Addressing Nursing Shortages Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Addressing Nursing Shortages - Article Example A recent survey, conducted by the NurseWeek/AONE research advisory council, was aimed at a large population of existing nurses to gauge their perceptions on whether the nursing shortage in America was actually causing problems with the delivery of health care. The results revealed that an alarming seven out of 10 nurses involved in the survey agreed that staffing shortages at many hospitals had actually caused significant problems in the delivery of quality healthcare (Graham, 2002). With this acknowledgment in place, and with the recognition that patients were actively suffering due to insufficient volumes of nursing care, it is important to identify that an inability to recruit new nurses is dramatically impacting patient (and nurse) perceptions about the troubles associated with low levels of competent care givers across the country. However, why are recruitment levels in the field down from previous years? One particular author, in this case, a registered nurse with many years of experience in the field, suggests that the main reason is that public perceptions about nursing positions are that today's potential nursing students do not realize the important role they play in delivering patient care (Begeny, 2004). According to this author, teaching existing nurses as well as incoming nursing students the reality of the connection between care and the patient is a bridge which can be gapped by changing the public perception of the field from one in which people believe nursing is less rewarding today than it was years ago (Begeny). Further, a national funding program known as the Nurse Reinvestment Act is cited as being grossly under-funded, causing individuals who are considering nursing to be worried about potential loan repayment increases as well  as not being able to receive the appropriate funding needed to secure a nursing degree.