Nurses are vital in providing patient care and ensuring public health. However, there is an acute problem of a shortage of medical personnel worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2022), the world needs additional 9 million specialists to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring public health. People’s health depends on the number of nurses available and their training. At the same time, the situation worsened due to the crisis of the global pandemic COVID-19 – hospitals and their employees are overloaded, which creates tension and leads to fatigue, burnout, and desire to leave work (Kelly et al., 2021). Therefore, investing resources in medical personnel support, education, and decent working conditions is essential. The paper explores several scholarly articles on the problem to understand the current situation and the possibilities of solving it.
Sources
Baik, D., & Zierler, B. (2019). RN job satisfaction and retention after an interprofessional team intervention. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 41(4), 615–630. Web.
Nursing retention is an essential aspect of reducing staff shortages in health care, and it includes various measures aimed at personnel support. Baik and Zierler (2019) explore the less-discussed theme of the impact of interprofessional team collaboration on nurses’ job satisfaction and retention. Using a structure-process-outcome (S-P-O) model, the researchers conducted an intervention to improve communication skills and enhance collaboration efficiency (Baik & Zierler, 2019). Their results demonstrated a significant increase in job satisfaction and a slight decrease in turnover, which can be used to reduce the shortage of medical personnel. The information in this article is helpful for the topic and reliable for use. The study is published in a peer-reviewed journal and based on the original research. Moreover, the authors clearly describe their strategy for conducting the intervention, which will allow other researchers to repeat the result. The benefit of the source for addressing the problem of medical staff shortages is in revealing less-studied aspects of retention and job satisfaction, which can reduce staff turnover. An integrated approach to improving working conditions, taking into account various factors that may affect the decision of employees to leave, will be more effective in solving the problem.
Drennan, V. M., & Ross, F. (2019). Global nurse shortages: The facts, the impact and action for change. British Medical Bulletin, 130(1), 25-37. Web.
The shortage of health workers is a complex problem affecting politics, economics, and education. Drennan and Ross’s (2019) study covers current information about the issue, including key trends, solution efforts, and implications. They consider the scientific side of the problem by offering a model for understanding the supply of and demand for nurses, which they use to identify shortages. Drennan and Ross (2019) study influence factors, including economic, political, and social aspects. British Medical Bulletin, where the article is published, is a peer-reviewed journal, which indicates the source’s reliability. Moreover, the authors rely on many studies conducted by independent international organizations in their article. The source helps research the topic of staff shortages, as it reveals many important issues related to the problem. It integrates the results of many studies by providing up-to-date information, highlighting areas of agreement and disagreement among researchers and gaps requiring attention. In particular, the study underlines the significance of policy solutions and the allocation of resources in health care to address staff shortages. The article can be a starting point for finding directions and developing research.
Kelly, L. A., Gee, P. M., & Butler, R. J. (2021). Impact of nurse burnout on organizational and position turnover. Nursing Outlook, 69(1), 96–102. Web.
Nurses’ burnout at work, which suggests severe fatigue, increased cynicism, and negative attitude, is an influential factor in staff turnover and shortages. A quantitative study by Kelly et al. (2021) includes a survey of nurses to identify the causes of burnout and its association with staff leaving the hospital. The results demonstrate that length of tenure, high daily workload, and patient death increase the likelihood of burnout, leading to staff turnover. Other factors in leaving the workplace included a higher degree of higher education and an employee’s intention to leave. This article is of interest to the theme studied, as it reveals one of the causes of the problem and is a reliable source of information. The paper is presented in a peer-reviewed journal and contains the results of the original research conducted by the authors. The source’s data helps better understand the prerequisites for staff leaving, leading to personnel shortage. Studying the problem’s reasons is necessary to implement changes and transform working conditions to retain employees and attract new ones. Measures to reduce burnout aimed at its identified causes can become an effective tool in reducing health care personnel shortage.
Conclusion
Nurses provide the necessary help in patient care and play an essential role in supporting public health. Therefore, their shortage is an influential crisis creating problems for health care. As the literature has shown, there are many versatile reasons for the lack of staff. In particular, work difficulties create a substantial load and lead to overwork and burnout. These manifestations have worsened due to the current coronavirus crisis. To solve the problem, an integrated approach and changes in the working conditions, education of employees, and policies regarding health care are needed. Measures to reduce staff shortages should be aimed at retention, improving job satisfaction, preventing burnout, and other aspects. However, there are still areas of controversy and gaps in the discussion of the problem requiring more research.
References
Baik, D., & Zierler, B. (2019). RN job satisfaction and retention after an interprofessional team intervention. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 41(4), 615–630. Web.
Drennan, V. M., & Ross, F. (2019). Global nurse shortages: The facts, the impact and action for change. British Medical Bulletin, 130(1), 25-37. Web.
Kelly, L. A., Gee, P. M., & Butler, R. J. (2021). Impact of nurse burnout on organizational and position turnover. Nursing Outlook, 69(1), 96–102. Web.
World Health Organization. (2022). Nursing and midwifery. Web.