As everyone is aware, the aging population is increasing in the U.S. and more and more people have started to gain access to their healthcare coverage. These situations in the country have increased the demand for nurses and according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be more than one million nurse shortage by the year 2022.

Nurses are critically important healthcare professionals, who are required to provide care whenever the patients are in vulnerable situations. At the same time, nursing can be an emotionally draining career and the hours of duty are often longer and irregular.

Today, the demand for nurses is at its greatest and finding solutions for the problem is becoming highly important. Here are some possible solutions that every hospital can employ, and hopefully, that every nurse can put into practice in the coming years.

Possible Short-Term Solutions:

The debate on nursing shortage has been a hot topic for some years now. It’s to be accepted that everyone is experiencing the struggle at some level and there is no indication that the problem will be resolved soon. While this is the case, it’s important for healthcare facilities to find out some short-term solutions to swim the ocean. When an experienced staff member retires or leaves due to stress and burnout, it is important for that healthcare facility to retain the high-quality patient care, when at the same time being able to meet the high demand of the aging population. Thus, healthcare facilities can fill the short-term gaps by considering the following solutions:

Reviewing and Revising Internal Policies:

As all are aware, the country is already facing a huge nursing shortage. Very soon, the country will need a lot more nurses. While this is the case, burnout is found to be common among nurses as many appear to feel overstressed and underappreciated. These factors are resulting in despondency in the nursing positions, which can be expensive at the sides of healthcare facilities. On an average, replacing a nurse costs around $65,000 on top of the salary of the previous nurse. And, for every 1% increase in annual nursing turnover, a healthcare facility would tend to lose as much as $300,000.

Thus, the nursing shortage is not only affecting the quality of patient care, but it is also putting a weight on the healthcare facilities. To help prevent this, the healthcare facilities are recommended to review and revise their internal policies for productivity and advised to better utilize the leading-edge technology in this regard. Although this solution will not work for all the organizations, some hospitals are using robots to carry out some duties of the nurses to ease out their workload.

Improving Diversity in Nursing Workforce:

The population in the U.S. is growing more and more diverse every year. One can notice the growing diversity in terms of age, culture, and several other factors. So, it’s high time for the healthcare organizations to understand the importance of improving diversity in the nursing workforce as well. By improving diversity in the nursing workforce, the patient satisfaction can be maintained. One way to do this is to complement the existing talent force with clinically, as well as culturally trained international nurses. This way, the organizations will have access to seasoned nurses with ample experience.

How are top organizations dealing with the challenges?

Financial Incentives:

As a short-term solution, the hospitals are asking nurses to work more hours with monetary benefits. In this line, those nurses who pick up additional shifts would be paid financial incentives by the organization. However, as mentioned earlier, when nurses are overstressed, they will face burnout, which might affect the quality of healthcare being provided. Therefore, this solution will only be a very short-term one.

Travel Nurses:

Some healthcare organizations are found to be relying on travel nurses, who are temporary workers. They would work for almost thirteen weeks at a time. However, it’s to be remembered that these nurses will be tagged at high prices. Again, this can also be applied as a short-term solution.

Nursing Workforce Development Programs:

There are several nursing workforce development programs under the Public Health Service Act. These programs are known to offer grants for nursing courses, academic sites, and students with a view of attracting, educating, and supporting the nursing students. These programs would also include the loan forgiveness schemes. By boosting the funding for these programs, the nursing workforce needs could be partially met.

Long-Term Solutions are critical:

To obtain sustainability in meeting the nursing shortage, the short-term solutions are not enough. The healthcare organizations should consider the long-term solutions by working with the local, as well as regional educational institutions, to make sure that sufficient training is given to future nurses. As such, steps should be taken to encourage the millennial generation to enter into nursing and to practice it. In this line, the following ideas can be implemented:

• Paid training
• Student loan reimbursement
• Comprehensive compensation packages
• Opportunities for growth

Finally, more experienced nurses are needed to nurture the younger generation. They should come forward to mentor and teach the millennial generation on being a caregiver.