Help!! I Need Informantion On The Nursing Shortage For A College Paper!!!

[collegenurse09]

hello everyone my name is amanda and i am currently going to school to be a rn and working very hard i must say...i am currently taking a college composition class that has asked me to write a 10 page paper on the problems in nursing. i chose the nursing shortage. i am doing a 10 page paper on why, the causes and effects that there is a nursing shortage. if anyone could give me in their opinion why there is or isnt a nusing shortage and how that shortage effects the patient care and the stress levels of nursing.

here is the beginning of my paper....

nurses are just as important as doctors in a hospital. nurses affect our lives so greatly that everyone should be concerned with a nursing shortage. a nurse’s duties consist of injecting pharmaceutical drugs into a patients iv, measuring dosage, monitoring vital signs, keeping detailed logs of intake of medicine and other important procedures that go with the nursing profession. with the many duties that a nurse has it is hard to imagine a facility with a shortage of nurses. the population is steadily growing and the “baby boomer” population is growing older each year the need for nurses is growing larger each year. according to the u.s bureau of labor statistics nursing is one of the top twenty professions affected by the baby boomer retirements (health policy p.201). the ratios of nurses to patients is growing at an unsafe rate each year.of the 155,707 registered nurses in the state of texas 31,666, or 20.3 percent, do notpractice the profession because they consider it unsafe. ]rangel enrique, 2008). this is poorly affecting the quality of care that each patient is able to receive. acccording to beverly leonard who has had 40 years of practice in nursing says ]"when you have too many patients there are alot of near misses, lots of near misses at least 78,000 patients will die unnecessarily this yearnationwide because there are not enough people like us, nurses.". rangel enrique, 2008). with this quote it is clear that there are many deaths that take place because of lack of care able to be given to patients. the shortage not only affects the patients and the quality of care they are given, it also affects the nurses. the nursing shortage causes burnt out nurses and stress levels and frustration to rise. certified nurses are therefore choosing different careers or leaving their jobs. the stress levels of the nurses affects many of the reasons that nurses are leaving the profession and therefore causes more shortages in hospitals and facililitys. the hours and time that nurses put into their work is tiring and sets up for unsatisfied patients and unsatisfied nursesanother factor that contributes to the shortage is the retirement of veteran nurses. with the nurses getting older and choosing retirement there are fewer nurses able to take their spots. therefore it is causing more of a nursing shortage. with less student going through the nursing programs due to poor funding and not enough teachers to teach as many students it is impossible to meet the demand of the nursing shortage quickly.

anything would be a huge help!! also if anyone is interested i am required to do a survey if anyone would like to participate it would be a very big help. thank you in advance to anyone that applies your knowlege and experience is very much appreciated!! thank youuuuuuuuuuuu!

[rnjls]

I've done several papers on this topic. One of the major causes for the shortage is lack of faculty. One source I found stated that the average age for faculty is mid- to late-fifties. There is a lot of research out about the shortage. Peter Burhaus is an expert on the nursing shortage and has written many papers. You might check your school's library website and search on EbscoHost for applicable research.

[CapNurse09]

I just did a power point presentation on the same thing. I found a lot of info on these sites. Hope this helps, you will have to hunt around but there is quite a bit of info and links to other websites.

US Department of Labor Statistics

US Census

National League Nursing

HRSA

[KaliNurse]

There are many different reasons for the "nursing shortage". Peter Buerhaus is the expert!! I would refer to any of his research studies. They are all good and relate well to your topic. I do agree that lack of faculty is a HUGE issue and will be one of the biggest issues over the next few years when many of them retire!!

Here's a bit of advice....Alot of research regarding the nursing shortage is derived from nursing labor unions. This may be represent a biased opinion when doing your paper, unless there is research to back it up. I have nothing against nursing labor unions. In fact, I'm in one. They really bring the topic of the shortage and better ratios to the forefront. But, in order to keep your paper balanced, I would use a little bit of both (union and non-union) types of research. Be careful when choosing your references.

REMEMBER THIS....There is NOT a shortage of nurses!!!!! There is a shortage of PRACTICING nurses!!! This is one of the big misconceptions out there today. People believe when they hear that there is a "nursing shortage", that there is not enough nurses in the country. This is simply not true!!! The shortage is the lack of PRACTICING nurses!

Hope this helps a bit! :nuke: