The healthcare industry is facing numerous issues, and one of the problems that concern me most is the nursing shortage and nursing turnover. These are issues that have a significant impact on the quality of healthcare provision, and if left unsolved, they can create several problems that can hamper the normal operation of the healthcare system. The nursing shortage is primarily a state where the need for registered nurses exceeds the level at various healthcare centers. The problem of nursing turnover has also affected several healthcare institutions across the country. It has affected the performance as well as the profitability of healthcare organizations. It is essential to note that healthcare organizations require a high-qualified, committed and stable nursing force to provide a high quality of patient care. It usually is very costly to lose a single nurse and to replace the same nurse can cost as much as twice the annual wages of the nurse. Due to the problems of nursing shortage and nursing turnover, several associated healthcare issues have been reported, and these include low quality of patient care, lack of patient care, increase in compensation of staff cost, and even increased absenteeism (Hunt, 2009). This report is focused on understanding the facts behind the causes of nursing turnover in America, its impacts on the healthcare industry, and ways through which it can be reduced.

The issue of the nursing shortage and nursing turnover is an issue that exists in many of the healthcare organization within the U.S. Nurses plays a significant role in healthcare delivery, and their shortage or turnover comes with various effects including financial feasibility and poor quality of care to patients. Healthcare organizations are continuously having the challenge of keeping and attracting enough qualified nurses required to ensure that a patient-centered approach to care delivery is achieved (Hunt, 2009). The issue of the nursing shortage is real and is fundamentally different from what has been previously experienced. The shortage of nurses is seen from the increasing presence of few nurses entering the nursing force even though the number of patients is bigger. The supply of qualified and well-trained nurses does not meet the needs of the increasing population of people, and this issue may continue for a while.

Nursing turnover has been a great issue that affects the performance as well as the profitability of most healthcare organizations in the United States. As earlier mentioned, healthcare organizations require a workforce that is stable, wholly committed and highly qualified staff which can give high levels of care to the patients. To lose a single nurse is something that may require much more to replace. When organizations lose some of their qualified and most talented nurses, their bottom line is affected.

Many of the healthcare organizations in the United States today are crying foul of the increasing number of nurse turnover. As a result of this, the organizations have experienced low or decreased quality of patient care, increasing the cost of staffing, and increasing the compensation of staff cost, as well as absenteeism and accident costs (Hunt, 2009). To understand the reason behind the high rate of nurse turnover, it is essential to comprehend why the nurses decide to work for other healthcare organizations.

Nurse turnover is an issue that is caused by several aspects of the healthcare sector. As nursing is progressively being considered as one the fastest expanding professions in the United States, the shockingly high rate of nurse turnover from 34.7 to 42.6% indicates that the fundamental nature of the job causes so many stressors in the lives of nurses (Nevidjon& Erickson, 2001). It is important to note that nurses are usually the patient’s first lines of defense hence are essential for their recovery, treatment as well as care. Understanding the sources of dissatisfaction is key to understanding how we can reduce this problem.

Several authors have written about the issue of the nursing shortage and nursing turnover. According to Rosseter (2014), the nursing field, generally considered as a specialist field, is expected to undergo a big boom in the years to come. Registered nurses are regarded as among the most prominent occupations in the United States. Rosseter (2014) argues that the number of registered nurses will increase by around 19%. Even though it has been shown that there would be growth in employment opportunities in the sector of nursing, the significant lack of nursing practitioners is expected to create several issues in the delivery of patient care.

The United States is expected to face a deficiency of registered nurses in the future. This is mainly due to the Baby Boomers generation’s need to have healthcare attention. Nevidjon and Erickson (2001) say that a large number of American schools are trying to expand their potential of meeting the increasing needs for care provision considering the healthcare reform being undertaken.

Based on my perspective, it is no doubt that the issues of nursing shortage and nursing turnover are very crucial issues that need to be addressed. Nursing turnover is usually caused by factors that include overwork of the nurses, poor working conditions, poor collaboration and trust existing among the nursing force as well as lack of or poor career development opportunities. I believe it is the responsibility of the leadership of healthcare organizations to take active measures to implement policies that will ensure that this sector maintains its image and vision; otherwise, the future of nursing will be put in a very dangerous condition. I fundamentally believe that concrete measures must be taken to address this issue through proper leadership.

Newly certified nurses, mainly, tend to feel a greater doubt of their capability to care for patients adequately. As a result, they quickly become overwhelmed by the difficulty of patient care. They are accountable for clinical protocols and knowledge, and usually, a nurse will intermingle with more than 35 distinct technology types in a regular shift. Healthcare organizations need to put up in-hospital residency programs that can help solve the problem of housing for the nurses.

Management has the responsibility for organizing, planning and coordinating activities in the healthcare organization. Leadership must also up their game within the healthcare sector. To help reduce the problem of nurse shortage, it is essential for leaders to inspire potential nurses to practice nursing and help curb the increasing problem of nursing shortage. The nursing profession should be made to look attractive and compelling. At the same time, nurses should be given good working environments with excellent benefits and compensations and also encourage career development activities to improve the skills in delivery care to the patients.

As indicated earlier, it is essential to provide better support to schedule shifts to ensure that the obligation for patients is equally shared among the nurses. Through feedback tools, the level of patient care needed for each patient can be assessed. Additionally, offering excellent compensation, benefits, as well as in-house residency programs, can help retain the nurses touched by the level of severity of their profession and ensure that they do not quit the industry. Most importantly, continuous education and programs for career advancement will ensure that nurses remain engaged.

While concluding, it is noted with great concern that the issue of the nursing shortage and nursing turnover is increasingly menacing in the healthcare sector. The number of registered nurses is primarily below the number of patients of patients that require medical attention. As a result, one nurse may have a heavy work of attending to so many patients in a day. The workload is not good for quality healthcare provision because the nurses are overworked. Nursing turnover still characterizes many of the healthcare organizations, and these issues must be addressed with immediately to ensure quality delivery of care. Improving nurse shortage and nurse retention not only helps nurses but also impacts positively on patient care, improves the bottom line for a healthcare institution, and family and patient satisfaction.

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