Nursing Shortage in Canada
Nurses comprise the largest portion of health care professionals and are involved in direct patient care as front-liners. Nurses are considered the backbone of the health care system. In any health care setting, whether it is in the hospital or the community setting, nurses are needed in more numbers than any other medical professionals. However, the discrepancy between the availability of nurses and the demand is problematic as it directly affects the nursing care, patient’s outcomes, and ultimately the health care system. From my personal experience, I have seen many patients have wait even for their pain medications because the nurses must cover the extra patient load. Patients have complications, such as pressure …show more content…
Thus, the news of the nursing shortage is often heard and can be seen in the news media. As a nurse back home and a nursing student in Canada, I have been reading, hearing, and experiencing the shortage of nurses in the health care setting. From the past to present, the nursing shortage is discussed as the issue of healthcare globally and nationally. Various factors are associated with the shortage of nurses in the country. I will argue that the international/local migration of nurses, increased number of the population and health care demands, as well as the lack of adequate Registered Nurse (RN) positions, are factors that have contributed to the nursing shortage. Therefore, tracking the reasons for nurses’ migration, balanced workload, adequate support systems to tackle the problem in a clinical setting, and the availability of adequate funding for recruiting nurses are the strategies that can be implemented to overcome the nursing shortage in …show more content…
The poor patients' outcome ultimately affects the Canadian health care system. Therefore, responding to this issue is of heightened importance. Strategies, such as understanding the factors leading to nurses’ migration out of the country or out of provinces, measures to balance the nurse ratio with the increasing number of population, and recruiting an adequate number of nurses for bedside care should be implemented to overcome the
Nurses comprise the largest portion of health care professionals and are involved in direct patient care as front-liners. Nurses are considered the backbone of the health care system. In any health care setting, whether it is in the hospital or the community setting, nurses are needed in more numbers than any other medical professionals. However, the discrepancy between the availability of nurses and the demand is problematic as it directly affects the nursing care, patient’s outcomes, and ultimately the health care system. From my personal experience, I have seen many patients have wait even for their pain medications because the nurses must cover the extra patient load. Patients have complications, such as pressure …show more content…
Thus, the news of the nursing shortage is often heard and can be seen in the news media. As a nurse back home and a nursing student in Canada, I have been reading, hearing, and experiencing the shortage of nurses in the health care setting. From the past to present, the nursing shortage is discussed as the issue of healthcare globally and nationally. Various factors are associated with the shortage of nurses in the country. I will argue that the international/local migration of nurses, increased number of the population and health care demands, as well as the lack of adequate Registered Nurse (RN) positions, are factors that have contributed to the nursing shortage. Therefore, tracking the reasons for nurses’ migration, balanced workload, adequate support systems to tackle the problem in a clinical setting, and the availability of adequate funding for recruiting nurses are the strategies that can be implemented to overcome the nursing shortage in …show more content…
The poor patients' outcome ultimately affects the Canadian health care system. Therefore, responding to this issue is of heightened importance. Strategies, such as understanding the factors leading to nurses’ migration out of the country or out of provinces, measures to balance the nurse ratio with the increasing number of population, and recruiting an adequate number of nurses for bedside care should be implemented to overcome the