Oh Nurse!!!!

There are over 6,200 hospital facilities in this country with approximately 2 million nurses currently employed.  The current work pace for nurses is overwhelming and more often than not, stressful.  I know a married couple, both nurses, who often bring the stress from their workplace home with them.  At times their work is so overwhelming that they are forced to perform under triage conditions where they only have time to perform the most critical of procedures for their patients.  This leaves a lot of work for the next shift and so on like a string of dominoes falling.

On top of that, the Bush-ed administration made plans on cutting back MediCare coverage which resulted in cutbacks placing additional duties on the backs of remaining staff.  In the July 2001, report released by the Government Accounting Office, Nursing Workforce: Emerging Nurse Shortages Due to Multiple Factors (GAO-01-944), 40% of all RNs will be older than age 50 by the year 2010. With fewer senior nurses in the workforce to mentor new nurses just entering the profession, hospitals must find new ways to share the knowledge and experience that has traditionally been handed down directly from senior to junior nurses.

Some nurses indicated that they are no longer confident in their ability to remember everything. They are concerned about the increased potential for making critical errors. They find it increasingly difficult to maintain the level of knowledge and competence required in current nursing roles. This affects their job satisfaction and at times can negatively impact patient safety and quality of care.

• A shortage of qualified healthcare staff
• Technological evolution and changing clinical practices that require constant staff training

In recent years, regulatory agencies such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) have moved away from regularly scheduled inspections to surprise inspections. Healthcare facilities no longer have the advantage of planning in advance for an inspection. Today, these facilities must be ready for unannounced inspections at all times.

As more evidence-based practices become available and new equipment is brought into nursing units, the need for retraining and competency validation becomes increasingly complex.  This is especially challenging since the majority of facilities utilize manual paper processes.

Non-compliant facilities receive penalties ranging from warnings and fines to loss of accreditation. Without accreditation, hospitals cannot qualify for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, which may be the largest source of revenue for many hospitals. In response to these changing regulatory requirements, hospital leaders are making orientation, training and documentation tracking a higher priority.

In closing, the process of filling this vacuum of personnel is going to require creative thinking on the part of the Human Resources department and one way of attracting personnel and to retain existing personnel is to evidence employee oriented programs to help them deal with stress.  Your target, should you decide to accept this challenge, would be the HR Vice President.  Your value proposition would be along the line of your services ROI would provide a more satisfied and fulfilled staff which would additionally attract new employees by showing that the administration cares.