A Strategy to Address the Shortage of Nurses and Nurse Turnovers

The shortage of nurses, as well as the overall nurse turnover, has been quite a challenge in eh medical profession lately. This issue has, in the past, significantly affected nurses as they strive to offer the best medical care to their patients and causes a challenge to the medical sector as a whole. Among the most commonly experienced negative results due to nurse shortage in hospitals are job dissatisfaction for the available nurses, elevated levels of nurse turnover, and reduced effectiveness of care to patients. The issue of nurse turnover and the nursing shortage can effectively be addressed through the comparison between the nurse leaders' expectations and the views of the managers.

In any medical facility, patients need to be treated with dignity, courtesy, and the kindness that they deserve. However, to achieve adequate medical maintenance, both the medical managers and the nurse leaders have to play their shared accountabilities to the best of their abilities. Other than describing the issue at hand and giving the different views of leaders and managers, this paper also provides my opinion on the best approach that can be applied to achieve the best results in the profession.

As a strategy for correcting the scarcity of nurses in hospitals, it is the role of nurse managers to allocate bonuses and other coverages to nurses. Given the average age that is expected of a nurse to work, managers are facing the challenge of maintaining patients' care services with the available staff. Due to the complicated nature of the profession, nursing managers have to keep a close look at the old nurses. More so, they have to create new technologies which will enhance the efficiency of the practice.

Holding workforces is also the role of nursing managers. They achieve this by offering nurses feedback that enables them to know that their services are valued. Motivational strategies like increments in salary can be applicable. A positive outcome is also facilitated through the formulation of standard policies, and in the medical profession, nurse managers are responsible for generating the governing policies. Nurse Managers are held liable for the general management of any particular nursing unit. Their behavior directly determines the perception and attitude of the rest of the staff. To regulate nurse turn-out and reduce the shortage of nurses in hospitals, nurse managers have to ensure a safe working environment and clearly, define their daily duties.

On the other hand, nurse leaders ensure the commitment of nurses in the organizations they serve so that they can retain as many nurses as possible. Their strategies mainly aim at addressing the issues that affect nurse shortage in one way or another. Additionally, leaders are required to provide orientation and mentorship and conduct staff development programs for nurses.

The other approach that nurse leaders employ in an attempt to address the issue of nurse shortage in hospitals is that they create a conducive working environment. They make sure that nurses offer their services to patients in the most efficient and safest manner. Nurse leaders also play a pivotal role in nurse turnover. They have the authority to determine who remains in the organization and who leaves. Additionally, nurse leaders offer support and direction to the rest of the staff. Among the most common approaches toward keeping nurses include recognizing the nurses' efforts, communication, and autonomy.

In my view, nurse leaders and managers can come up with more visionary goals that are solely geared towards decreasing the level of nurse shortage and nurse turnover based on the preferences and the interests of the nursing staff. They can employ interpersonal, conceptual as well as technical skills to ensure that there are enough numbers of nurses in medical centers. The essence of applying interpersonal skills such as communication is to ensure that nurse leaders and managers make informed decisions regarding the nurses.

Additionally, nurse leaders and managers ought to be in a position to identify the most effective means of approaching any issue affecting the nurses. They must have excellent planning skills to ensure that the loss of one or more nurses does not cause detrimental effects on service provision to the patients. More so, leaders and managers should exhibit high virtues to help them create favorable working conditions for the nurses. For this to happen, both of them have to show magnificent communication skills to make sure that whenever issues among nurses are raised, they can quickly and hastily be handled (Finkler, Kovner & Jones, 2007). I also think that both nurse leaders and managers should be able to evaluate the base causes of the nursing shortage and nurse turnover. As such, they can quickly decide on the best strategies to control the issue.

The one approach that would best be suitable for professional philosophy would be the transformational leadership approach. The main reason for suggesting this approach is because it eventually results in high-level performance at the workplace. In the varied medical conditions and situations that nurses encounter in their daily operations, this method would ensure minimal disruptions. The transformational leadership approach facilitates teamwork or more efficient results; when the nurses work as a team, they experience an improvement in their service provision. In my person, either as a nurse leader or as a manager, I will empower fellow nurses and mentor each of them in the best way possible to become a leader in the future. Through the implementation of this approach, I will also be able to treat all the nurses in a valuable manner as well as enable them to practice the various ethical principles outlined in the policies.

Overly, the medical profession is facing a challenge in the nursing shortage and nurse turn-out, something that needs immediate intervention so as to ensure that patients continue receiving care. Whenever an aged nurse retires, a nurse manager or leader may be unable to balance the work with the remaining staff. To control the level of nurse shortage; therefore, managers and heads have to implement some strategies. Effective communication and the creation of a favorable working environment are among the moves.

References

1. Finkler, S. A., Kovner, C. T., & Jones, C. B. (2007). Financial management for nurse managers and executives Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier
2. Mcdermid, F., Peters, K., Jackson, D., & Daly, J. (2012). Factors contributing to the shortage of nursing faculty: A review of the literature Nurse Education Today, 32(5), 565–569

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