The Impact of the Nursing Shortage Analytical Essay by Top Papers

The paper asserts that one of the most significant issues affecting nursing practice today is the shortage of nurses ("Nursing Shortage", 2008, sec. 1). The paper discusses how nursing shortages affect the nurse to patient ratio at facilities throughout the globe. The paper explains that when there is a high nurse to patient ratio the nurse is tasked with delivering quality care to all patients assigned and the more patients that are depending on the nurse for care, the harder this becomes. The paper discusses how this is because the nurse may have difficulty in treating two patients with severe illness, injury or disease at the same time, or administering life saving procedures to more than one patient in a given time period. The paper asserts that this creates a situation in which some patients suffer needlessly, do not have their needs met and/or may be faced with fatal consequences.