Nursing shortage is the issue that bothers the population for approximately one decade (Andrist et al., 2006). To improve the situation in the sphere of nursing and encourage people to study the basics of nursing, the government takes a number of steps like utilizing the sources, human-resource associations, and salary (Feldman, 2003). In this paper, two articles about nursing shortage and possible improvements will be analyzed: one article is written by Lee and devoted to the essence of nursing shortage and the ideas to be implemented to resolve the problems in the nursing sphere; and the second article is created by Fox and Abrahamson who make an attempt to analyze the role of foreign nurses in the United States and to investigate the process of recruiting as a priority in nursing. These two articles help to understand the challenges connected to nursing shortages and define the steps which may improve the situation and encourage more people to nursing.
In the article The Nursing Shortage: Insights and Perceptions, the author’s main purposes are to investigate the reasons of nursing shortage in America from legal, social, and economic perspectives and to find out the most effective approaches to resolve nursing shortage. Collaboration between schools and hospitals, involvement of nurses into solving the challenges, and legal regulations which may help patients and nurses decrease their cost are the key points of the article. The powerful aspect of this work is the identification of true intentions and clear steps which may be done. Lee (2002) underlines that the time when money could be threw to motivate nurses is in the past. Though money plays an important role, it is wrong to make use of them all the time. In one hospital, I observed the situation when the government offered financial help, still money was spent on some specialized tools. However, not all nurses were aware of how to use them. It was possible to spend money on training and improvement of personal qualities and traits to promote professional growth that is possible to nursing cooperation.
In the article A Critical Examination of the U.S. Nursing Shortage: Contributing Factors, Public Policy Implications by Fox and Abrahamson, the attention to the causes which influence shortage and the perspectives on the recruiting foreign nurses is paid. The main purpose set by the authors is to prove that interruption of foreign nurses to the American healthcare system is not characterized by pure negative aspects. There are many foreign-born nurses who are eager to contribute American nursing and provide patients with appropriate care. However, one of the key points of the article is that the vast majority of patients cannot accept the idea that they could be treated by foreigners. The idea of recruiting foreign nurses is usually opposed by labor unions and some patient advocates (Fox & Abrahamson, 2009). For example, I observed as one patient reduces the services of a nurse who came from India. As a result of numerous discussions, the nurse was changed. But it happened that the patient left his room to buy some food, and heart attack began suddenly. And the nurse, the services of whose were rejected, helped the man and saved his life being not fat from him. When the time to save a human life comes, patients do not pay much attention to the roots of nurses. Everything that does matter is health and life; and professional nurses are ready to help anytime.
Nursing care has to undergo considerable changes in order to reduce the rates of nursing shortage and provide patients with proper and effective services. The articles under analysis help to realize that resolution of shortage and improvement of services depend on numerous factors. This is why it is necessary to study the chosen field as soon as possible and start implementing innovations to strengthen the sphere of nursing and get more chances to treat people well.
Reference List
Andrist, L.C., Nicholas, P.K., Wolf, K.A., & Wolf, K. (2006). A History of Nursing Ideas. Mississauga: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Feldman, H.R. (2003). The Nursing Shortage: Strategies for Recruitment and Retention in Clinical Practice and Education. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Fox, R.L. & Abrahamson, K. (2009). A Critical Examination of the U.S. Nursing Shortage: Contributing Factors, Public Policy Implications. Nursing Forum, 44(4), 235-244.
Lee, S.A. (2002). The Nursing Shortage: Insights and Perceptions. Frontiers of Health Services Management, 19(2), 3-21.