Buy essay on Economic aspect of the problem of nurse shortage

The major economic cause of this problem is attempts of saving the healthcare budget. As a result, government cuts the number of qualified professionals and instead substitutes it with poorly qualified staff. Unfortunately, this practice badly influences professional nurses who tend to exit their occupation nowadays. Subsequently, health care institutions face a number of problems, for instance unsatisfactory work environment, not mentioning the increased number of appeals received from the patients.
The aspect of nursing education
This is a complex aspect. First of all, I should mention that nurse is a great profession, because they are always are needed by healthcare organizations. But nowadays many professional nurses evolve from the nurse background to other roles in medicine, like ambulatory care, education, and others.
Women in the nurse profession
Besides, we gave to keep in mind the nurses are mostly a women and woman’s position is society is changing constantly. They may choose from the various career paths, many of which were not acceptable for them before. Women want to earn more these days and it means that the profession of nurse is not suitable for them anymore.
There is also a problem of the work schedule in the health care institutions. The schedules are not suitable for many people, because long work shifts mean that a woman will spend less time with her family.
More desirable work schedules are available in business and computer fields, and in many instances, those roles provide opportunities to earn more and to advance more rapidly.
The aspect of aging professionals
Unfortunately, due to decrease in popularity of this profession, the qualified nurses are aging and it is known that “the average age of the American nurse has advanced from 42 to nearly 46 in just a few short years.” I would like to add that the older the person gets the more he/she is in search of life/work balance, and that is quite incompatible with working long shift in hospital. According to the forecast, there will be much fewer available nurses in the next years. The question “who will replace the aging generation of the nurses” is critical for the health care system.
Work conditions
The researches demonstrate that in general nurses are not satisfied in their jobs and especially in the work environment.
Recent studies suggest that nurses are not satisfied in their jobs. About 30 percent of nurses say they are dissatisfied in their current position, according to the 2000 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. This is higher than levels seen in other kinds of jobs. Nurses working in hospitals and nursing homes have an even lower job satisfaction than all nurses. (Lee, 2002, p.31)
Current trends of supply and demand in nursing specialists
Taking into account the economic aspects mentioned above, it is no surprise that more nurses that exit this profession than those who decide to enter it.
As a result, I can make a conclusion that the US and many other countries will face disastrous situation with the nurse supply in the nearest future.
Nursing shortage predictions claim figures ranging from a low of 100,000 to a high of 1,000,000 full-time positions going unfilled by 2015, depending on the researcher and the methodology used. (Lee, 2002, p. 29)
Regulation and legislative aspects
The regulations of the health care system should be improved. The barriers that prohibit hospitals from investing in patient care should be removed and only after that legislators should consider the ratios of nurses to patients. The major issue that legislators should concentrate on is a proper and substantial funding of health care organizations.
The majority of legislative initiatives that are made in order to decrease the nursing shortage level include various scholarships, loan programs, increased salaries, and financial incentives. (Blakeney, 2003, p. 16)
There is a very positive regulative initiative that was accepted by the few states, for example by Maryland. It claims that hospitals are not allowed to require nurses to work overtime.
Policies like mandatory overtime turn young people who are considering having a family away from the nursing profession. (Lee, 2002, p.31)
Besides it, Maryland has also joined 12 other states in passing so-called whistleblower protection legislation. Whistleblower laws prevent hospitals from retaliating against nurses who report illegal, unethical or incompetent practices. (Lee, 2002, p.31)
According to the article “Today’s Nursing Shortage”, there are some other useful regulative options that a healthcare management needs to concentrate on:
The transformation of the workplace will ensure nurses receive support and comfort work conditions they require.