Nursing Issues in Australia - Staff Shortage - Essay Example

Nursing Issues in Australia - Staff Shortage Introduction Nurses are a vital component of the healthcare workforce. The nurses help patients who are unwell to recover their health. They are a valuable part of the human resource. This is because they take the responsibility of maintaining the quality of health standard (Elder et Al, 2009, p. 102). This paper seeks to examine the causes of nursing shortages, effects and the solution to the problem. Australia if facing nursing shortages, this poses a threat to the nation’s wellbeing. Causes of Nursing Shortage The demography of Australian population is changing. The aging population is higher than the younger generation. Projections show that, by the year 2021, twenty three percent of the population in Australia will be over sixty years of age. This has a double implication on the health care system. One, the work force, is shrinking which means a reduction in the number of working nurses. Two, the nation will be facing a high incidence of chronic diseases and degenerative diseases. The demand of the specialize services of the nurses is increasing at a higher rate than the expansion of the workforce. Most families are not willing or are unable to take care of their aged at home. This put the burden of caring for this population on the health workers (Elder et Al, 2009, p. 137). The social and employment pattern for women is changing. The health workforce especially nursing has predominantly been women. The changing pattern of workforce causing a shortage as the women is opting to work in other sectors. In Australia, the shortage of nurses is aggravating because of the number of nurses that are departing. As the nurses leave the profession, others are not joining as nurses. The working conditions of the nurses are not favorable causing nurses’ dissatisfaction. When alternative opportunities arise they exist. Further, the recruitment of nurses is low in comparison with the demand. There is a pool of nurses that are not willing to work in the health workforce. This brings an imbalance between the demand and the supply of nurses. The shortage of nurses is as a result of the number of students training the profession. The institutions that are offering the course have financial constrains (Chaboyer et Al, 2006, p. 467). This limits the admission of students beyond a certain number. The institutions are also suffering from a shortage of educator in the nursing faculties. These limitations lead to a low output of qualified staff. These are part of the contemporary issues affecting the profession of nursing. The nation also experiences a delay in the registration process of the nurse which negatively impacts on the nursing as a profession. Effects of the nursing shortage Service delivery and effectiveness of public health is largely dependent on the nurses. The shortage has an implication in the number of hours that the nurses have to work (Dally et al, 2009, p. 34). As the workload increase, due to increase in the demand of nursing services, the nurses have to work for longer duration. This leads to fatigue of nurses and a decrease in the quality of service that nurses are able to offer. The shortage of nursing staff leads to work overload for the nurses. The work overload has a negative side effect on the health of the nurses. As they continue to work excessively their health deteriorates, and they can suffer from a nervous breakdown. The health condition of the nurses affects the services that they deliver. Their concentration on the patient care goes down. Thus, the quality of the services that patients receive becomes poor. The effectiveness of the nurses has an implication in the health of the patients. As the ratio, of patients to nurses become small the rate of infections in the health facilities become high. The serving of patients is slow, making it necessary for patients to stay for longer periods in the hospital (Dally et Al, 2009, p. 342). These patients stay in the hospital for longer periods increasing the likelihood of the getting other infections. Therefore, the shortage of nurse compounds the problem of the patients. The patients form part of the human resource in the country. When the health services are efficient people are able to visit the health care facilities and then proceed to their work station. However, with a system that has inadequate nurse the patients stay longer in the hospital. This leads to a loss of human resource time. The country will suffer a higher financial loss as a result of increase in the disease burden. The inadequacy of the health system makes people look for alternative home remedies to their health problems. This will lead to more people doing self diagnosis and seeking for medication from the chemists. This kind of conduct is risky to the health of the nation. This is because people will be taking the wrong drugs, and when the situation unmanageable they go to health centers as emergency cases. The shortage of nurses leads to overcrowding in the health facilities. When patients are many, it becomes difficult for the nurses to detect emergency cases early. The delay in attending of the emergency cases leads to deaths that are preventable (Chaboyer et al, 2006, p. 240). The duration that a nurse has to attend a patient is small. The scarcity of time for consideration of the patients’ safety makes complications to go undetected. The shortage of nurses compromises service provision in the health sector. The number of deaths among the patients is going to increase. This is because the patients will lack immediate attention in cases of situations like heart arrest and shock. As the nurses cope with the stress of work overload the incidences of medical errors will be frequent. This will increase readmissions into the hospital. The work of the nurse will constantly increase putting pressure on the nurses and the hospital administration. Solution to the nursing shortage Solving the problem of the nursing shortage has to become a priority for all the public health stakeholders in Australia. This can be done by increasing the resources available for nursing educational needs (Tschudin, 2008, p. 98). The institutions offering the nursing courses need funding. This funding will go to the expansion of the nursing capacity, in order to increase student admissions. Further, there should be funding to the students to enable the further their education in the nursing field. This will increase the teachings manpower that will involve in the training of nurses. Nursing as a career is not attractive in terms of the financial prospect that it offers. There should be a review of the nurse’s wages to make them competitive with other profession (Dally et Al, 2009, p. 56). This will attract people to join this profession. In addition, the retaining of the existing manpower will be possible. The system should absorb registered nurses from minority groups. Further, the Australian public health sector should be open to the employment of foreigner. This will work to fill the gap between demand and supply. The health care facilities should seek the services of the staffing agents. This will give room for nurse that want to work on hourly bases. This will make it possible to fill the gaps existing in the service provision. When people understand and get interested in nursing, we shall have high enrollment and output (Buckis, 2006, p. 345). The health care facilities with the proper working conditions and attractive wages will attract and retain the nurses. If the concerned party, would collaborate to that end then the problem of the nursing shortage will be no more. It is crucial to involve the nurses in the process of making policies that affect them. This will empower the nurses be able to voice their concerns and opinions (Tschudin, 2008, p. 73). This will increase nurse’s moral as they will feel that their presence and services are significant. The level of job satisfaction among the nurses will be high. The nurse themselves will be able to attract other people in the nursing profession. Conclusion The Australian population has been having quality services for a long time. Therefore, the community expects that whenever they need the attention of the nurses, the nurses will be there to serve them (Buckis, 2006, p. 273). The shortage of nurses is a challenge when it comes to addressing the expectation of this population. The management has to look for a solution to the shortage for it is easier than the adjusting of people’s attitude and expectations. The effects of this shortage affect the existing workforce. The nurses have to work for many hours to fill the shortage gap. However, they may be unable to cope with working extended hour. The public health stakeholders have to seek a solution for the problem for the whole population of Australia will feel the effect of the shortage. The discussion above offers the possible ways through which the problem of shortage is approachable. Bibliography Daly, J., speedy, S., & Jackson, D. (2009).Contexts of nursing: an introduction. Chatswood, N.S.W., Elsevier Australia. Elder, R., evans, K., & Nizette, D. (2009).Psychiatric and mental health nursing. Sydney [etc.], Mosby. Tschudin, V. (2008).The globalisation of nursing. Oxford, Radcliffe Publ. Buckis, C. (2006). Nursing: Australia.Ultimo, N.S.W., Career FAQs. Chaboyer, W., Elliott, D., & Aitken, L. (2006).ACCCNs critical care nursing. Marrickville, N.S.W., Elsevier Australia. Read More