Publication paints a bleak picture
Unlike the current nursing shortage, the future nursing shortage — demographic in nature — will be driven by a reduction in the aging work force and fewer younger nurses replacing those who retire. At the same time, the demand for nurses will increase substantially as both the total population increases and the baby-boom generation reaches age 65, using more health care resources.
That’s the bleak picture painted by a publication issued recently by the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), a Washington, DC-based subsidiary of the American Hospital Association. But the publication, Perspective on the Nursing Shortage: A Blueprint for Action, does more than just portray a stark reality: It offers a framework for concrete solutions.
"We believe that it is critical for all levels of the public and private sectors to focus immediately on this future nursing shortage," says Louis L. Kercher, DNSc, RN, AONE president. "If we do not begin to address these issues at their root causes, then the nursing profession will continue toward a shortage of unmatched proportions."
Here are some of AONE’s recommendations:
• Establish ongoing collaborative partnerships between educators, employers, and regulatory bodies that monitor and implement responses to changing demand for nursing services;
• Advocate for increased state and federal support of nursing education programs, partnerships with employers to provide clinical training, and tuition assistance for students;
• Cultivate work environments that improve work-life quality and support the changing demands of an older work force;
• Convene a forum for discussion and mentoring of new graduates with organizational leaders to enhance sensitivity to the demands of their respective roles;
• Improve data collection efforts to evaluate patient care outcomes as they are related to delivery models and staffing patterns;
• Maximize the use of technology to increase the efficiency of nursing personnel;
• Provide incentives and access to degree-granting education in order to retain maturing staff and ensure an adequate pool of nurses to move into education, management and community-based, advanced practice roles.
[Copies of the Perspective on the Nursing Shortage: A Blueprint for Action, (item #154195) are available for $45 for AONE members and $80 for nonmembers from AHA Order Services at (800) AHA-2626. World Wide Web: www.ahaonlinestore.com.]
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