respond to the following discussion post as a peer. use at least 1 reference and a 150-200 word count .
Nurses are a vital part of the health care system and make up the largest section of the health care profession. According to World Health Statistic Report, there are about 3.9 million nurses and midwives in the United States and 39 globally. That will 1 million nurses needed by 2020 additionally or more as nurses quit the profession or retire. According to The American Nurses Association (ANA), more registered nurse jobs will be available through 2022 than any other profession in the United States. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 11 million additional nurses are needed to avoid a deeper shortage and nursing opportunities are projected to grow at a faster rate than any other occupation. (Haddad, L. 2020)
The nursing profession has a shortage due to lack of potential educators, high turnover and inequitable workforce distribution. There are many issues with relation to the nursing shortage:
- Aging Population-Baby boomer’s entering the age of increased need for health services
- Aging Work Force-There are approximately one million nurses over the age of 50
- Nurse Burnout-New nurse grads start working and then determine the profession is not what they thought and leave the profession
- Violence in the Work Place-This plays a major role in the nursing shortage, with the present threat of emotional and physical abuse adding to an already stressful work environment. 8%-38% of nurses experience some type of abuse in their career.
- Staffing Ratio-When staffing is short, ratios go up to meet the patient’s need.
My best friend is a RN and she has been a Pediatric Nurse for over 20 years at St. Francis Medical Center. A few years ago the Medical Center was bought by Dignity Health and became a private hospital. Dignity Health terminated all the nurses and told them they had to reapply for their job. My friend told he they offered her half the salary she was previously making to come back to work with the Medical Center. She quit and now does Home Health and Real Estate. When we have private, for profit corporations come in and rewrite policies and salaries for nurses with not respect for the job they do and the care they give, why would there not be a nursing shortage? I totally agree nurses have so much to deal with and with COVID-19, nurses are the heroes and continued to care for the people that were suffering with the this illness, while jeopardizing their own health.
Reference
Haddad, L., Annamaraju, P., Toney-Butler, T. (2020) Nursing Shortage Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493175/
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