Currently, the balance of nurse position quota in the health care sector is in shambles. Annually, the nurse shortage percentage is increasing while the significant relief is far from the sight.
Currently, the balance of nurse position quota in the health care sector is in shambles. Annually, the nurse shortage percentage is increasing while the significant relief is far from the sight. The shortage of nurses is continuously causing nurse burnouts in the facilities.
An estimate of 47% of all nurses has made a medication error due to the high patient vs. nurse ratios and burnout shifts according to the Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine. Nurse shortage being a constant problem, the ratio of errors is most likely to increase in the upcoming years, unfortunately.
As reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics nursing is one of the rapidly growing jobs in the health care sector and by 2024 more than 700,000 nurses will be leaving the workforce. In about three years there will be more than a million nurse positions available across the US.
Why is there an increase in the disproportion between the staffed nurses and recipients seeking help at the health care centers?
The health care facilities are currently facing a huge disproportion between the availability of the nurse and the number of nurses required to provide standard care to the seekers due to the fact that an estimated 70,000 registered nurses are retiring annually.
Approximately 50% of the registered nurses are over the age of 50 and by 2030 it is expected that around 1million nurses will retire annually.
While the annual number of retired nurses is increasing, so is the number of baby boomers turning above the age of 50 and fueling the aging population, and increasing the demand for skilled nurses. According to the statistics, 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 years old each day.
These numbers look surreal but the numbers have a significant influence over the critical disproportionation of the nurses.
While the health care facilities are experiencing a shortage of qualified nurses, in 2016 nursing schools turned away 64,067 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs adding up the problem. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reported that over sixty thousand applicants were turned down due to the insufficient number of faculty, clinics, and institutions. The association claimed that there is a lack of clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, alongside budget constraints for any improvement.
The Important Role of Foreign Nurses in US Health Care Sector
Foreign nurses in recent years have played a major role in minimizing the turnover and disruption in the health care facility. As mentioned above, since the US is unsuccessful in producing enough supply to meet the demand, hospitals have started to rely on the recruitment of foreign nurses to staff their units.
As compared to the earlier 2000s today foreign nurses are more than welcome in the states as a productive measure to control the shortage of nurses under the emergency nursing supply relief act. The act concludes that all applicants for nursing positions must go through a special visa screening process.
In 2017, Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act was initiated according to which at least 8000 special visas will be allocated for the foreign nurses annually including physical therapists and other healthcare professionals.
Moreover, the future the foreign nurses seem brighter because of several programs offered to bridge the gap between clinical practice in the US and the recipient homeland. In the transitional period, one of the best-offered programs is clinical onboarding which helps the foreign nurses to tackle the cultural difference and environment, learn the practice and state regulations for the licensed nurses.They also have online medical courses at their disposal that can help them acquire the relevant PALS certification.
The nurse staffing agency ensures that foreign-educated nurses have cleared the English proficiency exam, the degree is evaluated based on comparability to an identical education provided in the US. Similar to national nurses, foreign nurses are also required to pass the U.S. nursing licensing examination or commonly called NCLEX to receive the practitioner license.
Does the Nurse Staffing Agency Help Foreign Nurses?
Nurse staffing agencies recently have brought significant improvement in the hiring process of registered nurses. These medical professionals temp agency are helping several healthcare facilities to allocate experienced staff at short notices. Most of the nurses staffing agencies assist all types of licensed nurses and traveling nurses to sign a contract with a reputable health care facility. The agencies cover a vast range of facilities including psychiatry hospitals, rehabilitation centers, private care/ clinics, surgery centers among others.
Particularly for the foreign nurses there also exist international nurse staffing agencies who take responsibility for sponsors and all the process of immigration and licensure completing all aspects of regulation for healthcare professionals who immigrate to the US.
The American Association of International Recruitment (AAIHR) of the reasons that foreign nurses have been successfully allocated in safe and reputable environments through a nurse staffing agency. AAIHR is a non-profit organization responsible to ensure the standards of ethical conduct among the agencies engaged in the recruitment of foreign nurses.
