As you well know, we are in the midst of a nursing shortage that is only expected to worsen in the coming years. The current and future nursing shortage should cause nurses and all others impacted by healthcare (which is everyone) to worry. As nurses, we are concerned about the quality of care we can provide with limited resources. As current or future users of healthcare, we should also be concerned about the nursing shortage, cost of healthcare, and limited healthcare resources. Those of us who are baby boomers and rapidly approaching retirement should be especially concerned. Now, mind you, my retirement is years and years and years away. However, I still worry about who will provide my healthcare when I am ill, who will help me stay healthy, the cost of any prescription medications, and my choice (if any) of healthcare provider.
It is predicted that there will be a shortage of 1 million nurses by 2020.1 There are a myriad of reasons for the current nursing shortage. These include, but are not limited to,2-6
1. Problems with recruitment and retention
2. Shortage of nursing faculty
3. Job stress
4. Negative work environment
5. Decreased nurse job satisfaction
6. Aging population
7. Dissatisfaction expressed by nurses
8. Decline in earning when compared to other careers
9. High turnover rates
10. Aging workforce
11. Lack of opportunity for advancement
12. Poor nurse-physician relationships
Many hospitals, clinics, home health agencies, and other healthcare providers are currently taking measures to combat the problem. These include, but are not limited to,2-7
1. Implementing recruitment bonuses
2. Implementing a clinical ladder program to keep experienced nurses at the bedside and still advance in their career
3. Working with high school counselors to promote a more positive image of nursing
4. The hospital working to achieve and/or maintain Magnet status
5. Offering scholarships to nursing students
6. Changing care delivery systems
7. Recruiting nurses from foreign countries
8. Taking measures to improve job satisfaction
9. Taking steps to improve nurse-physician relations
10. Implementing flexible work hours
Sometimes, though, I wonder if we as nurses are partially to blame for the shortage. Maybe, we are the worst enemy. In the past few months, I have seen and heard things said or done by nurses that make me cringe. Now, I have the occasional bad day just like everyone else. And there have been times when I wished I had chosen a different profession. There are those days I wish I dipped cones at Dairy Queen or worked with big cats and bears at the local zoo. But fortunately, these thoughts do not last long and I remember why I became a nurse in the first place. Usually, it is something small like a patient's smile, a sincere thank you, a successful outcome, or a hug from a grateful patient's family that reminds me why I chose nursing. Balance is then restored, and I realize I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing. I can and do make a difference in the lives of others.
So it does upset me when I see or hear nurses do something that discourages others from entering our profession. Over the past years, I have encountered or heard of nurses making disparaging remarks about our profession to others. Examples include the following:
1. Several of my nursing students have told me that staff nurses tell them during their clinical rotation to get out while they still can. This is very discouraging to them particularly because this is the profession they have chosen and are eager to learn.
2. I was at dinner with several colleagues. Our server told us she was a nursing student at one of the local universities. One of my colleagues told her to rethink her decision and then began to tell her some of the things she believed were wrong with our profession, and she provided examples. Fortunately, the rest of us spoke of positive experiences.
3. A respiratory therapist told me he heard a critical care nurse telling a patient all that is wrong with nursing and that she wished she had chosen a different career.
4. A friend of my daughter told me that her high school counselor discouraged her from entering nursing. The counselor told her she was too smart to be a nurse and should become a physician. This young woman chose nursing and is currently a pediatric critical care nurse.
I truly hope that these are rare occurrences, but I doubt it. We should strive to be ambassadors of nursing. We should do all we can to promote a positive image of nursing. Some things we can do include the following:
1. When you hear a colleague make disparaging remarks to students or patients, discuss it with them later. Speak to them about the positive aspects of nursing.
2. When you do have a bad day (and we all do), try to keep your negative comments concerning nursing to yourself or talk to your friends/colleagues in an effort to blow off steam.
3. Never criticize nursing to patients and/or their family. Patients depend on nurses to provide excellent care and may worry if they believe the nurse caring for them does not like the job.
4. Offer to speak at career days at local schools.
5. For those of you who have friends in the media, ask them to promote a positive image of nursing through print, television, or the Internet.
6. For those who teach in schools of nursing, talk to your students about any negative experience they may have in the clinical area.
Please remember, we desperately need nurses for today and the future. We will need nurses to provide our care. Don't you want someone who is enthusiastic about nursing to provide your care? Or would you prefer someone who does not like nursing? I believe the answer is obvious. We should promote a positive image of nursing and remember to serve as an ambassador for nursing. We should build nursing up, not tear it down. After all, we will all benefit in the end.
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