60 year Nursing Shortage

A brief search for articles relevant to nursing shortage was completed and the oldest date sorted the articles. Articles referencing nursing supply and demand dated as far back as 1940's including relevance to military nurse demand during World War II.

In 1955, a small town council member in Pennsylvania had the idea of creating scholarships to address the nurse shortage at the local hospital (Irwin, 1955). This initiative worked to increase patient volume and other services of healthcare. According to the Training & Development Journal (1968) AHA and ANA had discussion of critical staffing for the nursing profession. This was over 60 years ago and today the same discussion is being kicked around. I don't believe it is a lack of motivation. The matter has multiple forces and a diverse web of individuals influencing the shortage.

I sum it down to poor accountability and ineffective role performance. Nurses need to keep nurse leadership honest and accountable. Nurse leadership needs to exhibit a pattern of responsibility to the role of nurse leadership, which differs from hospital leadership role. Nurse population needs to portray self accountability to support nurse leaders to enact those very roles.

The final recipient of good or bad nurse staffing is the patient. Substandard, unsafe, and inappropriate staffing is an acceptable risk for many hospitals and nurse leaders. If it was not acceptable, then why are we still talking about nurse staffing shortages? Over 60 years of poor accountability and ineffective role performance!

References:

Irwin, T. (1955). Allentown, Pa., Has Its Own Plan to End the Shortage of Nurses. Saturday Evening Post, 227(35), 12.

Shortage of Nurses. (1968). Training & Development Journal, 22(7), 9.

“Rochambeau” NURSE PUBLIUS

COVID-19 Who?

When did you first here of this Novel Corona Virus-COVID-19? 

I remember watching a clip on social media of some virus quickly spreading in China and the death of a doctor who was attempting to communicate the severity of the virus. The first case in Seattle was vague and not on my radar. Then, bam some cruise boat on the west coast was quarantining cruise boat residents in the San Antonio Lackland AFB. I was working in the Houston area when COVID was raging and I recall caring for a patient with symptoms, in retrospect, that fit COVID-19 to the “T” and we were still learning and filtering information coming thru the pipeline. 

We nurses were rolling with the punches, pitfalls and hardships of this now well known COVID-19 pandemic. I remember adapting my daily pre-work checks and inspections to include verifying we had body bags in our supply room. I can honestly say that my nurse peers were always supportive and vital to the strength of driving on.  

“Rochambeau” NURSE PUBLIUS

TO BE A NURSE IS A GIFT

    We nurses understand that it is a privilege to care for the American people. The profession lends itself to a special relationship in a persons vulnerable time of need. Nursing offers a cognitive challenging environment where an individuals best human qualities can support the caring process. Life experience is humbled in the everyday process of nursing peoples health. 

“Rochambeau” NURSE PUBLIUS