A severe shortage of nurses is underway. According to a latest report from the ICN, close to two-thirds of countries are short of nurses and unable to guarantee safe care for patients because of it. This silent disaster is threatening the physical and mental health of nurses as well as the global level of patient care.
Long-term understaffing, unsafe work environment, and insufficient salary undermined the base of healthcare systems. Despite all nurses facing strain and scarcity, they continue to make a profound difference every day, responding to those global health threats, like climate-related emergencies and non-communicable diseases. But deteriorating working conditions and the booming requirement for wellbeing services have built a “perfect storm” which is driving wellbeing services to the brink of collapse.
The ICN’s research, using data from 68 national nurses associations (NNAs), shows there is an immediate global workforce crisis. The world lacks almost six million nurses globally, as the World Health Organization reports. Alarmingly, over 62% of NNAs say that demands of nurses have gone up since 2021, while more than 1 in 3 rate healthcare capacity as poor or very poor in their respective countries.
Instead, a variety of countries have opted for quick fixes such as international recruitment and task-shifting responsibilities to less qualified workers, which might be exacerbating the problem. Unless the nursing workforce receives immediate investment, urgent warnings are that we are headed for an unsafe future where the mechanisms supposed to ensure our public health could collapse when we need them the most.
Detrimental working conditions have reduced staying authority, which has a negative impact on recruitment and retention. More than a third of the NNAs say there has been a significant increase in nurses leaving their jobs. According to the report, 61% of nurses encounter moderate or severe job strain, twice the rate for all occupations.
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Violence against health sector professionals is another priority. Even in those countries that have legal measures to prevent any violence, a lot of the respondents assess those measures as being ineffective, and therefore, there is a need for stronger protection measures.
Salary stagnation is still another reason for the crisis. Many NNAs observed no rise or minimal rise in what nurses get paid since 2021, with more than one-third reporting a real-term pay cut. The demands on nurses are greater. The inadequate pay continues to make retention and recruitment more and more challenging.
Evidently, the world health community must act now very quickly. Caring for nurses is not just treating symptoms of the workforce crisis, but also treating the cause and fundamentally transforming how healthcare values, nurtures, and sustains its nursing workforce.
How Dynamic Healthstaff Can Help
We at Dynamic Healthstaff recognize the cruciality of this situation, and we intend to be a part of the solution. As a top-performing healthcare recruitment agency, we focus on partnering good healthcare establishments with competent and dedicated nurses from around the world. Our vast knowledge and assets, as well as our global network, enable us to effectively fill the staffing hole, in assurance that hospitals as well as healthcare carriers have the capabilities to give vulnerable as well as first-rate care.
As a provider of ethical recruitment methodologies and facilitator to both healthcare facilities and all healthcare professionals, Dynamic Healthstaff is your trusted recruiting answer to present demanding nurse shortage situations. Contact us today at +919810017608 or enquiry@dynamichealthstaff.com, and we’ll assist you!
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