Nurses constantly face challenges to maintain the highest standards of patient care. They are a prominent part of the healthcare system and help their organization practice patient-centered care. From addressing patient concerns to giving appropriate time to each person, nurses perform extraordinary feats every day without putting their interests first. They played a commendable role during the times of COVID-19 where the world was at its lowest. However, the pandemic brought with its hardships and challenges that the nursing profession had never experienced before.
Let’s take a look at the following few challenges that the nurses are facing in 2021.
1. Online transitioning of education:
Though the “digital age” of education has become a default learning mode, the world is still divided over online education’s authenticity and efficiency. This concern holds significance, especially for the healthcare industry, due to the lack of clinical experience and site access to fresh and even post-graduate nurses. It’s concerning that new graduates won’t have that level of clinical skills through digital simulations and online learning, which they might have had through traditional methods.
Understandably, online education also opens doors to numerous higher education and practice opportunities, such as getting a DNP degree, which is usually not possible for full-time working nurses. Remote education allows competent, especially nurse leaders, to look towards lucrative learning opportunities like an online doctor of nursing practice and other advanced practitioner degrees for career growth and better patient care. However, this dramatic change in nursing education comes with an equal number of challenges.
2. Nurse turnover rate and shortage:
There is a concerning rise in the nurse shortage trend, which started around 2012. While it may seem that the shortage of nurses is a good sign for the job-seeking community, but in reality, it is dangerous for the entire system. Inadequate staffing is one of the biggest concerns for the healthcare system. It threatens not only the health and safety of the patient but also contributes to burnout and fatigue. Many factors influence the inappropriate or shortage of staffing, including workplace hazards, low wages, a large number of RNs retiring, burnout, and increased demand for healthcare services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests a 45% job growth rate for NPs and 7% for RNs. Still, nurses, today face difficulties during hiring in the context of budget constraints, working environment, inadequate staffing, and more.
3. Fatigue and burnout:
You can say that burnout typically means feeling emotionally drained or exhausted. However, according to a research review, burnout indicates feeling cynical and adverse detachment from clients, colleagues, and patients, lack of confidence in one’s performance, and emotional exhaustion. Long working hours, little to no breaks, mental and physical exhaustion are a few things nurses experience throughout their careers. Unfortunately, consistent workplace stress and performance pressures lead to burnout, fatigue, and other health problems. The recent pandemic has only added to this already plummeting exhaustion. With slow vaccine rollout and mutating forms emerging now and then, nurses still face a long journey ahead in terms of staying on the frontline as well as avoiding burnout.
4. Workplace safety:
It is incredibly heartbreaking to know that nurses and other healthcare professionals are subjected to workplace violence and physical assaults now more than ever. It’s difficult to believe that a place where patients entrust their lives to doctors is also where nurses and doctors are threatened, bullied, and even physically assaulted. The paranoia and anxiety that the pandemic brought made its way into hospitals and has become one of the biggest concerns, especially for nurses. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, social service and healthcare workers are at an increased risk of work-related violence primarily from the behavior of violent clients, patients, or residents. Besides workplace violence, safe hospital equipment, and patient handling are also significant concerns for nurses, especially when dealing with airborne diseases like coronavirus.
5. Mandatory overtime:
According to research, nurses working longer hours are at a higher risk of making medical errors. Nurses who work more than 12.5 consecutive hours or past their assigned shifts are subjected to a triple rate increase in pressure ulcers, medication errors, and falls. Understandably, healthcare professionals like nurses don’t always have the luxury to call it a day or take a break. Still, it is a significant concern when it affects patient safety and care. Inadequate staffing and overtime have put patient loads on nurses way beyond what they can handle. Unfortunately, this is precisely what eventually leads to errors, burnout, fatigue, and a high turnover rate. Hospitals using mandatory overtime to fill the gaps in staffing have direct effects on patient care and nursing performance.
Conclusion:
The future of nursing is incredibly bright and prosperous. However, nurses today face many concerns and challenges which can cause hindrance in the growth of passionate nurses who are dedicated to their profession. There have been many long-standing issues in the nursing profession which have only become even more prominent in the last two years. The healthcare industry went through a major disaster when Covid-19 hit the world with full force. Despite nurses being on the front lines, they faced workplace violence, exhaustion, and even a staffing shortage. These concerns are part of an ongoing struggle in the nursing profession that will take time to subside.