Nursing Shortage and Nurse Turnover
Nursing leaders and managers are an integral part of the working environment that makes sure that work goes on smoothly. Although some people still use the leadership and management interchangeably in nursing practice, these two concepts of nursing leadership and nursing management are actually different. Therefore, nursing leaders and managers approach issues differently. It is pertinent to examine the definition of both nursing leaders and managers in order to relate their functions to the topic of discourse.
It is often said that a leader is capable of being an effective manager. However, the reverse is not always the case as not all managers can be good leaders. The task of the manager is to make sure assigned duties are fulfilled. Also, they are saddled with the responsibility of managing personnel that come under their jurisdiction. Another aspect of nurse management entails delegating duties to subordinates.
The role of a leader, however, is different. The leader does more of inspiring rather than just following orders or laid down dogma. It is often said that a leader is born and not made. A leader functions to empower, drive and motivate orders aside from inspiring tem. A nurse leader has good and effective communication and interpersonal skills. The leader takes risks and puts in the extra effort to churn out the desired result. The leader does not compromise standards. The level of energy and sincerity displayed by leaders are enormous. They devote their lives to the achievement of laid down goals. All these attributes make the nurse leader the ideal role model for followers. The leader therefore, shoulders more responsibility sometimes so that the followership can have the requisite direction necessary to function as a single effective working team.
Importance of Nurse Leadership
The Nurse leader gives motivation and inspiration to the team members who invariably lead to achievement of organization mission and vision in a manner that is most effective and efficient. The nature of the leadership can either be formal or informal. The formal leadership consists of a delegated individual in the workforce of the organization. The effective nurse leader helps to streamline the workforce and also in the allocation of resources. The responsibilities of the leader could include the designing and implementation of new procedures and policies. The nurse leader can also challenge institutional policies imposed by the institution.
Importance of Nurse Management
The Nurse Manager brings order into the system. Nurse management is important because a nurse manager who is efficient ensures that responsibilities are honored by the nursing staff. This is done with the aid of allocated resources (both human and capital). The Nurse Manager has total control over his work. The manager also has good decision making authority.
Nursing Shortage
Nursing as a profession is currently experiencing shortage of Nurses. According to statistics, the demand for registered nurses is expected to grow from 2 million in 2008 to 3.2million in 2018. This increase represents a 60% increase over a 10 year period. Nursing shortage has a lot of adverse effects of the quality of care. The care and safety of patients could be compromised (Ferrell, 2013). The few nurses at work could be overworked, leading to distress and lack of job satisfaction. A causal link has been established between a high patient-to-nurse ratio and job burnout and frustration. Moreover, adverse patient outcomes have also been linked to inadequate staffing (Siela et al, 2009).
Nursing Turnover
Nursing turnover is also a major issue that has a huge impact on the quality of care and also profitability of healthcare organizations. It is important for healthcare organizations to maintain a stable workforce which is highly trained. This is needed to provide effective care to the patients. At present, the growth of the healthcare industry is said to exceed the available supply of nurses (Siela et al, 2009). Therefore, it is predicted that in within the next decade, there could be shortage of nurses up to the tune of 1 million by the year 2020 (Jones & Gates, 2007).
The cost and consequences of nursing turnover are enormous to the organization. Reduced quality of patient care is one of the consequences. The patient also stays longer in the hospital and may come down with nosocomial infections. Moreover there could also be loss of patient because the facility does not have enough personnel to care for the patient. This could lead to deterioration of patient health and also loss of revenue for the organization. The organization may also need to rely on ad-hoc staff to overcome shortages. The situation also leads to increased turnover of staff. The overworked nursing staffs are also prone to increasing rate of accidents and also absenteeism rates.
Both the nurse leader and the nurse manager would recognize the discrepancy in the nurse-patient ratio. They both have the duty of ensuring that the organization runs smoothly.
The role of the nurse leader in this kind of situation is that of advocacy. The nurse leader would ensure that the management of the organization is aware of the working condition of the working staff. The nurse leader will ensure that the administration makes efforts to increase the nurse-patient ratio. The nurse leader also encourages the working nursing staff not to be discouraged about the situation. Rather than doing this, the nurse leader finds a way of encouraging the nursing staff to still put in their best for the sake of patient care and also for the love f the profession. In summary, the nurse leader plays the role of the advocate. Moreover, the nurse leader also ensures that the life and health the workers are not endangered by being overworked. The leader also ensures that the nurses get adequate compensation for whatever extra hour they put into the work.
The duty of the nurse manager is to ensure that the organization runs smoothly. The nurse manager has the authority to enforce this. The duty of the nurse manager is to ensure that more nurses are employed so as to increase the nurse-patient ratio. The nurse manager has the duty of evaluating the situation and coming up with the appropriate solution.
The roles of the Nurse leader and the Nurse Manager might pitch them against each other at some point. While the nurse manager is trying to ensure that the nursing staff perform their duties, the nursing leader is ensuring that no Nurse performs their duties to the detriment of their health. Therefore, there is a possibility of conflict between the leader and the manager.
However, this needs not to be so, because both the nurse leader and the nurse manager are both working for the success of the organization.
References
D Siela et al (2009). The Shortage of Nurses and Nursing Faculty: What Critical Care Nurses Can Do. Critical Care Nurse. Retrieved on 14th December 2013 from <http://www.aacn.org/WD/CeTests/Media/CG02092.pdf>
B Jones & M Gates (2007). The Costs and Benefits of Nurse Turnover: A Business Case for Nurse Retention. The Online Journal of issues in Nursing. Retrieved on 14th December, 2013 from <http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume122007/No3Sept07/NurseRetention.aspx>
N Ferrell et al (2013). The Nursing Shortage: Exploring the Situation and Solutions. Minority Nurse. Retrieved on 14th December, 2013 from <http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/nursing-shortage-exploring-situation-and-solutions>
