Nursing Shortage

"A conservative cost estimate to replace one RN including advertising, recruitment, temporary replacement and orientation costs is $37,000 Julie Mikhail-MSN, MBA, RN." Everyone from young to old should listen closely about the reasons causing this nursing shortage because we all get or seek medical attention sooner or later for many different reasons and this particular topic affects people not only locally but globally. While the nursing shortage continues to rise rapidly, the amount of care is being severely decreased and non-efficient, this is why it has becomes a public problem. It may not affect everyone right away but it is important to keep updated on this shortage because it may affect you quicker than you think. The 3 main reasons for this shortage is because the nursing workforce is getting much older, nurses are not satisfied with their jobs/work and lastly the number of nursing school enrollments as well as graduates is severely decreasing, which directly contributes to the number of the nursing school faculty that is also diminishing.

Now that I have introduced this idea of a nursing shortage, lets scrub up and see how age is not just a number but also a factor. "Approximately one third of the nursing workforce is over 50 years of age and the average age of full time nursing faculty is 49 years. A study published in the July 2000, in an issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) predicts that 40% of nurses by 2010 will be 50 years old or older."

(Burehaus, 2000). The baby boomers all fit into this category and that is why we have so many people that are going to retire and get older, which then would require them to seek frequent medical attention because of their old age. This adds to our nursing shortage because we will be losing all of those baby boomers.

In talking about the olden days lets jump into the present and see why these baby boomers and fresh new nurses are dissatisfied with their jobs. "According to the Department of Health and Human Service, slightly more than two-thirds of registered nurses (69.5%) reported being "moderately satisfied" with their jobs." (Lafer, University of Oregon May 2003). If nurses are not really satisfied with their jobs then they are not going to perform well. Which means they will not take as much initiative towards helping their patients. "By contrast, 85% of workers in other industries and 90% of professional workers are satisfied with their jobs." (Lafer, University of Oregon May 2003). By comparing the figures it is evident as to why nurses want to leave their jobs. They can go out to look for a job that is less stressful and less demanding. Maybe offering compensation to the nurses to show gratitude would be a great idea for their motivation.

Now that we have talked about why nurses are unsatisfied with their jobs today, lets take a look at why nursing schools today cannot keep their students in the classroom. "U.S nursing schools turned away 32,797 qualified