Abstract
Over the years, the number of nurses in the hospitals and other medical institutions is one which tends not to meet the desired levels of nurse to patient levels. Various researches have been carried out to show the various causes of this occurrence and some have even been able to show how the issue can be effectively tackled which leads to the increase in the number of medical personnel in the hospitals. These methods intended to increase in the number of personnel in the hospitals are one which is a problem of each and every individual within the society. This is due to the fact that the causes of the shortage of the nurses in the institutions being due to the laxity of both the institutions, the government and further each and every member of the society. With this factor and causes in mind, the best way to tackle this issue is to ensure that each and every member of the society plays his role. For example, the government to increase the funding it offers to the students, the institutions to increase the number of enrollments it allows in their faculty of nursing and the members of the public to encourage the younger members within their society to venture into the nursing career.
Keywords: shortage of nurses, tackling the shortage, causes of the shortage, problem.
Shortage of Nurses
Problem Description
In the United States, one of the major problems in the nursing sector is the fact that the patient to nurse ration is not up to the desired ratio. This is mainly due to the fact that the number of individual who have venture into the nursing profession is constantly declining. This decrease in the workforce has various effects on the nursing profession as a whole. This major downside is that the desired levels of care that the patients should be shown is constantly.
Following the research that was carried out by the Bureau of Labor statistics in 2013 showed that even though the number of nurses in the medical institutions is constantly increasing and a greater increase is projected in the coming years. However, the fact is that even though the number of individuals who venture into the profession is increasing, the number of replacements is also high hence causing the ratio not to be as appealing as the desired rates (Rosseter, 2014).
In addition, to this, the shortage of nurses in the profession has been recorded to be widespread throughout the whole country but this shortage is more intense in the southern and the western states. This shortage in these areas is further stipulated to grow throughout the nation. As from the research, the shortage is mainly attributed to the fact that even though the nursing institutions tend to have in place measures which will help increase the number of nurses in the nation, the number of students who go ahead to get registered does not meet the levels to be able to better the patients to nurse ratio (Keenan, 2003).
With these statistics, it is clear that the matter of the shortage of nurses should be tackled effectively in order to avert the issue of the care levels being lower than the required levels.
Solution Description
In order to meet these desired levels which reciprocate in the betterment of the nursing profession in the nation, various steps must be taken into account. These include;
The government should have in place plans that will end up in increasing the job opportunities for the students when they are done with the nursing schools. This assurity of having a chance for employment will be a motivating factor to the students in order for them to venture into the nursing profession. This increase in the number of students enrolled into the nursing schools will in turn lead to a further increase in the number of registered nurses in the society (Hodsgson, 1947).
Further, the decrease in the number of nurses has been caused by the fact that the profession which is considered to be a female profession is being met with a further challenge in terms of the females in the society having new job opportunities. They may venture into law or even the forms of employment which may be considered to be a male venture, such as mechanics and piloting. In order to combat these changing trends, measures must be taken in order to encourage thenumber of female students in the nation to consider nursing and encourage them to venture into it.
Lastly, nursing is a form of career that may be considered to be physically demanding. With the increase and advancement in technology, this problem can be tackled by the hospitals and other medical institutions embracing technology in their institutions. This improvement in technology will help hasten how things are carried out in the hospitals and further increase the number of nurses who will tend to the patients (Balkin et. al, 2011).
Implementation Plan
In order to be able to achieve this increase in the number of nurses in the nation, then various actions should be taken. These include;
Firstly, the various medical institutions in the country must have in place measures which will increase the motivation of the nurses and the students. This motivation can be achieved by having in place various programs such as talks in high schools and seminars which will in turn encourage the students to venture into the nursing profession.
Secondly, the various learning institutions in conjunction with the government should increase the number of learning institutions and intake of the students into the nursing profession. This increase may be through lowering the enrollment requirements which sometimes cause may individuals who are interested into the career to be locked out of the profession. In addition to this, the learning institutions should have in place various measures which will increase the number of individuals who enroll into their schools. This may be achieved through building more facilities in the faculty of nursing or further having programs and partnerships which will help increase the number of individuals who enroll into the institutions (Rosseter, 2014).
Lastly, in order to combat the increase in stress levels among the members of the public, it is important for the number medial institutions to have in place plans which will help the institution to acquire new forms of technology and further train their personnel on how to use these newly acquired machines. With the increase in the technological know-how in the institutions, the motivation of these nurses may reciprocate in the nurses encouraging the students to venture into the nursing profession rather than discouraging them to do so due to the profession having high stress levels.
Evaluation Plan
In order to have a view of how far the plans have been successful, then the various steps and indicators must be taken into account to show the success of the strategies.
These include, comparing the number of students who enroll in the nursing faculty and comparing the statistics with the previous years. In instances that the number has increased then it will be an indicator of the success of the project, as opposed to instances of the decrease in the number of students who enroll into the institutions (Boblitz and Thompson, 2015).
Another methodology of evaluating the methodology arrived at includes comparing the stress levels among the nurses and other medical practitioners in the institutions. This may be by one considering the number of hours the nurses’ work and the fatigue levels amongst those members of the institution. Using this method, one will be able to gauge the motivation levels amongst the personnel.
Lastly, taking into consideration various factors such as the number of projects that the medical institutions have started in conjunction with the government or the private institutions would be used as an indicator of how successful the plans are. With these programs the number of students who will be enrolled and viewing the betterment or rather the increase in the facilities in the institutions may be used to evaluate the success levels of the proposed methodology.
Dissemination Plan
In order to effectively help the institution to better itself. It is important for systemized actions to be determined and further how the results of the project will be communicated to the various stakeholders. In this case the dissemination of the results will occur in a specific plan and manner(Miabach, Duyn and Bloodgood, 2006);
Firstly, the various stakeholders in the hospital may be sent the research findings via their own personal corporate emails. These include the various heads of departments, the other members of the neighboring institutions. The exchange of information amongst the member of the other medical institutions will enable the project findings to be of help to all the members of the institution rather than only being advantageous to only one institution (Allan and Alderbon, 2008).
Secondly, due to the fact that the patients and the other members of the community are also among the stakeholders, the information findings should be able to effectively reach them. This may be by uploading a soft copy if the findings on the institution’s website which is open to the general public and further having a printout or a hard copy which will be available in the institution’s waiting area. This hard copy may further be available in the community center (Research Utilization Support and Help, 2001). With this information out to the general public, the members of the public may this be encouraged to enroll into the nursing programs or enrolling their children.
Lastly, this information may be able to reach the member of the public by the hospitals and institutions having in place programs such as seminars and workshops which will help them in enabling them to clarify various myths about the nursing profession and further having the platform of disseminating the research findings to the general public (Miabach, Duyn and Bloodgood 2006).
Literature Review
American Medical Association (2013), Nursing Shortage: The Shortage Isn’t Stopping soon. Journal of the American Medical Association. 13-33
This research was carried out by the members of the American Medical Association was carried out with the aim of proving that the number of nurses in the hospitals is crucially decreasing and with this decrease, the level of care for the patients in the institutions is constantly declining. From the research it was clear that due to the shortage in the number of patients, the staff will always be overworked increasing the fatigue levels of the staff members. With this increase in fatigue, the members of the staff tend to lack the motivation to effectively perform their duties.
Further, the research showed that the nurses are unable to better their performance in terms of more training and workshops. This is mainly to the fact that the members of the staff will always be busy attending to the patients and with they will lack time to go for the training sessions and will in turn lead to them not improving how they tend to the patients (Janiszewski, 2003).
Lastly, for the research it was clear that the shortage of the nurses is a problem that seems to an issue for a long time. This is attributed to the fact that the learning institutions tend not to have the various strategies that may combat the issue of increase in the number of students who enroll in their institutions. Further, the government seems to lack measures which would help encourage the students to enroll into the institutions. This may be seen from the fact that in order to be allowed to take the course, one is not only required to be ready to pay a huge sum of money as the tuition fees, but also to be enrolled, the requirements are and criteria are not favorable to everyone interested in the course hence locking many individuals from taking into the course even if they were interested in it (Buchan, 2008)
Conclusion
In conclusion, the issue of the shortage of nurses in the medical institutions is a factor that must be tackled in order to better how the patients are cared for when they visit the hospitals. Further, the shortage in the number of nurses in the institutions leads to the nurses being overworked and this overworking leads to a decrease in the motivation levels of the nurses.
References
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