Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue – Nursing Shortage 

Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue – Nursing Shortage 

Health Care Economic Issue and Its Impacts on a Specific Population

A health care economic issue that has been identified is the increasing demand for healthcare when the healthcare system is experiencing a shortage of registered nurses (RNs). An aging population and a rising demand for healthcare services have strained the healthcare system and led to an artificial shortage of RNs supply in the system. Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Employment Projections 2022-2032 estimates that the supply of RNs will rise by 6% from 3.1 million as of 2022 to 3.3 million by 2032, a Health Workforce Analysis report published by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) projects that the U.S. will experience a shortage of 78,610 RNs by 2025 and 63,720 by 2030 (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2024). The most impacted population group by the nursing shortage is the elderly population. Older adults have higher health needs than other population groups; hence, a higher demand for nursing care. The shortage of nurses impacts the quality of care older people receive, with the potential for errors and inadequate care.

The Rationale for Choosing the Identified Issue

Nurses are an essential part of the health delivery system and the major frontline workers. Low nursing staff levels during a time of high demand for health services directly impact the safety and quality of healthcare services and the nurses’ emotional and physical well-being. These impacts have the potential to collapse the health system. Therefore, highlighting the rising and high demand for nursing services during low supply creates an opportunity to develop focused interventions to avoid severe shortages and improve workforce planning.

Impact of This Health Care Economic Issue on Work, Organization, Colleagues, and the Community

High patient volumes and low nurse staffing levels strain the healthcare system. For instance, the health workforce strain experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic shows that high demand during staffing shortages leads to a high workload on the available nurses, contributing to high levels of nurse burnout and compassion fatigue (Lluch-Sanz et al., 2022). Nurse burnout is a contributing factor to inefficiencies in healthcare delivery with risks of medical errors. Medical errors result in low safety and quality of care delivered to the community. At the same time, nurse shortages may lead to delays in service delivery and disparities in healthcare access. Further, burnout contributes to a low quality of life among the care professionals with a risk for higher turnover rates. Such turnover rates lead to further shortages, further impacting the quality and safety of care services while the healthcare organization suffers reputational damage and significant financial losses.

The Gap Contributing to the Need to Address the Economic Issue

The primary gap contributing to the need to address the economic issue includes an aging boomer population, including an aging workforce, high turnover rates in nursing, and an insufficient supply of nurses from training institutes. According to a report by the HRSA, although the need for baccalaureate-prepared nurses is required to increase by 80 percent, the current supply is at 69% of the expected supply (AACN, 2024). Between 2020 and 2021, the supply of RNs decreased by more than 100,000 (AACN, 2024). At the same time, the high prevalence of chronic conditions and an aging nursing professional are straining the current nursing workforce, creating the need to address the issue.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2024, 2024). Fact sheet: Nursing shortage. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Fact-Sheets/Nursing-Shortage-Factsheet.pdf

Lluch-Sanz, C., Galiana, L., Doménech-Vañó, P., & Sansó, N. (2022). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction in healthcare personnel: A systematic review of the literature published during the first year of the pandemic. Healthcare (Switzerland), 10(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/HEALTHCARE10020364/S1

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Write a brief 2-3 page report about a health care economic issue that you have identified. Address the reasons why you selected the issue you did; identify how this issue impacts the work of you, your colleagues, and your organization; and describe the gap that you see contributing to this issue.

Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue – Nursing Shortage

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Introduction
Note: Each assessment in this course builds upon the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in the order in which they are presented.

Health care economics has the potential to affect each of us either personally or professionally. This impact can be viewed from a health economics point-of-view (where we discuss the value of health care and its efficiency), or it can examine how health care is financed (focus on how health care is funded). Health economics and health care funding have the potential to influence health care outcomes in a variety of ways. As you move through this course, you will work toward developing a potential solution for a health care issue within your current or desired health care system. The goal of this assessment is to identify an economic health care issue that you will address throughout the course.

Context and Background
Health care economics has the potential to affect each of us either personally or professionally. This impact can be viewed from a health economics point-of-view (where we discuss the value of health care and its efficiency) or it can examine how health care is financed (focus on how health care is funded). Health economics and health care funding have the potential to influence health care outcomes in a variety of ways. The bulleted list below outlines topics and health care issues that many institutions encounter. Organizations often have to implement strategies or initiatives to resolve or improve these issues and create positive patient and institution outcomes.

Examples of health care economic issues:

The influence of health care economics on community health—for example, social determinants of health (such as access to care and health care finance).
Supply and demand: How do we in the health care environment exist when there are more needs from communities and patients than we have the resources to supply? An example of this would be a high number of patients and low resource levels such as staff, supplies, and equipment.
The public’s attitude toward health, disease, and the health care system—for example, how money is distributed has the potential to impact the health care outcomes of certain populations. An example of this would be the lack of access and funding for underserved and rural communities.
Other issues might include access to care, social determinants of health, senior health, food insecurity or food desserts, inadequate staffing, homelessness, rehospitalization environmental issues leading to chronic disease, et cetera.
As you move through this course, you will work toward developing a potential solution for a health care issue within your current or desired health care system. The goal of this assessment is to identify an economic health care issue that you will address throughout the course.

Later in the course, you will (a) conduct a needs analysis to justify your focus on this topic area using the literature of the field, (b) present an argument for change in your organization bolstered by a cost-benefit analysis, and (c) advocate for this change at the state level. Keep these future assessments in mind as you select your topic.

Instructions
For this assessment, you will write a brief 2–3 page report about the health care economic issue that you have identified. In addition, you will also be asked to:

Address the reasons you selected the issue.
Identify how the issue impacts the work of you, your colleagues, and your organization.
Describe the gap that you see contributing to this issue.
Be sure to address each main point. Review the assessment instructions and scoring guide, including performance-level descriptions for each criterion, to ensure you understand the work you will be asked to complete and how it will be assessed. In addition, note the requirements for document format and length and for supporting evidence.

Overall, you will be assessed on the following criteria:

Describe a health care economic issue and how it impacts a specific community or population.
Note the data, information, or observations used to support your description.
Explain the rationale for choosing your health care economic issue.
Explain how the health care economic issue has affected your work, your organization, your colleagues, and your community.
Identify the gap that is contributing to the need to address the economic issue.
Cite at least one piece of evidence to support your identification of the gap. This could be public health data, a peer-reviewed journal article, or another scholarly source.
Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
Additional Requirements
Length of Submission: 2–3 double-spaced pages.
Number of References: Cite at least one piece of evidence to support your identification of the gap. This could be public health data, a peer-reviewed journal article, or another scholarly source.
APA formatting: Titles, headings, resources, and citations are formatted according to the APA style.
Note: As you revise your writing, check out the resources listed on the Writing Center’s Writing Support page.

Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Analyze the effects of financial and economic factors (such as cost-benefit, supply and demand, return on investment, and risks) in a health care system on patient care, services offered, and organizational structures and operation.
Explain the rationale for choosing the health care economic issue.
Competency 2: Develop ethical and culturally equitable solutions to economic problems within a health care organization in an effort to improve the quality of care and services offered.
Describe a health care economic issue and how it impacts a specific community or population.
Competency 3: Justify the qualitative and quantitative information used to guide economic decision making to stakeholders and colleagues.
Identify the gap that is contributing to the need to address the economic issue.
Competency 4: Develop ethical and culturally equitable economic strategies to address dynamic environmental forces and ensure the future security of an organization’s resources and its ability to provide quality care.
Explain how the health care economic issue has affected your work, your organization, colleagues, and community.
Competency 5: Produce clear, coherent, and professional written work, in accordance with Capella writing standards.
Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.