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Nursing Shortage: Using Foreign Nurses
As a Short Term Solution
By
Andrei M. Costantino
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for H ADM 539 Health Systems Organization
The Pennsylvania State University
Fall 2001
INTRODUCTION
This paper addresses the need for a short-term solution to the current nursing shortage. There are numerous long-term solutions offered to resolve the nursing shortage, but without a solid short-term solution, many of the long-term ideas will not be effective. Foreign nurses could be used until the long-term solutions become effective in meeting future nursing requirments. ... This study found that when hospitals, at the lowest staff levels, increased their nursing staff, they reduced the risk of such complications by up to 12% and the risk of dying after surgery by up to 6% (Facklmann, 2001).
As noted above, one of the biggest impacts of the current nursing shortage is the quality of care provided due to short-staffed hospital wards. This current nursing shortage was actually started in the mid to late 1980’s when cutbacks in Medicare and other payor reimbursement led hospital administration to cut costs and downsize. The effect of this cost cutting and downsizing lead to laying off employees, including the nursing staff. ... These factors also caused experienced nurses to take early retirement, and there were few job opportunities for new nursing graduates for several years. ... These tasks put a huge burden on nursing time.
To react to the current nursing shortage, hospital administrators are using unlicensed assistants to perform more and more complicated duties. ...
Nursing shortages are not new to the health care industry. We had shortages in the past, but this one is different, evidenced by fewer nurses entering the workforce, acute nursing shortages in certain geographic areas, and, the biggest problem, the aging of the nursing population. Approximately one third of the nursing workforce is over 50 years of age and the average age of full-time nursing faculty is 49 years. ...
Projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics through 2006 show that positions for RNs will experience faster than average employment growth, with job opportunities increasing by 21 percent in nursing, versus 14 percent for all occupations. ... By 2020, the shortage is expected to total 400,000 registered nurses (Lubin, 1999). ...
The following trends affect all work environments and provide a context in which the nursing shortage is evolving (Nevidjon & Erickson, 2001):
• Time over Money – Employees today seek more personal time versus financial compensation. ... They deal with improving education, nursing image, work environment, legislation and regulation, technology, recruiting, retention, and changing models of care.
EXTERNAL & INTERNAL FACTORS
The last section described the current nursing shortage and what will happen in the next two decades. For any long-term solution to work, we currently need a stopgap measure to curtail our current shortage. Use of foreign nurse recruitment is a possible short-term solution to slow our current shortage and focus our efforts on a long term fix. ... One of the biggest drawbacks is that the nursing profession does not require nurses to have a bachelors degree. ...
Since this process takes so long, a hospital would have to be very diligent in planning for their future nursing needs. ...
Natural Resources/Demographics
We are not the only country experiencing nursing shortages. ... Other countries are starting to change nursing course curriculum and training to meet the requirements of a U. ... The foreign nurse has to receive the Commission of Graduates from Foreign Nursing School (“CGFNS”) certificate, which indicates the likelihood that the foreign nurse will pass state board exams upon arriving in the U. ... If healthcare executives do not learn new skills for valuing nurses, the risk is great that foreign nurses will leave the nursing industry.
DESIRED FUTURE
The desired future regarding the nursing shortage is to rebuild the infrastructure as it pertains to educating and retaining nurses.
Approximate Word count = 3196
Approximate Pages = 12.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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