The Problem Of The Nursing Shortage - 1644 Words

We have all been there. As you clock into work you take a sneak peak at the assignment board for the shift before you. It looks like they had a rough shift, six discharges and eight admits. You shrug it off as you walk into the break room to put your belongings in your locker and ready yourself for your own experience. As you turn to sit at the table to get your assignment you are greeted with a tight smile from your charge nurse who then informs you that everyone has to take seven patients as there is simply not enough staff scheduled for that evening. Problem Across the country the nursing shortage continues to place an almost impossible burden upon those who are in the industry. This shortage causes nurses to take an unsafe amount†¦show more content†¦When diligence is lost mistakes tend to happen that lead to increased risks to patient safety. After a while of dealing with the fatigue most nurses either end up leaving the field or leaving the hospital they are currently employed at in favor of another hospital that boasts smaller patient-to-staff ratios. When nurses leave a hospital it can take several weeks to months to replace said workers, which in turn creates more of a staffing ratio problem. It is a viscous cycle. Theoretical Framework. Jean Watson’s (2003) caring theory states that while medicine cures illness full health cannot be achieved without a caring atmosphere. She believes that caring is the foundation of nursing and implies that nurses need to be open to working with patients in order to assist them to attain optimal health. Watson’s premise is that caring assists patients to gain control of their situation through education and promotion of healthy lifestyle changes. The concern here is we have an overworked nursing population waiting for newer nurses to arrive and provide the much needed assistance in caring for our full hospital floors. The longer the wait the more difficult it becomes to bring forth the nurturing aspect that the nursing field is known for. Literature Review and Summary of Evidence. Needleman, Buerhaus, Mattke, Stewart, and Zelevinsky (2002) published an article with studies that show a direct correlation between staffing and patient