The nursing shortage is multi-dimensional in nature and therefore requires multi-dimensional solutions. Huber defines nursing shortage as a disparity between supply and demand of nurses. In the same token, Huber also organized his solutions in view of increasing the supply and decreasing the demand in order to arrest the imbalance. It seems like a very simple mathematical equation, but there is more to it than meets the eye. Huber also discussed the history of nursing shortage and describes it as cyclical reaching its worst bottom in the present era owing to RN’s nearing retirement coupled with the aging population of the Americans (2010). Yoder and Wise (2007) refers to this as the perfect storm – “A perfect storm exists when conditions come together simultaneously to create an effect with greater impact than any single condition would have alone” (as mentioned by Huber, 2010, p. 701).
What is the main reason for the nursing shortage? I don’t know if there is one major root of the problem. I believe that this shortage is a product of previous policies and strategies that successfully solved then problems but failed to look into strategic implications of policies and directions. It could also be product of trial and error or last ditch efforts in the past. This is a classic example of good management with bad leadership. Good management because the country’s healthcare was able to survive with scarcity of resources (managed well enough), but leadership fiasco because of the failure to look into the far future (like the now).
I did a little literature search on this impending shortage and found one very interesting study from the United Kingdom. On Buchan’s and Aiken’s article, they argued that the international shortage of nurses is not in terms of qualifications but in terms of willingness to work in the present conditions (2008). In their article entitled Solving nursing shortages: a common priority, they concluded that the main challenge of policy makers is to develop policies that have long term and sustainable solution (Buchan & Aiken, 2008). Lastly, since healthcare is for the common good, it therefore requires government intervention.
Sources:
Buchan, J., & Aiken, L. (2008). Solving nursing shortages: a common priority. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17(24), 3262-3268. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.
Huber, D. L. (2010). Leadership and nursing care management (4th Ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.
