Understanding the Shortage of Nurses in the Light of Economic Concepts
Introduction
Nursing appears to be the growing buzzword profession in the early years of the 21st Century. Individuals from the different parts of the globe are preparing themselves to join the nursing workforce, for different reasons. However, we have to face the reality that the health care industry is having a shortage. An understanding of the basic economic concepts helps in understanding the problem of nursing shortage.
Basic economic concepts vis-à-vis nursing and health care
Capitalism is the existing economic structure for the most nations-states across the globe. The accumulation of wealth is the name of the game, and that is through the accumulation of profit from the capital. In other words, the more money an individual has the better. One’s profession is the source of one’s wealth, or economic wealth so to speak. In today’s era, one of the pools of money comes from the profession of nursing or health care.
Nurses pledge to serve; but from an economic perspective, they are making use of their labor, which serves as their capital. At the back of their so-called service is a high economic premium. In effect, other countries turn to have a high human capital because of the migrant workers that are coming in to them. This is the reason why nursing institutions are composed of nurses that come from different countries. The trade-off that these nurses have to take is basically, the distant primary group (families and friends) interactions.
There has been a high demand for nurses abroad. In order to meet this demand, private firms that specialize in health care have proliferated. Schools have opened colleges of nursing.
For individuals living in Third World countries, they have seen this as the means to get employed. In one way or another, the rate of inflation is resolved. The money that comes in the remittances are also contributing to both the micro and macroeconomic performances of these countries.
(1992) refers to political economy as the ways and means by which the nation-state acts to produce and reproduce itself (p.12). The concept of the political economy says a lot to nursing and health care. If we are to look at the history of the practice of nursing, then we will see that nurses or health care specialists are significant in times when nation-states are in war.
In the United States of America during the aftermath of World War II, University Dean even contended that the American government should act on providing government support towards the profession of nursing. This can be done through incorporating nursing education in its educational system. Another is by providing ample government assistance. Lastly, she argued that nursing education should be built on the baccalaureate degree ( 1990). The United States of America has a history of nursing shortage as they waged in wars. This only goes to show how the nursing profession is tied with the country’s political economy.
On the other hand, it may also have to do with the demographics, i.e. when the aging population is high and there is no one to take care of them. Thus, the governments of countries in these statuses make use of laws to legalize the certain concerns that will meet such demands. For instance, Canada may refine some laws that pertain to immigration to accommodate the demands of the nursing profession, or allocate a higher expenditure for health services.
These are a few of the basic concepts of economics, which are related and/or applicable to nursing and health care.
The market forces behind the supply and demand of healthcare professionals
When we say demand, we mean the value of a resource, good, or service that an individual or group of individuals are agreeable and have the capacity to buy vis-à-vis the series of prices for a certain phase of time. The law of demand simply states that the price of a good is indirectly proportional to the quantity demanded of the good (2000). In other words, consumers need or want products, but they consider the number of products according to their purchasing power. In accordance with the subject of this paper, nursing institutions in First World countries have a growing demand for nurses. Likewise, they have the capacity to provide wage premium to their nurses, since the government is providing assistance. Wage premium therefore is one of the forces that affect the demand of nurses.
Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States of America are said to be suffering from a shortage of nurses. They depend on 5 developing countries namely, Australia, India, Philippines, South Africa, and Zimbabwe to fill in the demand (2004).
According to Merce (1998), an “increased market demand” is the cause of nursing shortage (2001, June 1, 2006, ). This further means that quality service is being asked of the nurses. One does not qualify by simply being a nurse. One has to be a qualified nurse. This will be discussed in the succeeding paragraphs.
When we say supply, we mean the value of a good or service in which individuals or group of individuals agree and have the capacity to sell vis-à-vis a series of prices for a certain phase of time. The law of supply states that the price and the quantity supplied of a good are directly proportional (2000). For developing countries, in order to fill in the demand, its private firms “supply” nurses by establishing training grounds for them.
(2004) have found out that a change in wage premium is related to the supply of migrants. They noted that these are significantly affected by migration costs, working conditions, and living conditions. These authors are saying that nurses who are planning to be migrant workers in other countries look at the general working conditions or work environment. They have the autonomy to go where they want to according to where they are at a greater economic advantage. In this case, the market forces that affect supply pertain to the migration costs, working conditions and living conditions.
The factors that are reported to affect the supply of registered nurses deal with the work environment, recruitment, retention, education, compensation, and recruitment of foreign nurses. The kind of environment present in clinical settings is such that qualified and experienced nurses find difficulty in dealing with inexperienced ones. Students in countries where there is a nursing shortage are deemed difficult to recruit in the profession. Some ways have to be undertaken in order to retain older but expert healthcare professionals. Efforts should be undertaken to prepare students for a clear understanding of the care environment, ethical knowledge and decision-making skills. It has been reported that there are nurses who are not compensated enough. The recruitment of foreign nurses is deemed to serve only the hospitals and not the patients themselves and the domestic nurses, in the case of the United States. ( 2001, June 1, 2006, ). These root causes of nursing shortage is true to the case of the United States. Likewise, these can be considered as the forces that affect the supply and demand of healthcare professionals.
In Australia, nurses are demanding from the government to increase their wages, since they are suffering from a high workload ( 2001). Wages or compensation and workload seem to be the most common force that affects the supply and demand of health care professionals. A high workload with a low wage results for most of them to leave their practice, eventually adding the burden of those who are left in the clinical setting.
The economic impacts of current healthcare financing and service delivery on nursing care
One of the perceived economic impacts of the current healthcare financing and service delivery on nursing care is that it paved the way for nursing institutions to deliver quality service to their patients. They have the necessary resources to engage in activities, e.g., research, that will contribute to the development of the healthcare industry. It has raised the nursing profession among the rest.
Competition is what drives the economic system. In order to produce the best of nursing care, healthcare professionals ought to be the best. They have to deliver a competent service to their clients. This is actually one of the roots of nursing shortage. Nursing care is no longer a matter of simply nursing and caring for the patient. It has gone a step further because of the “increased market demand”, from the term of Merce (1998) 2001, retrieved June 1, 2006,
The role of nurses in the health-care system of the 21st century
Our world today is indeed a world without boundaries. A certain territory no longer home to a certain social group. Birds of various breeds live together in one nest. One of the questions raised in this circumstance is — what is the assurance that nurses who come from different cultural groups will work harmoniously with each other? An action may be sacred for one while profane to another. This now opens nurses and other health care professionals to the challenge of cultural competency. According to (1998), it refers to
“developing an awareness of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, and environment without letting it have an undue influence on those from other backgrounds; demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the client’s culture; accepting and respecting cultural differences; adapting care to be congruent with the client’s culture (2004).
One of the roles of nurses in the health care system in this era therefore is to serve as the promulgators of being culturally sensitive. They help everyone understand that cultural boundaries do and/or still exist. The challenge for a foreign nurse is to serve her patient according to the cultural box by which her patient belongs. On the other hand, nurses can prove or are making way for the possibility of a global culture through their profession.
Another role of nurses in the 21st Century pertains to the utilization of research in the clinical setting. What caused the proliferation of nurses are said to be the following: the increasing growth of medical and scientific researches, rapid technological progress, and the subsequent growth and development of nursing knowledge and skills ( 1997). Part of what is being demanded from nurses is being experienced and qualified enough. Possessing knowledge on the vast nursing research literatures enables them to be categorized as a qualified nurse. And this is exactly what the health care industry demands from its health care professionals.
One of the ironies that exist is that despite the various medical breakthroughs, the human race is still experiencing sickness. A significant role of nurses in the healthcare system is that of encouraging everyone to be conscious of their health conditions. Vices still infect most individuals, which are hazardous to their health. Nurses can be agents for the preservation of the human race.
Conclusion
This paper has examined the various forces that significantly affect the problem of nursing shortage in the health care industry. Changes should take place within these areas that impede the development of health care. The work environment should be strengthened in order to meet the demands of the nursing profession.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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