Worker Shortage in the Nursing Field
Feeling back to normal yet? When it comes to COVID-19, it seems as if we are out of the woods because students are back in-person, masks are no longer required, and traveling is in full swing. Yet globally, we are seeing a shortage in all walks of life…specifically in the medical field amongst nurses and nursing students. The three main factors contributing to the nursing shortage post-COVID are stress/burnout, aging population, and patient proportionality. The need for healthcare workers is at an all time high with nurses leaving the profession entirely as well as issues among undergraduate students.
The good news is despite the pandemic there is high interest among nursing undergraduate students yet schools did see enrollment declines in baccalaureate degree-completion programs. According to Lynette DeBellis, Instructor and Chair of the School of Nursing at Mount Saint Mary College, “For the first time since 2001, enrollment in master’s programs decreased by 3.8%, which translates to 5,766 fewer students enrolled in 2021 than in the previous year.”
In 2020, many colleges were forced to reject both undergraduate and graduate students because of faculty shortages and clinical placement opportunities. “We have not limited our admissions due to a lack of faculty,” said Professor DeBellis. “However, we are very aware of the projected need for clinical sites when admitting students.”
It’s commonly known that nurses and doctors work extremely long hours which is normal for the profession. “Some nurses graduate and start working and then determine the profession is not what they thought it would be. Others may work a while and experience burnout and leave the profession. COVID certainly contributed to burnout with long hours, less staff, concerns over vaccination status, etc.,” said Professor DeBellis.
Nurses are experiencing burnout because of increased workload and high risk environments as both new and current diseases come out to play. The population of older adults continues to increase as people are living longer. They especially need access to quality care for medical issues and chronic conditions. Veteran nurses are working now but you also can’t stop an aging staff. “There are currently approximately one million registered nurses older than 50 years, meaning one-third of the workforce could be at retirement age in the next 10 to 15 years” said Professor DeBellis.
Nurses are taking on a more hefty workload which is affecting the quality that patients are receiving. The quality of patient care is decreasing because help is needed across many areas like hospitals, nursing homes, and physician offices. Dealing with too many patients can increase the patient mortality ratio since it is difficult to ensure all patients receive the proper and timely care that they need. “I truly believe that nurses work to provide the highest level of care in any situation. We are legally, ethically and morally bound to maintain the high standards of the profession” said Professor DeBellis. “We ultimately answer to our patients-they are the most important stakeholders.” The nurse shortage can also affect patient hospitalization. If certain patients don’t receive care when needed; it can cause more issues leading to more treatments and surgeries due to lack of care or insufficient care.
The current solution seems to be to fill as many healthcare roles as possible, which is like putting a band-aid on a dam. “To maintain the highest standards of the profession- nursing schools must be selective in admission, maintain a high level of rigor in their program and promote a culture of inquiry, safety, caring and professionalism” said Professor DeBellis. “We also need to shine a spotlight on nurse educators — We need to encourage admission into the Masters of Education program to develop the next generation of educators.” There is no clear solution, all it may take is starting with the fundamentals and building that foundation through educators. Hopefully there will be a domino effect with more educators bringing more students, which means more nurses.
