Staffing Crisis for Nurses and the Supply of Mental Health Care

Running head: STAFFING CRISIS FOR NURSES 1
The Interconnection between Staffing Crisis for Nurses and the Supply of Mental Health
Care
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Institutional Affiliation

STAFFING CRISIS FOR NURSES 2
1. Introduction
Mental health is the level at which an individual is psychologically well off or lack of any
mental disease (Galderisi, Heinz, Kastrup, Beezhold, & Sartorius, 2015). It is a great aspect of
peoples' lives because it is the main contributor towards an individual’s overall health.
Worldwide, there is a great discrepancy between the demand for mental health care and its
supply due to its direct interconnection with nurses staffing crisis. The prevalence of mentally ill
people in many nations and those requiring specialized mental health care is high. On the
contrary, only less than half of these individuals are able to receive the care that they require.
Consequently, the cases of permanent brain damage have increased greatly. Such people are also
usually at higher risks of suffering from other health conditions. As a result, the quality of life of
individuals having mental illnesses is usually reduced greatly. The effect of the lack of sufficient
mental health care is also felt at the societal level. There are various reasons that bring about the
discrepancy between demand and supply of mental health care (Brenman, Luitel, Mall, Mall, &
Jordans, 2014). Lack of sufficient nursing staff in mental health facilities is one such factor. This
report, therefore, seeks to address the issue of staffing crisis amongst nurses, impacts of the issue
to various parties, an approach available for the problem and the changes that could be
implemented to improve the issue. The report is addressed to the government, for it is the
supreme authority with immediate power to intervene in the issue.
2. Description of the issue
Staffing crisis for nurses also commonly referred to as nursing shortage is described as the
situation at which the supply of nursing professionals is exceeded by its demand in healthcare
facilities either at local, national or even global level. The common points of measurement to
determine the shortage include; nurse to population ratio, nurse to patient ratio, or the total

STAFFING CRISIS FOR NURSES 3
number of job openings (Haddad & Toney-Butler, 2018). Nurses’ shortage is a common scenario
around the globe more so in developed and developing countries, which always capture the
attention of the entire world. It is, however, worth noting that the low supply of trained nurses is
not necessarily the cause of nurses' shortage. There have been various instances in many nations
where shortages have occurred simultaneously with a high rate of admission of learners into
nursing training centers, which is highly contradicting. A global estimate of 4.3 million nurses is
the reported shortage emanating from the World Health Organization (World Health
Organization, 2017). WHO attributes this high figures to low investment in; training, working
environment, management, wages and education of health workers by various nations. In
Australia, a shortage of approximately eighty-five thousand nurses by 2025 and the number set
to rise to one hundred and twenty-three by 2030 is forecasted by the Department of Health.
Subsequently, the mentioned shortages affect the supply of mental health care adversely. This is
due to lack of nurses to administer the required care.
3. Key contributors to the issue
a. An Aging Registered Nurses Workforce.
It is a bitter fact that only a few numbers of the younger population are entering into the
nursing profession. Subsequently, the average age of nurses who are in practice is continuously
rising. Recent reports indicate that 45.2 is the average age of nurses currently. It, therefore, goes
without saying that the number of new nurses to replace the aging ones are not enough (Russell,
2016). Additionally, those available cannot match the quality, experience, competence, and skills
level of the aging nurses. With nursing being considered as an occupation mainly for women,
expansion of career opportunities have impacted the number of women entering in the field.
Women have ventured into other careers they consider more paying and interesting than nursing.

STAFFING CRISIS FOR NURSES 4
Aging RNs are also more susceptible to feet, neck and back injuries. Subsequently, they are
constantly on sick leaves and thus contributing to a huge demand-supply gap in the provision of
mental health care.
b. Aging of Baby Boomers
The aging and subsequent retirement of people born after the end of World War II is
another reason attributed to the shortage of nurses. In the years that followed after the 1940s,
more than seventy million children (baby boomers) were born worldwide (BRADLEY
UNIVERSITY, 2016). There is a direct proportional relationship between age and demand for
mental health care. With the baby boomers advancing in age, a significant number of them
develop mental health problems that calls for medical attention. The main factors that make the
demand of mental health care among the elderly rise are work related stress, depressions, as well
as various life encounters that could have led to deterioration of mental health. Nurses’ shortage
comes into existence when the number of baby boomers requiring mental health care increases
but there is no proportional increase in the number of nurses in mental health facilities (LeRouge,
et al., 2014).
c. Nurses recruitment and retention challenges.
Often used as an indicator of retention or recruitment problem is the rate of job turnover.
The inadequacy of recruitment and retention policies of mental health care workers demonstrates
the shortage symptom (Stilwell, Dolea, & Zurn, 2005). The severity of shortages varies in
various nations across the globe with the African region being the worst hit. The magnitude of
shortages can be assessed using a variety of factors that are directly related to recruitment and
retention challenge. These indicators include; turnover rates, vacancy rates, absenteeism as well