BUSI 511 Healthcare Administration
Research Project Draft-The Nursing Shortage in the United States and Globally, and Potential
Solutions to the Nursing Shortage in the United States
Group One: Shae Peters-Skarbowski, Summer Stephenson, Brittany Spaulding, Christopher
John, and Jacob Clise
February 16, 2020
Respectfully submitted to Dr. Renita Ellis
Liberty University
The field of nursing has been riddled with shortfalls for decades. The reasons for this gap are
multifactorial. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the background, the prevalence, and the cause
and effect aspects of the nursing shortage that, if not dealt with, lead to higher patient mortality
in the United States and globally, and to identify potential solutions to the nursing shortage in the
United States. Some of the background issues that pre-vail are lack of reward, high turnover, and
unprofessional behavior. The prevalence of the problem is addressed and includes the aging of
baby boomers, a lack of faculty members to teach, high attrition rates, and the global nature of
the issue. Some of the causes and effects of the issue presented are higher patient mortality in
understaffed units, and the fact that nurses constitute the largest professional component of
healthcare. Some of the potential solutions include hiring nurses with strong leadership abilities,
mentorship, and specific strategies to address the nursing faculty shortage. The research draws
from arrange of scholarly texts and current information, and relates academic literature to inform
the discussion. The findings reveal considerable implications in promoting change that can
positively affect the nursing shortage in the U.S.
Nurses responding to the “well-being at work” poll cited staffing shortages – and in some
instances, ‘uncaring’ management – as reasons that they could not take lunchbreaks, use the
toilet, or drink some water, as they exert themselves to meet their patients ‘needs. Of the 2,250
respondents, 75 percent stated they did not have time to take a single break on their shift. Just
one in five nurses responded that they had the opportunity to hydrate at work (Dean,
2019).Nurses try many different approaches to manage the stress and angst caused by work
stress. Exercise, meditation, yoga, spending time with family and friends, maintaining hobbies,
alcohol consumption, and counseling are all cited as approaches used to deal with the pressure.
