The Economic Impact of the Nursing Shortage

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The Economic Impact of the Nursing Shortage

Introduction

Nursing may be the most familiar health professional group in the world, second only to physicians. Nurses far outnumber all other groups of health workers, with an estimated 12 million nurses working worldwide. Women constitute the overwhelming majority of nurses, with estimates ranging from 89 to 97 percent in countries of the global north.

Doctors, nurses and hospital administrators have raised concerns about the nursing shortage in a new study by Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D., professor of nursing at Vanderbilt University and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of medical manpower Center. The study is presented in the May / June issue of the journal, Health Affairs. Buerhaus and his colleagues conducted three surveys conducted between January 2004 and March 2005 to assess the impact of the nursing shortage. They interviewed nurses, doctors, nurses and hospital chief of staff of the hospital CEOs. The results showed that the nursing shortage has had a negative impact on communication, the nurse-patient relationships, and timeliness of care and overall efficiency.

The study results also show points of disagreement between different groups of participants. Chief Nursing Officers share perceptions, but physicians and CEOs do not. The major differences surround issues of patient safety and quality of nursing work environment (American College of Healthcare Executives, 2004). Nursing-related groups were concerned about the impact of the shortage on early detection of patient complications and patient safety. Those who work directly with patients believed the nursing shortage has a negative impact on national goals for quality improvement.

The authors believe that the study confirms the need to develop team communication and collaboration to improve patient care and patient safety. They suggest building on areas of common interest and understanding to meet the specific needs that will improve patient care.

They stress that overall patient care is a goal that requires the collaboration of an interdisciplinary team, and that the communications approach will help strengthen relationships between providers of health care and improve quality of care patients (American Hospital Association, 2007).

Discussion

The financing of health care in the United States is part public, part private; part national health insurance through Medicare, Medicaid, and several other government—sponsored programs; part employer sponsored; and increasingly individually purchased through private-pay insurance plans and out-of-pocket payments from consumers. It's a complex system that, for all the wealth it consumes and creates in the United States, still has left almost 20% of the population with no coverage and many more with far too little coverage. Under the health reform legislation of 2010 (HR 3590, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and HR 4872, The Reconciliation Act), many of the uninsured will receive health care coverage through an expanded Medicaid program or under the requirement that everyone purchase insurance. For those who do not meet the poverty guidelines for the expanded Medicaid coverage, an insurance exchange will be available through which they are expected to be able to find affordable ...