Research Paper on Compensation Issues in Nursing and Staff Shortage

Introduction

Staff shortage in nursing is a problem that has affected the entire country for a very long time. The rate at which nurses in the U.S are aging and retiring from this profession is very high than the rate at which the government is employing new nurses. Similarly, the duration of studying and training that they take to become professionals is quite long coupled with the hard studies, and thus some students opt to take other courses. The second problem is underemployment whereby the ratio of a nurse to the patients is very high which makes the nurses to overwork for long hours and other double shifts. Finally, compensation package may not be appealing at all, and as a result, individuals may end up choosing to study different courses that have a high compensation package. Nurses may find the work unrewarding, and they may end up feeling underappreciated and thus leave their jobs (Fitzpatrick, 2018).

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Compensation Issues in Nursing, Staff Shortage and their Historical Development

Compensation issue is a big factor in any job employment, and employees need to feel satisfied that they are well paid for the services they provide. Failure to pay nurses a good salary has placed the healthcare sector in great threat. The healthcare sector forms part of the economy, and thus nurses constitute a significant part of this economy. The shortage of nurses has been long coming, and the signs have been there for a long time due to the increased aging population, increase in chronic diseases, and an aging nursing workforce. If a solution is not to sort soon, nursing shortage will become a real menace.

It is essential for the health sector to identify the various causes of nursing staff shortages and the prevention measures to improve the nursing staff to patient ratios. According to the American Nursing Association, there is a shortage projection of over a million nurses by 2020(Fitzpatrick, 2018). A recent poll shows that seven out of ten hospitals report insufficient staffing of nurses (Zinn, Guglielmi, Davis, & Moses, 2012). Since the population is growing and the demand for health care services is on the rise, then there is a challenge for the health care system to match the demand with the limited nursing resources. Also, in current years, more nurses are leaving the field of nursing either by retiring or changing their careers than the nurses who are joining the field which also make up the shortage problem. The turnover and vacancy for nursing positions are very high, but the exodus of nurses from the profession before they attain their retirement age has unraveled some factors that have contributed to this phenomena.

Compensation is one of the many factors that have contributed to the nursing shortage in the recent years. Historically, nursing was considered as non-professional, it was service-based and mostly dominated by women, and their compensation included room and transportation to their homes. However, it has evolved into a professional which is undertaken by both women and men who are well educated and trained and who provide critical services in very challenging circumstances. Compensation is considered a potential, and it is a broad concept that includes money and other non-monetary compensation which include leaves and time off, health insurance, social security benefits, and other work incentives.

Until the 1500s, nursing was voluntary, and any compensation was based on whatever resources the individual who needed the nursing care would offer. In the 20th century, this changed and nursing became a professional. Nurses started getting paid salaries that increased throughout the 1960s though they lagged behind the salaries paid to other professions. According to Wolfe (2017), nurses' compensation has undergone substantial changes over the centuries and identified legislation as having both a direct and indirect impact on the nursing compensation. He concludes that nurses have to further their education to have a higher salary (Wolfe, 2017).

With understaffing and nurses working overtime, these are the primary causes of medication errors being made. Nurses are often mandated to stay over and work another or partial shift if the facility is short-handed. Most nurses are already working twelve-hour shift and are exhausted after being on their feet for so many hours in a day. Most facilities are having nursing shortages. When this happens it increases the nurses' workload; a single nurse is doing the job of two. Another issue is nurses are picking up extra shifts or working two jobs for a bigger paycheck and are getting burned out. All these scenarios are putting nurses at risk for making medication errors. This is a big problem. In a "2005 survey of 19,000 nurses, 19 percent of nurses reported making a medication error"(Zinn, Guglielmi, Davis, & Moses, 2012).

Significance of these Issues on Current Nursing Practice and Healthcare

The shortage of nurses is very significant in both the nursing practice and the healthcare sector. First, the services that are offered by the nurses in the hospital will not be adequate and as demand is high for the services than the available supply. Consequently, this will increase the price of the services which in turn raises the cost of living and this has an effect on the value of life in the country. As such, proper compensation would go a long way alleviating this crisis. Secondly, the lack of nurses would be a setback for the investors who would like to set up hospitals in the country, and this would affect the economy negatively.

Shortage of nurses would also lead to the importation of labor from countries that have a surplus and who would settle for the compensation package been offered. As a result, non-residents end up benefitting from the country's healthcare system at the expense of the citizens, and this can result to significant social problems that can affect the peace and stability of the country as the locals will view the immigrants like the ones taking away their jobs (Wolfe, 2017).

The cost of not fixing the problem of overworking is that giving the wrong medication or the wrong dose of medication to a patient can have serious consequences such as an allergic reaction or even causing a patient to lose their life. Nurses need to be aware that by being overworked and tired that they are putting their patients' lives at risk. There should be guidelines in place that help determine if the nurse is fit to work. Nurses should not be allowed to work so many hours in a work week, and they should not be allowed to have so many patients at one time. Limiting the number of hours will help reduce errors from nurses being tired and limiting the number of patients will give the nurse the proper amount of time to spend and take care of each patient she has. This way the nurse can make sure the patients are getting the appropriate care and the right medications.

Conclusion

As the long-predicted nursing shortage continues, identifying causes and preventative measures will remain a focus of health care. Several contributing causes have been identified; compensation, retirement, lack of higher education, failure to retain new nurses and burnout of currently experienced nurses. The country has to take into consideration the significance of the health sector and the nurses when it comes to the development of the economy. The government should ensure that the interest of the state comes first and as regards to the health sector, the threat of nurses' shortage addressed immediately. Nurses should be well compensated, given free training and also provided with incentives that make their profession attractive. This will attract more people to join the profession and thus eliminate the shortage in the workforce being experienced in the future. For the health sector to be viable in the long-run, shortages of the nurses emanating from low compensation should be dealt with to ensure economic stability.

References

Fitzpatrick, J. J. (2018). Where have all the nurses gone? Applied Nursing Research, 11(2), 47-48. doi:10.1016/s0897-1897(98)80163-8

Wolfe, M. N. (2017). Nursing Compensation: A Historical Review. Hospital Topics, 75(2), 27-30. doi:10.1080/00185868.1997.10543752

Zinn, J. L., Guglielmi, C. L., Davis, P. P., & Moses, C. (2012). Addressing the Nursing Shortage: The Need for Nurse Residency Programs. AORN Journal, 96(6), 652-657. doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2012.09.011