Nursing Recruitment and Retention
Nursing Recruitment and Retention
To be a good nurse, you have to be a physically strong and emotionally stable person, and you have to be able to think on your feet. Though nursing is not an easy profession, it is very rewarding. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nursing shortage and nursing retention and recruitment strategies for facilities. The nursing shortage crisis is caused by nurse burnout, an aging Registered Nurse (RN) population, not enough nurses graduating due to a shortage of nurse faculty, and an increase of patients as “baby boomers” retire, grow older, and experience age-related illnesses. There are many challenges involved with the nursing shortage, including recruiting RN’s and then being able to retain those RN’s in order to provide adequate, safe staffing, Ensuring appropriate staffing is necessary for safe and competent patient care, as well as a healthy work environment. Once a nurse has been recruited, the challenge becomes how to keep them due to the high cost of nurse turnover. Many facilities offer benefits, such as mentoring programs, tuition reimbursement, and longevity bonuses, to help keep nurses from leaving. Nursing Shortage Defined
The nursing shortage poses a significant problem for nurses, especially with job satisfaction and patient care. Most nurses use a holistic approach to patient care, meaning they care for the patient’s mind, body and spirit. This approach, however, takes more time and with the nursing shortage nurses feel like they are not adequately staffed to be able to give good, patient care. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA) there has been a nursing shortage since as early as 1999. In 2010, the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 2,737,400 registered nurses, with an expected 26% increase of nursing jobs by 2020.
So what are some contributing factors that affect the nursing shortage? First, the aging
To be a good nurse, you have to be a physically strong and emotionally stable person, and you have to be able to think on your feet. Though nursing is not an easy profession, it is very rewarding. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nursing shortage and nursing retention and recruitment strategies for facilities. The nursing shortage crisis is caused by nurse burnout, an aging Registered Nurse (RN) population, not enough nurses graduating due to a shortage of nurse faculty, and an increase of patients as “baby boomers” retire, grow older, and experience age-related illnesses. There are many challenges involved with the nursing shortage, including recruiting RN’s and then being able to retain those RN’s in order to provide adequate, safe staffing, Ensuring appropriate staffing is necessary for safe and competent patient care, as well as a healthy work environment. Once a nurse has been recruited, the challenge becomes how to keep them due to the high cost of nurse turnover. Many facilities offer benefits, such as mentoring programs, tuition reimbursement, and longevity bonuses, to help keep nurses from leaving. Nursing Shortage Defined
The nursing shortage poses a significant problem for nurses, especially with job satisfaction and patient care. Most nurses use a holistic approach to patient care, meaning they care for the patient’s mind, body and spirit. This approach, however, takes more time and with the nursing shortage nurses feel like they are not adequately staffed to be able to give good, patient care. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA) there has been a nursing shortage since as early as 1999. In 2010, the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 2,737,400 registered nurses, with an expected 26% increase of nursing jobs by 2020.
So what are some contributing factors that affect the nursing shortage? First, the aging
References: American Hospital Association. (1999). Trendwatch. Retrieved on November 20, 2013 from http://www.aha.org/research/reports/tw/twmarch1999.pdf Bland Jones, C., Gates, M. (2007). The costs and benefits of nurse turnover: A business case for nurse retention. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(3). doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol12No03Man04 Brooks, Beth A., Caffey, R. (2008) Using online and emerging media in nurse recruitment. Nurse Leader. Retrieved on November 24, 2013, from http://www.nursingconsult.com.mc.opal-libraries.org/nursing/journals/1541-4612/full-text/PDF/s1541461208001444.pdf?issn=1541-4612&full_text=pdf&pdfName=s1541461208001444.pdf&spid=20901294&article_id=654932 Employment Projections: 2010-2020 Summary. (2012, February 1). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.nr0.htm Nursing Faculty Shortage. (n.d.). American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-faculty-shortage Vahey, D. C., Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Clarke, S. P., & Vargas, D. (2010, July 15). Nurse burnout and patient satisfaction. NCBI. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904602