Nursing Shortage: Impacts and Strategies

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NURSING SHORTAGE
Nursing Shortage

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NURSING SHORTAGE
Nursing Shortage
The United States is amidst a nursing shortage in rural communities coupled with the
global pandemic. The quandary may be attributed to the multifactorial variable—high
burnout rates, inadequate training, increased monetary penalties, and anxiety (Xu, Intrator,
& Bowblis 2020). It is projected that the nursing shortage may be intensified by nurses
retiring that belongs to the baby boomer generation (Saville, Dall’Ora & Griffiths 2020). The
Nursing Management Aging Workforce Survey (NMAWS) reported that 65% plan to retire
within the next five years (Saville, Dall’Ora & Griffiths 2020). With the current state of the
health care industry, workforce instability and global pandemic can cause a cataclysmic
impact on rural communities.
Rural communities are currently faced with a lack of primary care providers, as a
solution, it has been mandated that nurse practitioners may become physician extenders
and fill the medical disparity that pertains to health care services. Therefore, it is crucial
that new graduates of nursing practice in rural communities (Xu, Intrator, & Bowblis 2020).
However, meeting the current demand is especially difficult due to a lack of interest in
practicing in these communities. Some strategies proposed to remedy the predicament is to
incentivize and increase the new grad pay scale that practices in rural communities.
Secondly, invest in long-term training and professional growth by promoting in-house staff
nurses into managerial and leadership positions that requisites innovative training and
knowledge skillset. Finally, provide a flexible work schedule that accommodates the work
and life balance that encumbered nurses.