A study of the nursing shortage problem in the hospital

Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-71)An acute nursing shortage has created problems for\ud the hospital industry with respect to quality of care and\ud cost of delivering that care. This project sought to (1)\ud provide an overview of nursing, (2) identify causes of the\ud nursing shortage, (3) quantify the costs associated with\ud this shortage, and (4) offer recommendations toward a\ud solution to this problem.\ud Chapters 1 and 2 provide information on nursing\ud history, nursing shortage, and nurse registries. Chapter 3\ud quantifies, by case example, the cost of not having a\ud permanent nursing staff in a hospital. Chapter 4 presents\ud findings of the project. Chapter 5 discusses solutions\ud currently in use and additional recommendations.\ud Many factors contribute to the nursing shortage,\ud including, but not limited to, (1) unmet job expectations\ud by the nurse, (2) conflicts between the doctor and the\ud nurse, (3) poor hospital working conditions, (4)\ud unsatisfactory relationships between the nurse and the\ud administrative staff, and (5) limited opportunity for\ud career advancement.\ud The emergence of registries--supplemental staff\ud agencies--seems to be part of the problem as well as a\ud solution. This project demonstrated that reliance upon\ud registries to fill voids in permanent nursing staff is\ud costly and reduces quality of care.\ud \ud Approaches by hospital administrators to solve the\ud shortage problem include hiring of nurse recruiters to\ud flexible time schedules. Some hospitals have learned to\ud cope with the problems of shortage; others are overwhelmed.\ud Hospital management must give attention to and deal with\ud the causes of the problem. The philosophy of managing\ud the nursing shortage must shift from curative care to\ud preventive care