham University medical facility, there is a shortage of nurses, meaning those available must work for longer shifts and more workload. The number of patients suffering from medical errors has risen recently as more individuals have chosen to seek employment in more conducive work conditions. While the management continues to encourage the remaining staff to be effective in their activities at the hospital, it becomes harder as the latter experience burnout, among other problems. The purpose of this paper is to explain the issue of nursing shortage and how it impacts patient outcomes.

Background

Problem of Interest

The shortage of nurses in the United States has been a growing issue that has implications for the healthcare sector. With a population that is aging and high demand for medical services, there is a need for qualified healthcare professionals (Beitz, 2019). Nevertheless, the current supply is not sufficient to cater to this demand, resulting in a shortage (Beitz, 2019). Numerous factors are responsible for the situation, including high turnover rates, aging staff populace, and lack of nursing school graduates (Beitz, 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic increased the strain on the sector, resulting in an increased demand for nursing care. The circumstances that hospitals and other facilities face, have a major effect on patient care and outcomes.

As mentioned earlier, when there is shortage of healthcare professionals, the workload increases for the available nurses and the shifts become longer. This results in a fatigued and stressed workforce that is highly likely to be ineffective (Beitz, 2019). The ability to be attentive towards details reduces and the possibility to commit medical errors rises (Beitz, 2019). At my local facility, such cases have increased and led to adverse events that could have been prevented. It is thus, important to consider the issue as a critical clinical problem.

Causes Associated with The Problem

The issue of nurse shortage in the American healthcare system is caused by various factors. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses claims that the average age of the staff is fifty years old (Beitz, 2019). While this may not be a retirement age, todays healthcare situation influences a nurses decision to retire at an earlier age than other careers. There is advancement in technology and the number of patients is rising, which increases the psychological and physical demands needed of practicing nurses. This in turn leads to a depleted nursing workforce with an immense workload.

Nursing is knowledge-intensive as a career that is based on years of experience, on-the-job training, and invaluable clinical reasoning capabilities. The American Nurses Association approximates that one million nurses will leave work between now and 2030 (Beitz, 2019). When the experienced individuals retire, the healthcare organizations are left to alleviate the danger of lost expertise (Beitz, 2019). This makes it hard for new graduates as they are expected to fill the gaps.

A second factor that contributes to the nurse shortage is that individuals are living longer due to advancing medical science. The United States is stated to have more people over the age of sixty-five years (Drennan & Ross, 2019). As the populace ages, the number of medical conditions, co-morbidities and chronic illnesses needing healthcare services grow (Drennan & Ross, 2019). The increasing healthcare needs prompt healthcare organizations to increase their nursing staff to offer quality care safely. Another contributor is the pre-licensure education capacity (Drennan & Ross, 2019). There seems to be a direct connection between nurse shortage and the training. AACN claims that the nursing schools in the country rejected about eighty thousand capable applicants as a result of inadequate number of faculty, academic space, clinical sites, and budget (Drennan & Ross, 2019). According to the Higher Ed Jobs, to date, there are more than one thousand open nurse educator spots with five hundred of the vacancies at the associate degree level (Drennan & Ross, 2019). This is alarming since in the past, lack of training has been an issue that the government tries to promote.

The last contributor important to note is the issue of nurse burnout. With the shortage of nurses and complexity of healthcare needs, most professionals are overworked as well as emotionally exhausted to an extent they are leaving the profession. In case the situation is not addressed, they will continue to depart the career as a result of exhaustion. It is a cycle that requires to be broken (Drennan & Ross, 2019). Most statewide programs are being done to reduce the impact of the problem.

Barriers to Addressing the Problem

One key barrier to fully addressing the issue of nurse shortage is the continuing aging population. Currently, the U.S. has the greatest number of individuals between sixty and seventy (Spurlock Jr, 2020). In 2029, the last of the generation born in the early 1980s will reach retirement age, leading to a seventy-three percent rise in the number of sixty-five years of age and older (Spurlock Jr, 2020). In 2011, the country recorded forty-one million in that category while in 2019, it recorded seventy-one million (Spurlock Jr, 2020). As the populace ages, the desire for medical services increases (Spurlock Jr, 2020). The reality is that older people do not usually have a particular morbidity that they are dealing with, but more often have many diagnoses and comorbidities that forces them to seek treatment. The population is living a longer life, causing an increased utilization of medical services. Many disease procedures that were considered terminal before, can now be treated, which affects the morale of the staff, who choose to change professions.

Significance

The problem of nurse shortage is significant since it leads to adverse effects on patient safety and care, increased workload for working nurses, and financial strain on medical care facilities. The issue can result in subpar care, longer waiting time, and more stress for patients and the providers (Spurlock Jr, 2020). Moreover, it can deter the capacity of healthcare firms to offer effective as well as efficient services, possibly leading to decreased client satisfaction and loss of reputation.

It is important that the problem of nurse shortage needs to be addressed at the national and local levels. At the national level, dealing with the issue ensures that the healthcare system can cater to the rising demand for medical services from an aging populace. A shortage of nurse professionals impacts the quality of care and access to the services (Spurlock Jr, 2020). This can increase the amount of work that the existing nurses are assigned, which leads to burnout and in turn, worsens the situation. At the local level, handling the matter can better the access to care and aid in guaranteeing that the clients get the best value.

The hospital is usually staffed according to the local supply of nurse professionals. Therefore, addressing the problem can assist to ensure that there are adequate individuals to meet the community needs. It can as well aid to improve the working conditions for nurses, limiting the risk for burnout and raising job satisfaction. Among the statistics linked to the problem is that according to the World Health Organization, there is an international shortage of more than five million nurses (Spurlock Jr, 2020). In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the demand will continue to rise in the coming years, faster than the average for all other careers (Spurlock Jr, 2020). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing claimed that two years ago, above two million nurse spots were unoccupied (Spurlock Jr, 2020). The National Institute of Nursing Research noted that about fifty-six percent of registered nurses are over fifty years old and expected to retire in the next decade (Spurlock Jr, 2020). This is projected to worsen the situation to an extent it might be considered a global health disaster.

Other institutions have as well conducted their different inquiries into the matter. For instance, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing performed a study and discovered that nursing shortage can lead to hospital stays, higher mortality rates, and rise in the medical care costs (Spurlock Jr, 2020). The statistics have highlighted the significant effect that the issue in discussion can have on the healthcare system and the general population.

Correcting the issue of nurse shortage can have major financial effect on the healthcare system. It can reduce the costs related to staffing and better the care quality, eventually resulting in fiscal benefits for firms, patients, and governments. For instance, a hospital can experience lower staffing expenses by improving nurse retention and the need for expensive replacements (Spurlock Jr, 2020). Offering competitive salaries, working conditions, and other benefits can aid in attracting and retaining the professionals, in turn, reducing the turnover rate and associated expenditure.

Patients will experience better care since with an adequate number of nurses available in a hospital, the clients have a higher chance to get timely and high-quality care. This reduces the danger for medical errors, need for admissions, longer hospital stays, and improve patient outcomes (Spurlock Jr, 2020). This can lead to lower healthcare expenses for insurers and patients, and greater image for medical facilities. In addition, with sufficient workforce, individuals would enjoy more satisfaction. This is as a result of reduced wait times, more access to care, and higher quality. The outcome of this is patient loyalty, their volume, and thus, revenue.

Organizations in the healthcare sector gain a better image after addressing the nurse shortage issue. They are able to offer quality care and thus, attract more clients (Spurlock Jr, 2020). Apart from that, when there is an adequate number of nurse professionals in a facility, the workload is evenly assigned, which means that there is less likelihood of burnout. The working conditions improving is a way of encouraging efficiency and provision of quality care in the long term. This will in turn lead to a higher number of patients and greater revenue. It has been identified that an increase in the shortage of nurses in a hospital to care for admitted patients, the higher the likelihood of medical errors and higher morbidity rates of individuals (Beitz, 2019). Consequently, this raises the possibility for mortality as the U.S. records about eight thousand deaths every year due to errors by overworked medical staff accounting for more than $4 billion per year (Beitz, 2019). Correcting the matter means that the healthcare system can save much money, which can be used in funding further development in the sector.

PICO Question

PICO (Patient/Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome) is a scheme that is utilized in the evidence-based practice to formulate focused clinical questions. Using it aids in ensuring that the search for proof is targeted and relevant to the particular patient population, comparison, intervention, and outcome of interest. This assists to reduce the resources and time needed to check for evidence and assess it. It increases the chance that the retrieved material is useful (Drennan & Ross, 2019). Concerning registered nurses (P), what is the effect of novel strategies (I) on reducing nursing shortage (O) compared to conventional methods (C)?

Population (P) in the question mentioned earlier is the registered nurses who work in healthcare organizations. These professionals continue to play a significant role in the delivery of high-quality patient care (Drennan & Ross, 2019). It is claimed that without proper quantity of staff members, it is hard to realize better care. Dealing with the nursing shortage is key to ensuring that the sufficient staffing levels are maintained in medical care facilities.

The intervention (I) being studied is the implementation of new approaches to deal with the nursing shortage, including retention, recruitment, and training initiatives by healthcare organizations. The strategies target to entice as well as retain capable nurses, and improve their capabilities and knowledge to offer the best care (Drennan & Ross, 2019). Instead of focusing only on hiring individuals and assigning them work, managers have realized that it is equally important to ensure that the employees experience working conditions that are favorable.

The anticipated outcomes (O) after the interventions implementation include reduced level of nursing shortage. Additionally, better care quality, limited healthcare expenses, higher client satisfaction, and, enhanced reputation and productivity for organizations, are expected. By increasing the number of nurses in hospitals, the firms can guarantee sufficient staffing levels (Drennan & Ross, 2019). In turn, this would result in improved patient outcomes, reduced need for temporary workforce, and better image in general.

The comparison (C) in the PICO question above is between new and conventional techniques used in addressing the nursing shortage issue, including the hiring incentives and better working conditions. The effect of the novel approaches will be assessed in comparison to the traditional methods of determining their efficacy (Drennan & Ross, 2019). Comparing provides valuable knowledge about which tactics are most effective in minimizing or limit the problem in discussion.

Conclusion

The issue of nursing shortage as discussed in the paper is a growing challenge that has a major effect on how medical services are delivered to the patients. This means that the quality of care depends on the number of nurses designated to a particular hospital. The paper has shown that a hospital having fewer nurses to care for admitted patients can increase the chance for medical errors. This, in turn, can lead to higher rates of morbidity and mortality. In such instances, it becomes costly every year, which can be avoided. In order to improve the value of the services, it is important that organizations choose to improve its recruiting, retention, and training programs.

References

Beitz, J. M. (2019). Addressing the perioperative nursing shortage through education: A perioperative imperative. AORN Journal, 110(4), 403-414. Web.

Drennan, V. M., & Ross, F. (2019). Global nurse shortages: The facts, the impact and action for change. British Medical Bulletin, 130(1), 25-37. Web.

Spurlock Jr, D. (2020). The nursing shortage and the future of nursing education is in our hands. Journal of Nursing Education, 59(6), 303-304. Web.

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