Nursing Shortage

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the severe nursing shortage seen in many developed countries. The paper reveals that the shortage has contributed to the decline in the quality of care delivered by health systems, which puts patients at greater risk for developing pneumonia, urinary tract infections, shock, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, sepsis or deep venous thrombosis. The paper also looks at several solutions that have been implemented, such as recruiting nurses from developing countries. The paper asserts that current solutions cannot solve the issue unless the root of the nursing shortage is addressed. The paper concludes with personal feelings on the issue.

From the Paper:

"It is undeniable that the shortage of nurses is an increasingly alarming problem that is felt all over the world. In the United States, an estimated 126,000 nursing positions remain to be filled in US hospitals (Chaguturu & Vallabhaneni, 2005). The US government has gone as far as predicting that nursing vacancies in hospitals may even reach as much as 29% by 2020 (Stanton, 2004). Our European counterparts have not been spared by this trend. The Royal College of Nursing in UK suggests that the number of vacancies for both registered nurses and midwives is as close to 22,000 (Finlayson, Dixon, Meadows & Blair, 2002). Other developed countries such as Australia and Canada are also suffering from this crisis (Zajac, 2003)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brooks, P.M., Lapsley, H.M. & Butt, D.B. (2003). "Medical workforce issues in Australia: Tomorrow's doctors - Too few, too far." MJA, 179(4): 206-208.
• Byrne, G., Brady, A., Horan, P., Macgregor, C. & Begley, C. (2007). "Assessment of dependency levels of older people in the community and measurement of nursing workload." Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60(1): 39-49.
• Chaguturu, S. & Vallabhaneni, S. (2005). "Aiding and abetting - nursing crises at home and abroad." New England Journal of Medicine, 353(17): 1761-1763.
• Finlayson, B., Dixon, J., Meadows, S. & Blair, G. (2002). "Mind the gap: The extend of the NHS nursing shortage." BMJ, 325: 538-541.
• Lee, T., Ko, I. & Jeong, S. (2004). "Is an expanded nurse role economically viable?" Nursing and Health Care Management and Policy, 46(5): 471-479.

More papers on Nursing Shortage:

• Analytical Essay # 142071 : "The Impact of the Nursing Shortage"
• Analytical Essay # 130386 : "Approaches to the Nursing Shortage"
• Article Review # 142462 : "The Nursing Shortage: A New Perspective on a Persistent Issue"
• Analytical Essay # 132709 : "Nursing Shortage in the United States"

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