Understanding the Nursing Shortage: Search Trends and Coding Insights

Topic: Nursing Words: 841 Pages: 4

Table of Contents

Introduction
MeSH Term Search
A Coding Sheet Summary Table
References

Introduction

There have been numerous concerns over the subject of nursing shortage in the United States of America (Aiken, 2007). Such concerns are based on the fact that the increased rate of nursing shortage in the US has adversely affected the delivery of quality nursing services in the country (Shirey, 2006). In addition, such lack of enough nurses has had other impacts within the nursing sector such as re-hospitalization, increased medical errors, poor working conditions, lack of effective healthcare, as well as burnout (Hussain, Rivers, Glovert, & Fottler, 2012). Brunetto et al. (2013) pointed out that effective teamwork, better wellbeing of nurses, and efficient work relationships enhance the commitment of nurses.

For this reason, there is a need for an in-depth examination of the issue of nursing shortage in the US with a special focus on the impacts it has on the general delivery of healthcare, as well as how it should be addressed. This paper focuses on a MeSH term search and the creation of a Coding Sheet Summary table based on the subject of the nursing shortage and how it affects the quality of health care in the United States.

MeSH Term Search

The MeSH term search is based on the subject of nursing shortage in the US. However, a number of research questions are used to enhance the search around the main topic.

The major research questions are listed below:

Has the government implemented sustainable measures to deal with the decreasing number of nurse practitioners?
How does the problem of nursing shortage impact different working environments?
What are the major causes of the nursing shortage?
What can learning institutions do to address the shortage of healthcare professionals?
What does the research say about the problem of nursing shortage?
What is the relationship between the nursing shortage and healthcare delivery?
What measures have been put in place to address the problem of nursing shortage?
Why has the nursing shortage become a major issue in the United States?
Why has the nursing shortage remained a global health problem?

In this term search, the emphasis was to establish four published articles that contain relevant information that can be used in addressing the consequences of nursing shortage on the quality of healthcare services in the United States of America.

A Coding Sheet Summary Table

The table coding sheet table below covers a summary of the key components of published research on the issue of nursing shortage in the US and how such a problem can be addressed. Four published articles are used in the summary below.

Authors	Title	Research Findings and Summary
Hussain, A., Rivers, P., Glover, S., & Fottler, M.	Strategies for dealing with future shortages in the nursing workforce	This review indicates that the nursing shortage in the US has been influenced by demographic shift due to the aging baby boomer generation. To address the problem of the nursing shortage, the work environment needs to be enhanced through nurse empowerment, improved technology, open communication, as well as ensuring long-lasting partnerships.
Brunetto Y, Shriberg A, Farr-Wharton R, Shacklock K, Newman S, Dienger J.	The importance of supervisor-nurse relationships, teamwork, wellbeing, affective commitment and retention of North American nurses	This article uses the Social Exchange Theory to establish any significant relationship between turnover intentions of nurses in the US and the supervisor-nurse relationships, psychological wellbeing, as well as teamwork. The review indicates that the commitment of nurses to any hospital, as well as their intentions to leave, is determined by their wellbeing, teamwork, and supervisor-nurse relationships. Thus, to solve the problem of the nursing shortage, there is a need for improved working environments.
Aiken, L.H	US nurse labor market dynamics are key to global nurse sufficiency.	One of the major causes of the shortages of nurses in the US is low production capacity among US nursing schools. This problem has increased the demand for nurses from other countries. Such a scenario has adverse effects on the health sector of lower-income countries and does not help in addressing the problem of nursing shortage in U.S. Expansion of the capacity of nursing schools in the U.S and the implementation of evidence-based approaches within the nursing profession can help to retain, as well as increase the productivity of nurses in the country and hence, avert shortages of nurses in the future.
Shirey, M.R	Authentic leaders creating healthy work environments for nursing practice	The efficiency of leadership within the nursing sector plays a significant role in ensuring the delivery of quality services. Such an assertion is based on the fact that authentic leadership creates a healthy working environment for the nursing workforce. Better working conditions for nurses reduce the stress associated with the profession and hence, ensure that there are few cases of absenteeism, disability, and burnout. This article highlights that the healthcare sector in the U.S should focus on the creation of critical aspects of healthy working conditions. Such conditions can be achieved through the implementation of authentic leadership, meaningful recognition of nurses, appropriate staffing, effective decision making, true collaboration, as well as skilled communication.

References

Aiken, L. (2007). U.S. nurse labor market dynamics are key to global nurse sufficiency. Health Services Research, 42(32), 1299-1320.

Brunetto, Y., Shriberg, A., Farr-Wharton, R., Shacklock, K., Newman, S., & Dienger, J. (2013). The importance of supervisor-nurse relationships, teamwork, wellbeing, affective commitment, and retention of North American nurses. Journal Of Nursing Management, 21(6), 827-837.

Hussain, A., Rivers, P., Glovert, S., & Fottler, M. (2012). Strategies for dealing with future shortages in the nursing workforce: a review. Health Services Management Research, 25(1), 41-47.

Shirey, M. (2006). Authentic leaders creating healthy work environments for nursing practice. Journal of Critical Care, 15(3), 256-267.