Renfrey Memorial Hospital Introduction While the US has more nurses and physicians than ever before, upcoming retirements and a dysfunctional workplace are creating clinical shortages that can become more severe than the industry can bear (Woods, D. 2009). According to research, half of all nurses working today were born during the baby-boomer years. Therefore, the workforce is aging at a rapid rate. As such, in efforts to prevent a mass exodus from the profession, healthcare organizations leaders are exploring innovative ways to keep experienced nurses (Larson, J, 2009). The average age of registered nurses has risen from 41 in 2002 to 48 in 2006(Bolton-Burnes L. 2007). Even more troubling, in 2006, 45% of hospital-employed RNs …show more content…
This approach did not address the serious issue of the knowledge and skill base of older nurses, Hospitals and health care organizations quickly concluded that while it is essential to recruit new people into nursing, it is as crucial to retain older, more experienced nurses in the workforce.. The endeavor of this proposal is to explore ways to facilitate nurses in dealing with demands while passing on the benefit of their expertise to younger colleagues. A detailed account has been provided of the most important factors and outlined strategies or measures that could be engaged to keep both beginner and expert nurses from leaving the hospital setting. Findings from the research proposal can assist healthcare administrators in drawing and retaining nurses in hospital settings. Retaining the highest quality and adequate quantity of nurses is the assurance of a successful organization (Runy, 2006). The approach employed includes surveys and observations from other healthcare settings. Several healthcare institutions have outlined characteristics of successful recruitment and retention programs. Some of these program strategies are: sustained leadership commitment culture centered on employees and patients with other organizations to address workforce strategies, partnerships broaden the base to attract a
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2009). New Study Identifies Strategies to Retain Experienced Nurses As Nursing Shortage Looms and Nation's Health Care Needs Grow. In Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/2009/07/new-study-identifies-strategies-to-retain-experienced-nurses-as-.html
Registered nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system, and make up the largest number of healthcare professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) “The employment rate for registered nurses is expected to grow by 16% between 2014 and 2024”. This is more than double the average rate of growth for a profession. The rapid growth rate can be attributed in part to better management of chronic diseases and the baby boomer generation. The growth in the nursing profession is paramount, however the demographics of the nursing population does not mirror the demographics of the population served.
The Institute of Medicine’s 2010 report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health acknowledges the changing healthcare sector in the US and describes future vision of healthcare and the role of nurses to fulfill that vision. The United States always strives to provide affordable and quality healthcare to the entire population of the country. In order to achieve this goal an overall restructuring of the healthcare system was necessitated. Nurses are considered to be the central part of the healthcare system to provide high quality and safe patient care. Nursing in the US is the single largest segment of the healthcare workforce with almost 3 million nurses working in different areas across the county. The changing
The national shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) has helped generate formidable interest in the nursing profession among people entering the workforce and those pursuing a career change. According to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service in 2002, the national population is continuing to grow and age and medical services continue to advance, so the need for nurses will continue to increase. They report from 2000 to 2020 the predicted shortage of nurses is expected to grow to 29 percent, compared to a 6 percent shortage in 2000. With the projected supply, demand, and shortage of registered nurses and nursing salaries ever-increasing, the nursing profession can offer countless opportunities. But first one must
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS) estimates the need for 439,300 registered nurses (RN) from 2014 to 2024, equating to a 16% increase in employment opportunities (USBLS, 2015). Approximately 30% of new RNs leave their first jobs with less than a year of hire and 525,000 nurses are expected to retire from 2012 to 2022- a demand totaled to around 1 million jobs by 2022. This increase is attributed to retiring baby boomers, turnovers, healthcare reform, and the increasing aging population (Kiel, 2012; USBLS, 2013). Control over the retirement of baby boomers is unrealistic, however, nursing turnover can be regulated.
An identified area in which healthcare managers are failing consistent effectiveness is in the retention of their nursing staff. With the need of nurses shaping the way many healthcare managers look at their staff, often it is the veteran nurse persuaded in staying. While in some settings this is truly beneficial, in others the cliché of nurses eating their young instills fear into new graduates; this fear and the lack of support ultimately leads to their exit (Rush, Adamack, Gordon, & Janke, 2014). With the associated costs of nursing attrition meeting rates of nearly $186,000 per registered nurse, it is imperative we institute nursing residency programs immediately and continually retaining staff and protecting healthcare institutions’ sustainability (Cubit, K.A. & Ryan, B., 2011; Lee, Tzeng, Lin, & Yeh, 2009).
The national nursing shortage is an ever-growing concern and it is essential for health care organizations to confront the looming issue. Possible solutions to the nursing shortage include retaining older nurses who are looking to retire, increasing the amount of students graduating from nursing schools, and drawing nurses who have left the nursing workforce back to the bedside (Hatcher, 2006). Leaders must assess the nursing turnover in their organization and strategize on ways to retain those nurses. Organizations must implement techniques to retain older nurses to help combat the national nursing shortage and prevent a national healthcare disaster (Keller & Burns, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to identify the demographic breakdown of an organization, explain how the organization’s environment is conducive and non-conducive to older workers, and describe tactics to retain older workers.
The aging nursing workforce has become a worldwide crisis for many countries. The average age of an employed nurse in the United States was 47 years old. More than one-third of the nursing workforce is aged between 50 and 64 years old. While recruiting new graduates is essential to any healthcare systems retaining older nurses and extending out their retirement projections is essential to staff a hospital’s current needs. (Sherman,
It is likely that most people have heard about the nursing shortage for years now, and perhaps they believe it’s been fixed. However, the nursing profession is experiencing a reoccurring deficiency. According to Brian Hansen, (2002), there was a nation wide shortage in 2001 of 126,000 full-time registered nurses, but the shortage will surge to 808,000 by 2020 if something isn't done. This pattern is a persisting cycle of high vacancies followed by layoffs and a high over supply of registered nurses. Various factors contribute to the lack of nurses within the health care facilities, but today’s shortages are a little different. Many feel that this scarcity is severe and long-drawn-out. The four major issues contributing to
The growing number of the elderly patient has a direct impact on nursing practice. The issue of” baby boomers” having an increased life expectancy may have jobs security for the nurses in future as evidenced by multiple improvements in cardiac surgery in older population. The aging of the baby boomers is expected to produce a plethora of new nursing jobs, which could lead to higher wages, greater job security, and greater variety in types of work (Page, 2015).
New waves of reform made by politicians are leading to change of the health care landscape. Overworked physicians and underserved rural areas have received national attention. The federal government is now aiding this issue by providing incentives to health care professionals for shortage prevention, as proposed in The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The amount of nurses leaving the bedside to pursue higher degrees is increasing and the nursing shortage easement has made it possible. “The
With the ongoing changes in the healthcare field, nursing workforce retention presents itself as one of the greatest challenges facing healthcare systems today. According to the American Nursing Association, nursing turnover is a multi-faceted issue which impacts the financial stability of the facility, the quality of patient care and has a direct affect on the other members of the nursing staff (ANA, 2014). The cost to replace a nurse in a healthcare facility ranges between $62,100 to $67,100 (ANA, 2014). The rising problem with nursing retention will intensify the nursing shortage, which has been projected to affect the entire nation, not just isolated areas of the country, gradually increasing in its scope from 2009 to 2030 (Rosseter,
One of the most significant changes in our population in the past 150 years is the fact that the average life expectancy has doubled going from on average 35 or 40 years to almost 80 years. With the introduction of vaccination programs in recent years which have all but eradicated diseases such as Small Pox this together with the increase in knowledge in medicine and the use of life saving treatments that have become common place are some of the factors that have attributed to the growth and longevity of the Unites States population. The problem of the nursing shortage is not a new one for the United states but it has become a major problem in recent years and an immediate solution does not seem to be anywhere on the horizon. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.2 million vacancies will emerge for registered nurses between 2014 and 2022.* By 2025, the shortfall is expected to be “more than twice as large as any nurse shortage experienced since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s,” a team of Vanderbilt University nursing researchers wrote in a 2009 paper on the
In summary, Registered Nurses are currently the largest field in health care profession. Sadly, it is estimated that there will be a need for 3.44 million nurses in the United States. The number of nurses is dropping because the majority population of nurses are quitting and being diagnosed with mild to severe chronic diseases. Nurses are not getting the amount of respect that is demanded and starts to pile one’s self with work. Which means nurses work non-stop to tend to patients needs along with all the paper work and attitudes. Furthermore, the nursing shortage has a huge impact on patients care and safety. For the gap between working nurses and retired nursing to be filled nursing student should be recruited to more hospital worldwide.
“The setting was four hospitals within the Midwest of the United. Sampling characteristics were 60% over the age of 35. The majority of the sample were female (89%) and RN’s (70%), and the majority (74%) had at least 2 years experience” (Kalisch & Lee, 2011, p.83). The sample group was identified and described and sufficient in size and character.