The ongoing nursing shortage has resulted in many structural changes in healthcare sector. Medical facilities are forced to utilize existing manpower while ramping up recruitment efforts. To mitigate and address the effects of this problem, institutions must take a closer look at healthcare staff shortage causes.

This NurseDeck guide will help you take an in-depth look at the factors influencing staffing shortages in your institution and create strategies to address them.

What are the healthcare staff shortage causes?

Do you lack nurse manpower in your team? If so, your medical facility is among the institutions hit by the current nursing shortage crisis. There are many factors influencing staffing shortages. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) pinpoints five contributing elements:

Nursing school enrollment

Statistics show that there is an increase in nursing school enrollment for the bachelor’s program in 2021. Unfortunately, the situation is not the same in both PhD and master’s as numbers dropped. 

These figures worry the people in the nursing industry. The number of enrollees and aspiring nurses might not be enough to meet the growing demand for nurses in the future.

Shortage of nursing school faculty

Structural changes in healthcare sector are not only in clinical work in medical facilities. Because of the nursing shortage crisis, there has also been understaffing in the academe. 

Nursing learning institutions reportedly had to turn away qualified applicants due to the lack of teaching personnel, as per AACN. The unavailability of classrooms, teaching areas, and budget limitations are also factors influencing staffing shortages.

Retirement of aging nurses

Nurses are superheroes without capes but aging is inevitable. The aging nursing workforce will soon retire. Some nurses even go for early retirement. 

As trained and experienced nurses leave the industry to get their much-needed rest, the number of nurses in the workforce dwindles. With this, the need for younger nurses is stronger than ever.

Demand for nurses due to the aging population

Together with the aging workforce is also an aging population. More nurses are in demand to care for aging individuals who need treatment and geriatric care. These people often have comorbidities such as cardiac and pulmonary cases.

High nurse turnover

Among the healthcare staff shortage causes is high turnover among nurses. Individuals have reasons of their own on why they leave their jobs. 

However, trends show common denominators that explain why nurses are resigning. Nurses leaving the industry for a career change detrimentally affects the healthcare workforce.

Focus on what you can address

The nursing shortage crisis is an industry problem and as a medical institution, you can only do so much. You cannot provide solutions to all the healthcare staff shortage causes. What you can do is mitigate its effect on your organization.

What medical institutions can address — and probably the factor that directly affects them the most — is high nurse turnover. Here are some of the reasons for nurse resignation:

Job dissatisfaction

Simply put, nurses are not happy in their workplace. Either they find it toxic, the load is too much to bear, or they are unhappy. Job dissatisfaction is a major element that triggers nurses to leave their jobs.

Burnout

Nurses experience burnout when they feel exhausted physically and mentally at work, are detached from their profession, and have little to no motivation to do their assigned tasks. Burnout often occurs because there is so much work to do, especially with medical facilities lacking manpower. Poor work-life balance makes burnout even more felt.

Unjust compensation

Low salaries greatly affect the career decisions of nurses. If they are not compensated well, nurses will leave for greener pastures. The sad truth is that some non-clinical positions pay better than hospitals and clinics.

First thing’s first: Do an internal evaluation

As you know have an idea of the various factors influencing staffing shortages, what you should do first is to evaluate your medical institution as an employer. 

What is the current status of your existing workforce in terms of job satisfaction, work-life balance, and compensation?

One way to determine how you are faring in these aspects is to directly ask the people involved: your nurses. Tap your human resource department and organize an open forum or interviews to get the pulse of your employees.

Putting up feedback stations where nurses can anonymously write their thoughts or answer a survey is also a good idea. This way, they won't feel shy or scared to give their opinion.

Next step: Assess and address

Based on the data you have gathered, assess your institution. Are your nurses happy with the current setup that you have? Are the salary packages enough? In what aspects does your institution have to improve?

The information you gather in your evaluation should serve as your guide in developing nurse retention and recruitment strategies. Do not take negative feedback against the nurses. Rather, see them as points for improvement.

If your nurses say they are struggling with work-life balance, plan initiatives that allow them to enjoy their personal lives. Make your medical facility a healthy and productive work environment for nurses.

Salaries are too small? Evaluate your internal budget and find ways to increase nurse salaries. Offer better and more attractive packages so more aspiring nurses will apply.

Listen to your nurses

The nursing staffing crisis affects many institutions and there are various healthcare staff shortage causes. The best you can do is to address the factors influencing staffing shortages that are relevant to you. Prevent high nurse turnover by asking your nurses and listening to them. Address these concerns so you will have a happy and healthy nursing workforce in your organization.