Effective approaches in leadership and management

¶ … Leadership and Management

Nursing Issue: Nursing Shortage and Turnover

Nursing shortage and nursing turnover is a key contemporary issue that has an adverse impact on nursing with respect to health care delivery to patients. Owing to the increase in the number of baby boomers retiring, there is a major strain on the healthcare system due to their several medical health needs (Peterson, 2001). In addition to the deteriorating nurse shortage is the shortage of other staff comprising different associated health professionals, administrators, and support workforce. The shortage of other staff is unfavorably influencing nurses who have the most incessant and closest association with patients and their households (Peterson, 2001). What is more, current reforms have augmented accessibility to healthcare, which has instigated an even greater need for nurses. This issue of insufficient staffing gives rise to greater stress levels and considerable workloads. In turn, this leads to nurse turnover, with more and more nurses leaving their present positions due to job dissatisfaction and insufficiency in staffing. Having such a high turnover has been a mounting issue for healthcare providers and is instigating amplified expenses and exhausting financial assets for open positions within healthcare facilities (Cox et al., 2014). The purpose of this paper is to delineate the varying approaches of nursing leaders and managers to this particular issue in nursing practice.

Nursing Leaders' and Managers' Approach to Nursing Shortage and Turnover

It is the role of nursing leaders and managers to tackle this particular issue of nursing shortage and turnover. On one hand, nursing leaders and managers must go hand in hand as they complement each other within an organization. However, on the other hand, these two can be dissimilar, taking into consideration the varying roles of a leader versus a manager. A nurse manager holds an allotted position within the chain of command of an organization. She or he has decision-making authorities and control over particular procedures, and is expected to perform specific duties. On the other hand, a nurse leader may or may not have acknowledged power within the organization. In several instances, the "power" possessed by a leader emanates from the capacity to inspire others, through efficacious communication and interpersonal skills (American Sentinel University, 2014).

In particular, taking into consideration the issue at hand, both nurse managers and nurse leaders play an important role in leading and giving direction to the healthcare facility. Nurse leaders and managers at all levels work in partnership to take into consideration developing trends, espouse inventive conceptions, and work toward the mutual objectives of quality, efficacy, and brilliance in practice. These two individuals offer guiding principles and act as leading frontline nurses while contributing to the success of a healthcare organization. In this case, the manager and leader are expected to make certain that there is a two-way flow of communication between the personnel and administrators. Therefore, the staff will be able to address issues that lead to shortage such as work schedules, level of pay and also level of dissatisfaction (Cipriano, 2011).

A nurse manager is characteristically a person held accountable for the management of nursing care and its quality within a distinct patient care area. It is through these responsibilities that I expect the nurse manager to handle the issue of nurse retention and decrease nursing turnover. In particular, I expect the nurse manager to envisage personnel with the greatest need for individual or intensive retention endeavors and ascertain the factors in the work setting that bring about low satisfaction (Andrews and Dziegielewski, 2005). Nurse turnover is linked to work setting, hours worked and pay given to nurses. A nurse manager is expected to come up with a proper work schedule that allows nurses to have work/life balance, give nurses a fitting compensation based on their experience and capabilities, and an endearing health care setting (Andrews and Dziegielewski, 2005).

Nurse Managers undertake both short-term and long-term accountabilities within an organization. With respect to the prevailing shortage, I expect the nurse managers to partake in short-term solutions such as reduced workloads, increased support staff, authorized management, lively replies to workforce concerns, improved salaries, support for enhanced nurse-physician relations, upgraded job orientation and remunerated ongoing education. In the long-run, I expect the nurse managers to handle the issues of nursing shortage and turnover by managing organizational change, proper managing and integration of theory and practice, and significant improvement in the ability to manage stress (Andrews and Dziegielewski, 2005). In addition, a solution that I expect nurse managers to undertake is to have more young educated nurses join the workforce. This will make it possible to bridge the gap left by retiring baby boomer nursing populations.

I would expect nursing leaders to approach the nursing shortage and turnover issue in a different manner. To begin with, I would expect nursing leaders to generate and maintain a health care work setting where personnel are connected to their organization, with an emphasis on not only retention, but also recruitment. A key aspect that leads to the nurse turnover issue is dissatisfaction. Therefore, nursing leaders can improve job satisfaction of nurses by making certain that they are part of a team and have a sense of belonging to the health care facility they operate in (Minority Nurse, 2013). Another aspect that nurse managers have to undertake to ensure there is no nursing shortage or turnover is motivation and inspiration. Retention is not just significant for diminishing turnover costs or the cost sustained by an organization to recruit and train. However, the need of retaining staffs is more significant to retain capable personnel from getting pilfered. I expect nurse leaders to play a significant role in making certain that there is no nurse turnover, and therefore, no nurse shortage, through motivation (Sandhya and Kumar, 2011).