Behind The Nursing Shortage
By Brenne Meirowitz, B.A., M.S., M.A.What is the nursing shortage really all about? Are there not enough people interested in the nursing profession, or is it something else? Well, it’s not a shortage of schools or lack of funds.
The nursing shortage, according to Blanchard & Player, is the shortage of health care leaders who are trained with the necessary skills to retain their staff. The number one reason why most health care facilities have a high turnover rate of their nursing staff is due to the lack of innovative managers who lack the skills or training to attract new nurses to their facilities, but equally important is that they are unable to maintain an environment where their nurses want to remain. In other words, nurses don’t leave their hospital, particularly where many have built strong bonds with their peers and even patients, but they leave due to their supervisors.
A hospital or other health care facility is left short staffed of nurses, as well as other personnel, primarily due to the lack of a formal orientation or training specifically aimed at training incoming nursing supervisors. It is no longer feasible or practical to expect that a trial and error form of learning will lead to grooming a successful nursing supervisor as it once was. Health care has become too involved and fast-paced to count on outdated training methods. Without quality leadership training, the nursing shortage will continue. Although some facilities do have a formal orientation or training in place for incoming new nursing leaders, these programs are usually at best – scanty.
Therefore, one of the key solutions to the nursing shortage is to train nursing supervisors to build their leadership and motivational skills. Furthermore, nursing supervisors must create and maintain a work environment that is nurturing, engaging, and supportive in order to retain their staff.