Decreased Staffing Of Nurses
Decreased Staffing Of Nurses
Due to the decreased staffing of nurses, because of high turnover of nurses and retirement, it is becoming more difficult for current active nurses to affectively provide quality patient care to their patients.
With a drop in disease control caused by insufficient staffing within hospitals, the inability for patients to receive proper treatment has become difficult as exposure to these infectious diseases has risen from 50% to approximately 200% due to possible needle stick injuries and near-misses.
As a result of low staffing and an increased patient ratio , for each patient that is added to the nurses current high workload, nursing burnout rose by 23% and job dissatisfaction rose by 15% for each nurse on staff which led to increased turnover of nursing staff..
If nurses are required to service more patients due to a lack of staffed nurses it has been shown to increase infection rates in hospitals (Cimiotti, Aiken, Sloane, & Wu, 2012).
In addition, 88% of nurses have reported safety concerns with 75% observing A decrease in patient care due to work stress, overworking, and concerns about health with over 60% fearing back injuries, and 45% fearing HIV or hepatitis due to needle sticks. Also it has been found that workgroup learning was lower with hospitals where turnover rates were between 3.3% and 4.5% compared to hospitals with 0% turnover as an organization (Bae, Mark, & Fried, 2009).
This is due to an increased amount of time spent with an increased patient load because of the high turnover and retirement of ageing nurses. The nurses surveyed about the increasing shortage of nurses available to serve patients 98% stated an increased stress on their nursing career, 93% an impending lowering of quality care towards patients, and 93% mentioned it as a reason to leave the profession (Buerhaus, et al., 2007).
These near-misses occur an estimated 400,000 to 600,000 times annually nationwide, due to amplified fatigue because of an increased patient load.
5
Lack Of Experience
While many nurses positions are open the inability for healthcare providers to hire qualified nurses has become a growing issue.
Due to the recession, healthcare organizations are seeking nurses with higher qualifications since there are fewer nurses who have the years of experience required by the healthcare organizations.
In 2011, 36% of the new nurses who had graduated were still unemployed for months after they graduated.
The major job requirement that has withheld many potential applicants to apply for open nurses positions are the words, “no new graduates” (Kurtz, 2013).
This is because these organizations do not want to spend extra funds on training of new nurses (Staiger, Auerbach, & Buerhaus, 2012)
80% of healthcare organizations hired nurses with experience instead of new graduates. This problem was more felt in California as 47% of all new nursing degree graduates within the state remained unemployed, while 51% of the part-time nurses were working were absorbed into full-time positions (Jannetti, 2011)