Benefits and Negative Aspects of the Nursing Shortage

Nursing Shortage’s Essence and Drivers

Many researchers admit that it is a very difficult task to give one certain definition of the nursing shortage as it is usually defined in relation to a particular country’s staff level, available resources, and demand for healthcare services (Littlejohn, Campbell, Collins-McNeil, & Khayile, 2012). In a broad meaning, shortage in nursing is a condition when the demand for nurses is higher than the supply. Hospitals or other facilities just cannot find the required number of professional nurses to complete their duties and provide patients and doctors with the necessary services and assistance. Though many people still believe that a profession of a nurse is not significant and has to be considered as an emerging type of work only, it is hard to imagine a hospital without a nurse. Nowadays, public opinion plays a significant role, and more people do not want to regard nursing as their future career. Unfortunately, it is not the only driver of the nursing shortage that influences the sphere of nursing and medicine overall. Investigations prove that the nursing shortage may be explained by the too high expectations from education, the importance of job satisfaction and the insurance about the choice made, fears about the unstable economic situation and the stresses (Turner, 2007) and the existing nursing turnover that makes nurses put their job decisions under a question (Littlejohn et al., 2012). Though all these problems and doubts do take place in nursing, the concept of shortage needs to be solved and improved. Healthcare is not complete and effective if the nursing shortage and turnover continue to grow.

Importance of Education

Nowadays, people, who want to be a part of the nursing sphere, should have access to education in regards to their skills, abilities, and rights. It is not only necessary to pass through some entrance exams. It is more important to believe in the importance of education and the chances that become available for future nurses. The nursing shortage and education are the two closely connected concepts: the way how nursing is taught defines the way how nurses can work. For example, Toh, Ang, and Devi (2012) explain that “with regard to levels of educational qualification, oncology nurses with higher qualifications were more inclined to express their desire to leave the specialty or profession compared to a diploma or degree holders” (p. 133).

In fact, the connection between education and the nursing shortage is of double nature. On the one hand, the nursing shortage may be explained by people’s inabilities to get a good portion of nursing education any place they want and be provided with further employment. On the other hand, nurses with higher education are not ready to spend much time in the same position. Many nurses prefer to become doctors and change their working places. The result is evident – the nursing shortage is developing. Therefore, the nursing shortage problem is hard to change as soon as the problem of poor education is solved, the inability to make nurses stay takes place. Certain improvements should be made in the sphere of nursing management to prove that a profession of a nurse is respected, appreciated, and paid accordingly. It is not very difficult to promote changes in nursing and try to decrease the level of nursing taking considerable steps and combining theory and practice at the same time.

Job Satisfaction

The nursing shortage is also predetermined by the level of job satisfaction. In case nurses are not satisfied with the working conditions and salary and suffer from stresses and a kind of burnout, they are eager to change work (Littlejohn et al., 2012). This leads to a shortage in nursing. However, it is not the final outcome produced by job dissatisfaction. Nurses are eager to share their experiences by a variety of means. For example, people can find more information about the real-life nursing experience via the Internet (specialized forums and charts) and from newspapers. Job dissatisfaction is considered to be a real problem in many hospitals. In addition to the fact that the nursing shortage is explained by this kind of dissatisfaction, it may be also promoted by people’s unwillingness to have the same bad experience. It is not enough to improve working conditions for nurses. It is also necessary to consider the quality of information about nursing offered via different sources. People should know more about the benefits of nursing, learn how important nursing is for healthcare, and understands that healthcare services cannot be of a high quality in case nurses are not able to perform their roles properly. The nursing shortage may be decreased in case nurses are satisfied with their work and are also able to share their experience and importance in a complicated system of healthcare