Needs Analysis for Change – Nursing Shortage

Needs Analysis for Change – Nursing Shortage

The Chosen Economic Issue and Its Impact

The chosen economic issue in healthcare is the increasing demand for healthcare when the healthcare system is experiencing a shortage of registered nurses (RNs). Nursing shortage is a current and ongoing issue of concern that is getting worse. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) estimates that the United States will have a shortage of 78,610 RNs by 2025 and 63,720 by 2030 (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2024). In other estimates based on the post-COVID-19 pandemic trends, the shortage of RNs is expected to be between 200,000 to 450,000, specifically in the delivery of direct patient care by 2025 and 2030, respectively. At the same time, the U.S. is experiencing an increasing demand for healthcare services. The causes of this high demand and the shortage of nurses are multifactorial. These include an aging population combined with a large portion of the population, both young and old, living with and at risk of chronic conditions. Besides these, the gap contributing to the nursing shortage is an aging nursing workforce that is retiring, coupled with a reduced number of nurses graduating from learning institutions, which is further increasing the shortage.

The reasons to choose and focus on the issue of high demand for nursing care and nursing shortage are due to the impact of such issues on the quality and safety of patient care, the impact on individual nurse’s well-being, and the overall effects on the healthcare system. Highlighting the issue and developing in-depth evidence on the contributing gap and its impacts can guide investment into healthcare workforce training and evidence-based workforce planning to meet current and future demands.

The increasing demand for healthcare services and the current nursing shortage have an impact on my work, the organization, my colleagues, and the community in general. On the part of work and colleagues, high demand and shortage of RNs increase the workload on the available workforce. Additionally, these shortages have impacts at the community and organizational levels, with the community experiencing longer wait times and limited access to low-quality care while organizations are at risk of poor financial and reputational outcomes.

Socioeconomic or Diversity Disparities Due to Nursing Shortage

The shortage of RNs has resulted in socioeconomic and diversity disparities in healthcare settings. A majority of elderly populations experience major challenges in accessing healthcare services as fewer new nursing graduates and available nurses are unwilling to work in geriatric settings due to both skills and attitude issues (Negrin et al., 2020). Additionally, as a majority of available nurses are choosing to work in high-income and mostly private and urban health systems, it leaves most low-income groups and rural regions underserved. In addition, as older nurses retire, there are age-related diversity issues, leaving most elderly care settings understaffed.

Evidence on High Demand and Nursing Shortages and Need for Change

There is a significant amount of evidence that identifies the increasing demand for health services and a growing shortage of nurses and supports the need for change in nursing training and workforce planning. First, AACN (2024) reports that the current supply is at 69 percent, which is 11 percent less than the expected 80 percent of new nurses. On the other hand, a growing elderly population and the prevalence of high chronic and comorbid conditions in the United States in the young and elderly populations have pushed the demand for nursing care (Maresova et al., 2019). Available literature also presents evidence on the relationship between nursing shortages and negative outcomes on work, nursing workload and well-being, organizational outcomes, and community health experiences and outcomes. For instance, a study by AL Ma’mari et al. (2020) shows that nursing shortages lead to an increased workload on available nurses with negative outcomes, including burnout and low job satisfaction. Zhang et al. (2019) also link such burnout and low job satisfaction to increased intentions to leave and higher turnover rates. Consequently, a high turnover rate further fuels RN shortages. Additionally, nursing shortages due to reduced supply of new graduates or burnout-related high turnover rates are linked to poor community health outcomes and organizations’ poor financial and reputational outcomes (Jun et al., 2021).

Predicted Outcomes and Opportunities for Growth

There are major predicted outcomes and opportunities for growth that can be achieved if the proposed change is achieved. For instance, investing in improving support for RN education, including financial support for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and DNP studies, can address the financial strain nursing education has on students and their families and lead to more students pursuing a career in nursing; both at the RN and advance practice levels. This can result in a sufficient and sustainable supply of qualified nurses to meet the current and future demands.

Improving the supply of new RN graduates will reduce the workload pressure on the current nursing workforce, thereby addressing issues of burnout and turnover intentions. Also, reduced work pressure can improve retention levels and, in turn, reduce an organization’s spending on the recruitment and training of new nurses. Additionally, investments aimed at improving the supply of new nurses to meet the increasing demand will result in improved patient and community health outcomes. Therefore, such investments can help address current socioeconomic and health disparities, leading to a reduced burden of disease and better economic outcomes for individuals, communities, healthcare facilities, and the federal and state governments.

References

AL Ma’mari, Q., Sharour, L. A., & Al Omari, O. (2020). Fatigue, burnout, work environment, workload and perceived patient safety culture among critical care nurses. British Journal of Nursing, 29(1), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.12968/BJON.2020.29.1.28

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

Jun, J., Ojemeni, M. M., Kalamani, R., Tong, J., & Crecelius, M. L. (2021). Relationship between nurse burnout, patient and organizational outcomes: Systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 119, 103933. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.IJNURSTU.2021.103933

Maresova, P., Javanmardi, E., Barakovic, S., Barakovic Husic, J., Tomsone, S., Krejcar, O., & Kuca, K. (2019). Consequences of chronic diseases and other limitations associated with old age – A scoping review. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12889-019-7762-5/FIGURES/3

Negrin, K. A., Slaughter, S. E., Dahlke, S., & Olson, J. (2020). Factors affecting undergraduate nurse educators’ knowledge, skills or attitudes about older persons and their care: An integrative review. International Journal of Older People Nursing, 15(1), e12293. https://doi.org/10.1111/OPN.12293

Zhang, Y., Wu, X., Wan, X., Hayter, M., Wu, J., Li, S., Hu, Y., Yuan, Y., Liu, Y., Cao, C., & Gong, W. (2019). Relationship between burnout and intention to leave amongst clinical nurses: The role of spiritual climate. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(6), 1285–1293. https://doi.org/10.1111/JONM.12810

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Complete a systematic evaluation of a unit, facility, or organization with which you are familiar, in an attempt to identify the need to address the economic health care issue.

Needs Analysis for Change – 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.

As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you may sometimes be tasked with the need to complete a systematic evaluation as a way of improving your organization’s outcomes. In this assessment, you will have a chance to practice these skills by completing a systematic evaluation of a unit, facility, or organization that you are familiar with in an attempt to identify the need to address the economic health care issue that you presented in the previous assessment. This systematic evaluation is often referred to as a needs analysis. Understanding how to do a needs analysis will be key as you advance through your career in the health care environment.

Background and Context
As a master’s-level health care practitioner, you may sometimes be tasked with the need to complete a systematic evaluation as a way of improving your organization’s outcomes. In this assessment, you will have a chance to practice these skills by completing a systematic evaluation of a unit, facility, or organization that you are familiar with in an attempt to identify the need to address the economic health care issue that you presented in the previous assessment. This systematic evaluation is often referred to as a needs analysis. Understanding how to do a needs analysis will be key as you advance through your career in the health care environment.

Instructions
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:

Summarize your chosen economic issue and its impact on your work, organization, colleagues, and community.
Reiterate your rationale for pursuing this issue, as well as the gap contributing to it that you identified in your previous assessment.
Identify any socioeconomic or diversity disparities that exist with how your chosen economic issue impacts any particular groups or populations.
Use at least one piece of evidence to support this disparity (public health data, aggregated data from an organization, or other scholarly resources).
Explain the findings of evidence-based or scholarly sources regarding the need to address your chosen issue and pursue potential change or implementation plans.
For example, if your implementation plan includes the need for increased staffing, you might want to research errors or patient falls that occurred as a result of high patient and low staff ratio in the literature.
Use at least four evidence-based or scholarly sources that are relevant to your chosen topic to support your explanation.
Explain the predicted outcomes and opportunities for growth as the result of the proposed change or implementation plan.
Outcomes and opportunities for growth should focus on economic considerations.
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: 3–5 double-spaced pages.
Number of References: Cite at least four sources 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 current 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.
Summarize the chosen economic issue and its impact on your work, organization, colleagues, and community.
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.
Identify any socioeconomic or diversity disparities that exist with how your chosen economic issue impacts any particular groups or populations.
Competency 3: Justify the qualitative and quantitative information used to guide economic decision making to stakeholders and colleagues.
Explain the findings of evidence-based or scholarly sources regarding the need to address your chosen issue and pursue potential change or implementation plans.
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 the predicted outcomes and opportunities for growth as the result of the proposed change or implementation plan.
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.