(Name of author)
Introduction
There is a current shortage in the number of registered nurses in the United States with the shortage expected to intensify as the need for healthcare services grow and baby boomers age. This has resulted in health care facilities failing to provide sufficient care especially in the accident and emergency departments. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is working with various stakeholders in the healthcare industry and the media to raise awareness of this concern. The Association is also using its resources to find solutions to this current nursing shortage problem (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2015).
Current Statistics on Nursing Shortage
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 233,000 nursing job openings are available every year, in addition to the 2.5 million positions present. However, only 150,000 candidates passed the Registered Nurse licensing examinations in 2015 and thousands of registered working nurses leaving the profession every year for various reasons. The stated reasons led to a shortage of more 500,000 nurses last year.
Demographics of Current Nursing Workforce
A study conducted in 2015 revealed that there were 2,824, 641 Registered Nurses in the United States. Half of the total Registered Nurses were found to be 50 years of age or older. The number of male nurses licensed between 2103 and 2015 was only 14.1% of the nursing workforce with the median salary of the male nurses being $72,000 compared to only $64,000 for their female counterparts. Ethnic minorities accounted for 19.5% of Registered Nurses with the newly-licensed nurse being the most ethnic diverse. The number of Registered Nurses with a bachelor of science in nursing as their highest degree was 42%. Foreign-educated Registered Nurses were 6.7% of the workforce with the New Jersey, New York, California, Washington DC, Nevada and Hawaii having more than 10% of nurses educated abroad working in the states (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2016).
Strategies for Effective Recruitment and Retention of Nurses
The nursing profession can be stressful at times with the majority of nurses complaining of chronic back pains (University Alliance, 2015). Boosting the hospital programs resulting in improved communication and increased staff levels would decrease nurses’ stress levels, increasing their job satisfaction and retention levels.
Many states are giving scholarships and grants, and also creating awareness programs to encourage the current Registered Nurses to go back to school for advanced degrees. This is in a bid to increase the number of nurse educators to reduce the educator shortage and provide more enrollment positions in nursing schools.
The National Nursing Association is also reaching out to middle and high school students, and men and educating them on the benefits of pursuing a nursing career. This would help increase the number of applicants for enrollment in nursing schools.
Conclusion
The increase in healthcare needs is making the nursing shortage crisis in the United States even worse. The number of employment opportunities generated in the field surpassing the number of licensed nurses each year. Looking at the demographics of the nursing profession we can see that most of the Registered Nurses are over 50 years of age, with less than half of them having Bachelor of Science in nursing degrees, and the number of males is the profession is very small. This means that the suggested solutions will work efficiently in reducing the shortage if employed.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2015). Nursing Shortage. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from American Association of Colleges of Nursing, http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-shortage
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2016). National nursing workforce study. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from National Council of State Boards of Nursing, https://www.ncsbn.org/workforce.htm
