Recruiting and Retaining International Nursing during Nursing Shortage

Literature Review

The current nursing shortage has stirred significant interest among healthcare professionals and there are several researches on different aspects of the problem . Relevant studies investigating this health crisis are presented here to provide vital information concerning the shortage of nursing staff in different areas of health care delivery Similar studies involving nursing shortages in the past are also reviewed in to draw correlations with the recent shortage . These studies help identify the important factors affecting the decrease in nurses working in different hospitals throughout the country as well as

br the different strategies employed by various agencies to address the problem . Finally , the implications of these strategies in relation to the quality of patient care and patient outcomes are discussed based on the results of the reviewed literature

Nursing Shortage in the United States

The shortage of qualified candidates available for nursing staffs is a worldwide issue however , today 's challenges to fill the ever increasing void appear to be more dramatic than in previous years . The U .S , like the rest of the world , is experiencing a severe shortage of nurses There exists an abundance of literature concerning the shortage of nurses and the possible , and perhaps necessary , solutions to be implemented to address this complex issue . Sincere efforts are required in to focus on the issue of recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals

Historical Perspectives

The first schools of nursing in the United States were created during the Civil War because of difficulty in finding enough adequately trained nurses to provide patient care (Donahue , 1985 . Shortage of nurses was again created by the dramatic growth spurred increased by the Hill-Burton Act in 1946 and advanced medical care during the World War II (Andrews Dziegielewski , 2005 . The first time Federal funds were made available to increase the supply of nurses after passing `The Nurse Training Act ' of 1964 (Nurse Training Act , 1964 . Since then demand for more health care , nurses , and therefore fund and labor resources followed by the cyclic shortages in each decade

Nursing shortages have been cyclical events during the 1970s , 1980s , and early 1990s (Knox , Irving Gharrity , 2001 . The Nursing discipline has witnessed two decades of decreased enrollments of students in schools of nursing . For example , in the 1980 's , there existed a marked decrease in nursing program enrollments , which led to decreases in faculty position (Brendtro and Hegge , 2000 . When enrollment rebounded in the early 1990 's , many programs were not able to recruit full-time faculty and clinical staff nurses , since they found other opportunities and positions in nursing and other professions (Hinshaw , 2001

In 1998 , hospitals across the U .S . began to encounter a shortage of registered nurses (RNs ) in various hospital departments . Initially , the shortage was experienced mainly in the intensive care units and operating rooms . However , by 2000 , the shortage spread to the general medical wards and other surgical units (Buerhaus , Staiger Auerbach 2000 Buerhaus , Donelan , Ulrich , Norman Dittus , 2005 . This was reflected by a 2000 survey conducted by...