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Nursing staffing shortages worldwide

Prior studies have described the types of strategies that hospitals and Nurse Staffing agencies have used to deal with nurse shortages. Short-term solutions intended to fill immediate vacancies include increasing salaries, using temporary nursing staffing, or offering sign-on bonuses. Longer-term responses for creating more sustained growth in the nurse staffing workforce include providing financial support for nursing education and changing the nurses work environment.

Part of the reason why nursing staffing job burn out is the shortage itself. With fewer nurses entering the work force, hospitals and clinics are forced to keep their existing nurses on the floor for longer than they normally would work. These nurses become frustrated and exhausted when having to care for a larger group of patients because of the lack of nurses available. This frustration and exhaustion can lead to job dissatisfaction which can greatly influence a nurse’s work environment. Nursing Staffing shortages and turnover rates have been reported to be the highest in critical care facilities, in which nurses are worked for long hours and have to care for more patients then they feel they can safely care for.

Despite research on national trends in nurse supply and discussion of potential hospital strategies to ease the shortage, limited information exists on exactly which strategies hospitals have implemented on nurse staffing and how these strategies have affected hospitals. Hospitals have used a mix of short-term and long-term strategies to deal with nurse staffing shortages, particularly efforts emphasizing nurse education, competitive compensation, permanent staffing and temporary staffing.

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Jean Morris is a writer for startanursestaffingagency.com, who specializes in nurse staffing topics.

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