...Leadership & Management in Nursing Shortage & Nurse Turnover We are all leaders and managers at some point in our lives. There are many opinions about the differences in leadership and managerial styles of leading. There are those who use the terms interchangeably and believe they are the same, those who believe that “leaders” and “managers” are opposites, and those who are in between. Although there are fundamental differences, individuals can be successful in both roles, and organizations need both to be successful. The purpose of this paper is to define and discuss the approaches in leadership and management styles in relation to the nursing shortage and nurse turnover using theories, principles, skills, and roles of the leader versus manager, and to identify this student’s professional philosophy of nursing and personal leadership style. Definitions of Leadership & Management Styles Leadership and management are two terms that are frequently compared. They are not the same, but they are linked. Some people have one or the other skill sets while others may have both. According to the Educational Business Articles (EBA) (n. d.), leaders focus on achieving tasks by keeping the team inspired, motivated and empowered (transformational leadership). It also involves expecting the best out of everyone for the benefit of achieving the team’s goal (EBA, n. d.). Some effective leadership characteristics are: vision, motivation, inspiration, persuasion, teamwork, building relationship...
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...of ensuring that their love ones are placed in nursing homes. According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) (2012), about 1.5 million Americans live in nursing homes and about 22% of 5.3 million people 85 years of age or older had a nursing home stay in 2006. They go on to say, there are approximately 16,000 nursing homes and about 1.7 million nursing home beds in the United States. While only twelve percent of nursing home residents are between the ages of 64-74, 45% are over 85 years of age. It is estimated that anyone over 65 years of age will have a 43% chance of spending some time in a nursing home (Kemper and Murtaugh, 1991) and about 24 % of these individuals will spend less than a year in residence at a nursing home (CDC, 2012). The key employees of the nursing home that have the most interaction and greatest impact with the residents of nursing homes are the registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs). For several years the shortage and turnover rate of nursing home staff has long been a serious problem for multiple nursing homes nationwide (Pillemer, et al., 2008). Providing effective and safe quality care in nursing homes requires clinically and interpersonally competent staff. Research findings suggest that inadequate supervisory, managerial, and human resource practices within nursing homes contribute to poor outcomes, including high nursing staff turnover, lower employee satisfaction, and poor clinical...
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...2009 Nursing Turnover: Costs, Causes, & Solutions Steven T. Hunt, Ph.D., SPHR Director of Business Transformation SuccessFactors Inc. (www.successfactors.com) E-mail: shunt@successfactors.com Copyright © 2009 SuccessFactors, Inc. Invest in People …. Drive Business Results SuccessFactors Healthcare Executive Summary Nursing turnover is a major issue impacting the performance and profitability of healthcare organizations. Healthcare organizations require a stable, highly trained and fully engaged nursing staff to provide effective levels of patient care. The financial cost of losing a single nurse has been calculated to equal about twice the nurse’s annual salaryi. The average hospital is estimated to lose about $300,000 per year for each percentage increase in annual nurse turnoverii. Losing these critical employees negatively impacts the bottom line of healthcare organizations in a variety of ways including: Decreased quality of patient care Increased contingent staff costs Increased staffing costs Loss of patients Increased nurse and medical staff turnover Increased accident and absenteeism rates The primary causes of nurse turnover can be analyzed by I) understanding why nurses choose to work for an organization and ensuring this ‘employee value proposition’ is met; and II) identifying things that occur after nurses are hired that lead them to quit even though their initial job expectations were met. I. Primary factors that influence...
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...5. The consequences of nursing turnover 6.1. Loss of patients * Healthcare organizations have reported having to turn away patients to other healthcare facilities due to lack of available staff resulting from high level turnover. This is a particularly significant concern for healthcare organization operating in states that mandate minimum nurse to patient staffing ratio (xxx). 6.2. Decreased quality of patient care * Staff shortages caused by nursing turnover are associated with significant decreases in the general quality of patient care, increases in the length of patients stays within hospital and greater number of hospital acquired infection (xxx). 6.3. Increased contingent staff costs * Many healthcare organizations are forced to rely on contract nurses to overcome staff shortages caused by high level of nurse turnover. Such contract nurses can cost twice as much to employ as nurses employed directly by the company (xxx). 6.4. Increase nurse turnover * Nurse turnover creates staffing shortages that increase the work demands placed on the organizations remaining nurses. This heightens the risk of the remaining nurses quitting due to excess workload and constantly increasing nurse turnover within organization (xxx). 6.5. Increased turnover of medical support staff * High level of nurse turnover creates disruptive, unstable work environments that negatively impact the retention of other medical service providers that...
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...The Nursing Shortage The nursing shortage has been a highlight of discussion for years. With healthcare reform now happening, the nursing shortage has become more urgent. Baby boomers are retiring making the nursing work force dwindle even further. More patients have insurance and are seeking care. Healthcare facilities are struggling with regulatory agencies that are directly linked to reimbursement and are try to do more with less staff which is leading to burn out. To further compound the issue, nursing professors are retiring and there is a decrease in the number of nurses entering the education work force due to lack of pay, increased amount of stress, and the increase in responsibility (Duvall & Andrews, 2010). With fewer professors, colleges are unable to accept as many students into nursing programs. The nursing shortage is a vicious cycle that needs to be broken. There are a number of factors that are influencing the nursing shortage. First is the lack of nursing professors. With fewer professors, nursing programs cannot accept as many students, which contributes to lacking numbers. Second, many nurses are at or nearing retirement age. 55% of the workforce is over the age of 50. Third, is the demand for nursing is increasing as more patients are obtaining insurance and as the population ages. Fourth, is burnout. Nurses are working short staffed, causing increased stress levels, decreased job satisfaction, and a decrease in quality care. Finally, there is a high...
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...The Nursing Shortage The nursing shortage has been a highlight of discussion for years. With healthcare reform now happening, the nursing shortage has become more urgent. Baby boomers are retiring making the nursing work force dwindle even further. More patients have insurance and are seeking care. Healthcare facilities are struggling with regulatory agencies that are directly linked to reimbursement and are try to do more with less staff which is leading to burn out. To further compound the issue, nursing professors are retiring and there is a decrease in the number of nurses entering the education work force due to lack of pay, increased amount of stress, and the increase in responsibility (Duvall & Andrews, 2010). With fewer professors, colleges are unable to accept as many students into nursing programs. The nursing shortage is a vicious cycle that needs to be broken. There are a number of factors that are influencing the nursing shortage. First is the lack of nursing professors. With fewer professors, nursing programs cannot accept as many students, which contributes to lacking numbers. Second, many nurses are at or nearing retirement age. 55% of the workforce is over the age of 50. Third, is the demand for nursing is increasing as more patients are obtaining insurance and as the population ages. Fourth, is burnout. Nurses are working short staffed, causing increased stress levels, decreased job satisfaction, and a decrease in quality care. Finally, there is a high turnover...
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...Title Heading: THE NURSING SHORTAGE AND TURNOVER EPEDIMIC FACING THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR Huriyyah Davie Final Course Project Keller Graduate School HS542 INTRODUCTION There has been many discussions regarding our current healthcare policies and the many Americans that are not able to utilize the system we have due to lack of medical coverage. Another element, not as popular but has an equal if not worst effect is the shortage of effective and qualified healthcare workers. The region, the state and the nation face severe shortages of a variety of health care workers. The factors contributing to these shortages are varied and complex, and have the potential to seriously undermine the provision of safe, high quality health care in our communities. As the population continues to age, so does our need for health care. With an increase of the number of people requiring health care, changes in health care delivery have altered traditional practices. Hospital stays have decreased, while outpatient stays have increased. Extended and home health care needs are growing rapidly. Yet despite decreases in hospital stays, patient acuity is increasing, thus shifting the burdens of patient care to outpatient settings. The shortage is expected to worsen in coming years as the 78 million people in the post-World War Two baby boom generation begin to hit retirement age. An aging population requires more care...
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...IMPACT OF NURSE SHORTAGE ON HOSPITAL‐BASED PATIENT CARE AND NURSES 1 Literature Review Nursing shortage is acknowledged nationwide as a problem in the health care sector that has generated a body of research by various scholars. A review of the existing literature was done using EBSCO Host and Cochrane data bases with the goal of exploring the nature of nursing shortages in hospitals and other health care facilities. The search keywords include nursing shortage, stress, work environment, job satisfaction, economic crisis and hospitals, and quality of patient care. The body of literature reviewed indicated that nursing shortage impacts on the quality of patients’ care, as well as the nurses who feel the direct impact of these shortages. A major research gap in the body of literature was found to be the failure to examine the role of the poor economic conditions that all sectors are being faced with, including the health care sector, in exacerbating the nursing shortages since 2008, which is worsening by the day. Framework This review of literature on nursing shortage was done within the frame work of the general theory of nursing, which explains the purpose of nursing as that of assisting patients to achieve their highest possible level of physical, mental/emotional and spiritual well being. Simply put, the nursing theory is about facilitating healing. But the reality is that some nurses, in no small percentage, are working in conditions that do not lend credence to this nursing theory...
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...Retention: A Major Factor in the Nursing Shortage Jacinta Lewis Walden University NURS3001, Section 7, Issues and Trends in Nursing March 9, 2014 Retention: A Major Factor in the Nursing Shortage The nursing shortage and the bullying culture are both of national concern. Many articles have been published providing the public with information these topics separately and how one affects the other. The information provided to the public should relate to the current workforce trends in nursing. The purpose of this paper is to discuss information from a popular source on how bullying in nursing affects retention and having a major impact on the national nursing shortage. Summary of an Article The article selected for this assignment was published in September of 2002, in Health Affairs (Stevens, 2002). The author, Stevens (2002), focused on the retention of nurses being a problem contributing to the nursing shortage. The International Council of Nurses conference in Copenhagen in 2001 (as cited in Stevens, 2002), identified retention issues as being a major factor in the international nursing shortage. Stevens (2002), suggests that intimidation and the bullying of nurses by nurses and the management culture that dismisses it, as a major factor in retention of nurses. Stevens also suggests that intimidation is viewed as a minor annoyance, and how management improves the way in which this issue is addressed in nursing will be critical for the improvement of retention...
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...Middlefield Hospital Report of Strategies and Recommendations For workforce shortages and employee morals Executive Summary Middlefield Hospital has been known throughout the community as a hospital that provides a full array of inpatient and outpatient services. We have been recognized in the community as providing quality care for all of our customers. Today our hospital is faced with many issues that will affect our ability to adequately service our community. This report will discuss in detail the main issues the hospital has been faced with such as: * New hospital recently opens in the area increasing competition. * Local colleges eliminating its nursing degree program. * Employee turnover rate exceeding 20%, leading to over a 100 nursing positions vacancies. * Employee morale deteriorating over the last 12 months. Presented in the report will be strategies to overcome the new competition, proposals of working with the local colleges, and recommendations which would help improve employee morale as well as decreasing the turnover rate. Middlefield’s Competition: The new hospital in the area brings competition for Middlefield Hospital. This affects not only the hospital revenue; it also creates competition for retaining staff. Middlefield is currently losing our medical staff to the new hospital. In efforts to compete with our competitor we have to re-strategies the organization structure. One suggestion would be to renovate our current...
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...Theoretical Foundation for Nursing Roles and Practice The nursing shortage is clearly a problem, and although the healthcare industry has acknowledged the shortage for decades now, the aging population has sealed the reality with an alarming force. Contributing factors include an aging population, along with its rapid increase of chronic diseases, and the limited capacity of nursing schools. As the population ages, the demand for healthcare services also escalates (Grant, 2016). The three million nurses in these United States contribute to the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, making nursing the fastest growing occupation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has determined that there will be 1.2 million vacancies for registered nurses...
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...approximately thirty seven thousand jobs were added in March 2011 alone (AACN). The staffing of registered nurses has been a long time concern due to the fact the shortage greatly affects patient safety as well as quality of care (nysna.org). Studies have shown that adverse patient outcomes have been related to the ineffective nurse staffing as patients have had longer hospital stays, increased infections, and higher mortality rates (Needleman, et al, 2002). To relieve the pressures put on an organization with the shortage many have begun to substitute people who are not as prepared to care for patients. This has been done by hiring temporary nursing services or recruiting foreign nurses who are not familiar with the facility, policies and procedures or the patients ( nysna.org). The ineffective nurse staffing also leads to retaining issues as nurses experience decreased morale, increased stress and anxiety, increased physical ailments, and burnout. DEFINE THE PROBLEM The problem is that hospitals cannot recruit and/or retain healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians fast enough in the ever growing healthcare field. With the baby boomers reaching retirement age and becoming eligible for Medicare hospitals need to not only recruit but retain nurses. Nurses are hard to recruit based on low enrollment in nursing school due to low numbers of nurse...
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...a looming nursing crisis in health facilities. This problem has posed crisis towards establishing better health for those in need. The primary concern concerning this looming nursing shortage is identifying the root cause. Apparently, it appears as if that this crisis established its primary source in nursing training and retention in hospitals, care facilities, and other institutions. It appears as if there is serious downfall in the practicum of nurse-executive. Consequently, the concerned authority seems to portray weakness strategies in conducting this nursing practicum that has led to shortages of faculty. The big inquiry is whether these training facilities offer standardized training that would present the needed feedback facilitating nursing transition and retaining nursing staff. The central focus would then be whether this strategy would pose positive impacts in nursing training. This capstone project will explore these nursing concepts with a primary intention of presenting the root cause of nursing crisis in health facility. Annotated Bibliography Seago, A. J., Alvarado, A., Keane, D., Grumbach, K., & Spetz, J. (2006). The nursing shortage: is it really about image? Journal of Health Management, 51(2), 96-10. A research conducted in tertiary institutions Central Valley by Seago and the rest confirmed that nursing occupation lagged behind other occupations. This perspective is attributed by work independence perception and the perception that nursing is women’s...
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...“The Nursing Shortage” Final Report Abstract While the nurses are disappearing from developing nations to help the shortage in the United States, it is putting a strain on health systems in the developing world. American found a simple solution to the problem of our nursing shortage and how we have turned to the global market where nurses have become a hot commodity. Even though it seems to be a natural thing to import nurses, since we import everything else. By importing nurses it saves time and money but it will cause more problems in the end. The Nursing Shortage In the United States is a situation where the demand for nurses is greater than the supply, as is currently the case in several developed nations. According to a U.S. government study, by the year 2020, there could be a nationwide shortage up to one million nurses, which could result in substandard treatment for hundreds of thousands of patients. Just as alarming, fewer nurses are choosing to teach the next generation of professionals, resulting in tens of thousand of applicants being turned away from the nation’s nursing schools. (1) Reason for Shortage The responsibilities of nurses have increased and the patients are more ill as a result. In addition the average age of nurse’s increases while the number of applications to baccalaureate programs has decreased.(2) New opportunities became available for the nursing practice, which further drains the number of nurses available for acute...
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...Reducing the Nursing Shortage Reducing the Nursing Shortage In America today the nursing shortage has affected health care in many ways. The article “Nurse-Staffing Levels and the Quality of Care in Hospitals” written by Needleman, Buerhaus, Mattke, Stewart, Zelevinsky (2002), describes the effects the nursing shortage has on the quality of care provided to patients in the hospital setting. The authors of the article present the methods used to obtain data, background information causing the nursing shortage, results of the data obtained and proposals to improve patient outcomes and nursing retention. Influential Factors Contributing to the Nursing Shortage The nursing shortage today is because of a number of influential factors that has resulted in a decrease in new graduates in the health care workforce. The nursing shortage is believed to have started around the mid-1990s, and during this time span, the turnover rate for LPN’s and RN’s began to rise (Page, 2004). The article did not identify the reasons for the shortage of nursing. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) identifies five of the most common factors contributing to the shortage. These factors are high patient to nurse ratios, declining nursing school enrollments, insufficiency of nursing school instructors, increase in the age of the average nurse over the past decade, and high stress levels have led to nurses leaving the profession (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2013)...
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