Nursing Shortage and nurse turnover

NRS-451Discussion

The topic I selected is Nursing Shortage and nurse turnover. Over the years, nurses have gradually reduced in their number as the years go by. This is because there has been an increase in population and should translate to an increase in nursing numbers but that isn’t the case. The average age of nurses is steadily increasing. This means more and more nurses are aging and heading to retirement and leaving a gap in the nursing sector of healthcare. As the population if many US citizens increase, it means that they need more intensive care from nursing to cater for their needs. This isn’t the case. Many at times, there are a few nurses caring for quite a high number of patients and this leads to a lot of inefficiencies as they seeks to deliver their services all they are assigned.

Very many nurses who have completed school realize that the profession is none of what they expected. This leads to disappointment and some leaving the profession at an increasing rate. The turnover rate increased from 8.8% to 37% in 2016 according to Nursing Solutions, 2016.

To curb this, more health institutions are now offering more incentives to nurses and you people who may want to join the profession. Some institutions are paying for specialized courses for their employees so that they can offer their services at the institution. Better pay also acts as an incentive to try and prevent nurses from leaving.

Violence towards nurses has been addressed through stricter in many hospitals and this encourages nurses to stay and they feel their needs are being addressed. This generally boosts employee morale and encourages them to work more.

Reference

Nurse shortage linked to higher neonatal mortality. Nurs Stand. 2016 Feb 17;30(25):8. [PubMed]

Kowalczuk K, Krajewska-Kułak E. Patient aggression towards different professional groups of healthcare workers. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2017 Mar 31;24(1):113-116. [PubMed]