Nursing staffing is improving: 4 ways to maintain momentum going

In the event you’re like me, you are in search of excellent news in regards to the nursing occupation. We finally got some excellent news from researchers monitoring the registered nurse (RN) workforce! In a recent study by Auerbach et al. (2024) we’re finally seeing an improvement within the variety of RNs, and nurses under the age of 35 are leading this increase. Moreover, nurses aged 35 to 49 currently represent 38% of practicing nurses and can constitute almost half of the workforce by 2035 (Auerbach et al., 2024). This is nice news for our employees; Nevertheless, the study revealed a shift away from nurses practicing in hospitals and towards outpatient and community settings.

Nobody needs to be surprised that nurses are leaving the bedside of patients in intensive care units. Because the pandemic, we have now known that the predominant issues in acute care are ensuring an adequate variety of expert and competent nurses on the bedside, recruiting, retaining staff, and supporting the emotional health and well-being of staff (AONL, 2023). Nurses are moving into ambulatory care and community settings, in search of flexibility of their schedules, opportunities to develop higher relationships with patients, and in some cases, working remotely through telehealth.

Now’s the time to adopt initiatives that can keep nurses at their bedsides.

How one can ensure an adequate staff of competent nurses in emergency care? Health care systems must hearken to nurses and seek strategies that meet their needs.

1. . Acute care hospitals were very flexible throughout the pandemic, but they regressed after the pandemic. Nurses today want flexibility of their schedules and dealing hours to attain work-life balance. While 12-hour shifts work for some, they do not work for everybody. Health care systems have to implement technology to assist them with scheduling and staffing. Nurse managers want scheduling and staffing to take into consideration nurses’ competence and patient care. Patients are sicker than ever before. In a hospital, it’s essential to employ the precise nurse for the precise patient; Nurse competence and patient insight make a difference in the case of improving patient outcomes.
2. It isn’t enough to bring a nurse to the door; you’ve gotten to maintain them once they arrive. The Institute supports profession opportunities in order that nurses feel they’ve room to grow into more rewarding positions, whether or not they are lateral or senior positions. When staffed appropriately, nurse turnover and burnout are reduced, and nurses feel supported in a protected work environment. Providing clinical decision support tools and lifelong learning resources is an investment in clinical nursing practice.
3. Virtual nursing was originally used to watch a patient after discharge from the hospital or for telehealth. The pandemic and nurse shortage have modified the best way we use virtual care. Virtual nursing is currently used to support newly graduated nurses and people with less experience. One-click access to an experienced nurse could be a game-changer in retaining less experienced nurses, demonstrating that they’re well worth the investment. The virtual nurse has access to the patient’s electronic medical records and real-time data to assist make clinical decisions.
4. . Nurses, especially latest ones, are sometimes traumatized by patient emergencies. Offering mental health support, carrying out incident reports and implementing a zero-tolerance policy on violence and abuse is crucial. No nurse should need to worry about being physically or emotionally attacked by staff, patients or visitors.

It is time to rewrite our narrative… Being a bedside nurse is probably the most difficult and rewarding job in nursing.

Too often we hear, “I’m only a nurse.” I actually have watched bedside nurses throughout my profession, and it’s no doubt probably the most difficult job in our occupation. Bedside nurses should be specialists; they will need to have extensive knowledge and use it in every situation. If they do not know the reply, they should know where to search for the very best, evidence-based answers. Nurses are patient advocates, patient educators, expert negotiators, and care coordinators. They’re an alarm system when a patient gets into trouble and won’t rest until the patient’s needs are met.

Nurses, let’s be pleased that our numbers are beginning to grow, but let’s not grow to be complacent about what we’d like to do to retain a healthy, experienced and pleased workforce.

American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL). (2023). The AONL Longitudinal Study of Nursing Leadership. https://www.aonl.org/resources/nursing-leadership-survey

Auerbach, D. I., Buerhaus, P. I., Donelan, K., & Staiger, D. O. (2024). Designing the longer term workforce of registered nurses after the Covid-19 pandemic. ,(2),e235389. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.5389

Ultimate Kronos Group and Wolters Kluwer. (2022). Nursing Workforce Survey; Nurse Alert: Change is now non-negotiable. https://info.lww.com/rs/681-FHE-429/images/Nursing%20Workforce%20Survey%20Report_Nursing%27s%20Wake-up%20Call%20Correx%203-23-22.pdf