Nurses account for most of the jobs in health care, yet their large numbers are not expected to rise in the coming years. Trends in nursing are greatly influenced by the current age of most nurses and the graduation rate of new nurses. Several factors affect how nurses are used in the workforce. With this shortage, there are specific areas of nursing that will require more resources to meet the medical needs of society.
Features
Intensive care units in hospitals need nurses with expertise in dealing with chronic and acute diseases. The need for acute care nurse practitioners will see a rise as hospitals grow and redistribute resources. Once a patient leaves a hospital, there is often a need for continued skilled care. The need for hospice and home health nurses will continue to rise. Terrorist activity has given rise to the need for public health nurses with expertise in handling traumas and the adverse effects of bioterrorism.
Effects
The nursing shortage has led to decreased job satisfaction and higher stress levels. Many nurses are in situations where their workload consists of what were formerly two jobs. When this type of workload increase occurs, the level of care is often affected. This can lead to patient dissatisfaction. Ultimately, this kind of work environment may also lead to mistakes like medication errors or failure to monitor an unstable patient.
Misconceptions
The main reason for the nursing shortage is often seen as the decline in nursing graduates consistently since the 1950s. While this is definitely a factor, an often overlooked issue is the fact that nursing schools are losing their professors. As nurses retire of attain the level of experience needed to teach, many choose to continue with their retirement or professions totally outside of nursing. An influx of interest in nursing schools would not automatically increase the number of nurses in the workforce until the number of nursing school professors increased proportionally.
Risk Factors
The largest portion of the nursing population falls within the baby boomer age group. For boomers, retirement is approaching, causing a deficit in the nursing workforce. Nurses also have a variety of employment options that don't include nursing that will adversely affect nursing trends. Insurance companies, for example, recruit nurses as case managers to review medical necessity in insurance claims. These two factors provide a one-two punch to efforts to maintain good nurses.
Theories/Speculation
The nursing decline will not change until it is treated as a health care crisis. Policy makers need to understand the ramifications of the lack of skilled nursing on an aging society. Once that realization is reached, plans can be created to offer incentives to potential nursing grads as well as nurses currently contemplating a move out of the industry.
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