Addressing the problems related to organizational behavior requires the participation of different stakeholders. Relevant academic resources offer valuable insights into the raised issue of the shortage of registered nurses. By integrating the topics discussed in these sources, one can identify the background to the problem and the concomitant factors that exacerbate the situation. Poor human resource management is one of the key issues associated with the shortage of qualified nursing staff in the hospital.
The ABC Center is an institution that promotes healthcare services not only locally but also outside the state, maintaining contact with Madrid, Spain, as part of its expansion program. In this regard, a cross-cultural approach to establishing interaction with employees is an essential aspect of organizational activities. Gibson and McDaniel (2020) noted that the inability to address the professional interests of workers related to distinctive cultures directly correlated with their low performance and stress. These factors, in turn, are serious prerequisites for staff reduction and interfere with ethical management. As Gibson and McDaniel (2020) argued, collective cognition, as a factor in determining the success of a team, was formed through an individual approach to the needs of subordinates. In the case of the ABC Center, this nuance is ignored, which leads to the problem of the shortage of qualified nursing staff.
In light of the problem presented, the practice of engagement deserves particular attention, which is obviously weak in the ABC Center. The staff of the institution cannot count on the support of the management and the HR department. Wan et al. (2018) analyzed this issue within the Chinese healthcare system and stated that nurse leaders often ignored the variable of engagement. Given that the hospital in question is actively working to reduce staff to save money, such an organizational policy cannot promote employee retention. In their research, Wan et al. (2018) showed that “the two job characteristics dimensions of skill variety and autonomy scored lower than all other dimensions” (p. 419). This means that insufficient target work with the staff entails subordinates’ dissatisfaction with the working conditions and, consequently, high turnover.
Given the difficulties in retaining the nursing staff, the ABC Center management should organize the workflow not to save money but to optimize interaction with subordinates to reduce unnecessary costs of hiring new employees and meet the ethical principles of work, not allowing bias toward subordinates. In this regard, the findings by Both-Nwabuwe et al. (2017) are relevant. The researchers remarked that advanced roles promoted for nurses in healthcare institutions contributed to enhancing specialists’ interest in improving their performance (Both-Nwabuwe et al., 2017). For the hospital in question, this outcome is critical, and an opportunity to provide subordinates with skills-intensive responsibilities is a potentially successful initiative.
Finally, the root of the ABC Center’s shortage of registered nurses is the inefficiency of the HR department. In their analysis, Lowman and Harms (2022) noted that the tasks of responsible specialists provided for the organization of colleagues’ working regime, including the establishment of a schedule, assistance in resolving conflict situations, and other aspects. However, in the hospital in question, these activities are ignored, which indicates the incompetence of the HR department and its failure to create an ethically supportive environment. The organization is not ready to make concessions to qualified employees and offer effective retention tools. As a result, registered nurses quit or are fired, resulting in labor shortages.
Thus, when combining the findings from the reviewed sources, one can note that the ABC Center should reorganize the human resources management system and promote more flexible methods of interaction with employees. The cost of hiring new professionals is not justified if no effort is made to retain the current staff. Promoting engagement practices and reforming the activities of the HR department are valuable initiatives to implement to address the shortage of registered nurses.
References
Both‐Nwabuwe, J. M., Dijkstra, M. T., Klink, A. B., & Beersma, B. (2017). Maldistribution or scarcity of nurses? The devil is in the detail. Journal of Nursing Management, 26(2), 86-93. Web.
Gibson, C. B., & McDaniel, D. M. (2010). Moving beyond conventional wisdom: Advancements in cross-cultural theories of leadership, conflict, and teams. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 450-462. Web.
Lowman, G. H., & Harms, P. D. (2022). Addressing the nurse workforce crisis: A call for greater integration of the organizational behavior, human resource management and nursing literatures. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 37(3), 294-303. Web.
Wan, Q., Zhou, W., Li, Z., Shang, S., & Yu, F. (2018). Work engagement and its predictors in registered nurses: A cross‐sectional design. Nursing & Health Sciences, 20(4), 415-421. Web.