The nursing sector is the backbone of the healthcare industry. Apart from the doctors, nurses are the ones who act on the frontline in the healthcare settings.
From assisting the doctors to taking care of every patient’s need, nurses play a critical role in saving the day. They both work hand in hand to bring the skills and the knowledge to the forefront.
Can you imagine a hospital operating without nurses? Even the notion of this seems impossible, right? However, the world has been facing a shortage of nurses, especially after the onset of the pandemic.
The shortage of nurses is due to the disequilibrium in their demand and supply. The need for nurses in the healthcare system has exceeded the available workforce.
The resulting situation can be grave, where the patients would suffer the most. To mitigate the hazards, it is essential to first look into the factors that have led to these events. Here are some of the causes of nurse shortage in healthcare settings.
1. Insufficient Number of Nurse Educators
To fulfill the demand of the nursing sector, it is of prime importance to increase the number of nurse graduates capable of filling in the shoes of retired nurses.
However, the shortage of teaching faculty forces the educational institutes to limit the student capacity of different programs. It further aggravates the shortage of nurses, especially in certain areas.
The Nursing Sector Department of Health and Human Services of the US estimates that by 2030 several states of America, like Texas, will be in dire need of nurses due to its swelling population.
To counter this, the RN to BSN Programs increase in Texas and other states is an important step to halt the shortage all over the US. Many universities all over the world offer online programs to address this issue. The BSN program would allow nurses to hone their skills for taking up leadership roles.
2. The Aging Population
The majority of the population in the US today has reached the threshold of old age. This generation is also known as the baby boomer generation, born in the years immediately after World War II.
The Nursing Sector birth rate during that time had been higher than the average, and therefore, the number of people reaching old age now is also very high.
Old age is not without its fair share of adversaries, and ill health is one of them. It means an increased burden and stress on the healthcare systems, with the specific load on the nursing profession as nurses have to attend to every bed around the clock.
The healthcare settings will have to incorporate these changes in the medical field and respond accordingly.
3. Workforce Reaching the Retirement Age
The aging population does not only result in a high patient turnaround but also in an increased number of retiring nurses. It means that more nurse graduates are needed to fill in the gaps.
However, Nursing Sector it is somewhat of a challenge due to the limited number of nurse educators in the teaching programs. Apart from that, the surge of Covid-19 has also fueled the fire of the nurse shortage.
When the pandemic commenced, many nurses were given early retirements due to the economic recession. It is because people had limited access to medical facilities in the pandemic.
They tried to avoid hospitals and opted out of elective surgeries. As a result, the income of the hospitals plunged. To overcome this problem, hospitals issued retirements to many nurses.
These early retirements, along with a wave of upcoming ones, can result in a downfall of the supply of Nursing Sector.
4. Nurses’ Burnout
As the load to provide medical facilities has increased on the shoulders of the nurses, their physical and emotional burnout rates have hiked up accordingly. Nursing is not only physically tiring but can be emotionally exhausting as well.
A nurse has to deal with death and disease now and then. Especially in the pandemic, where tragedy loomed in the corridors of the hospitals, dealing with death so often could be emotionally draining.
In addition to that, the ever-piling workload due to the shortage of nurses did not help the situation. It has resulted in the high turnover rates of nurses, where they are not comfortable in continuing the job.
5. Lack of Experience:
Nursing Sector- Nursing is not a child’s play. It requires thorough training and a polished set of skills to carry out the job. Especially the ever-evolving technologies of the medical sector necessitates healthcare professionals to be nothing short of experts.
With the efflux of retiring nurses, there would be a huge gap that would have to be filled in by the nurse graduates. Some emergencies need the first-hand experience to tackle them successfully since there is no margin of error.
The training of nurses to prep them for such situations is a long process. Therefore, the demand for experienced nurses does not meet with the supply.
6. Balancing Family Life:
Nursing Sector- Females predominantly occupy the nursing profession who are mostly young at the start of their career. They marry soon or might be in their child-bearing years.
Some return, while others do not, resulting in an unstable and unpredictable demand of nurses on and off.
7. Uneven Distribution of the Nurses in Different Geographical Areas
Nursing Sector- The shortage of nurses might be prevalent in some areas, while others may even have a surplus supply. The reason is the uneven distribution of nurses, which depends upon the accessibility of the area and facilities.
The rural areas face more shortages of nurses than the urban ones. It might be because of fewer opportunities for education in these areas or the nurses not willing to work in remote areas.
Conclusion
The flourishment of the nursing sector is mandatory if a healthcare setting aims to see the heights of glory. It is important to untangle the issues timely to equalize the demand and supply of the nursing sector.
So, if you are a youngster looking for Nursing Sector career options, you might not want to ignore this one, as its demand is most likely to sky-rocket soon. Or, if you are already a nurse, consider upgrading your degree and skills and play your part in mitigating this issue.