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Chloe Niesen

Ms. Trotter

English 1201

2 May 2021

The Current Demand for Nurses

The shortage of nurses seems to be very prevalent throughout the country. In my

experience, hospitals in the United States are down by many workers. I have been going to

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Liberty Campus for routine treatments for a chronic illness ever

since May of 2016. Whenever I think back to the beginning, I always had the same nurses

treating me. And when I fast forward to now, I realize that I have had a lot of the same nurses

recently as well. This could be considered a good thing in my case, because then I have a special

relationship with some of the nurses that I see regularly. When I go in for treatments, they are not

on any specialized floor, so the nurses are all Registered Nurses, not anything special. I never

really realized this until my research began for this assignment. With that being said, I think that

there are so many things that can be done in order to ensure that these nurses are working under

the best conditions. Hospitals should find ways to support the nurses that are on their staff, which

would allow for these nurses to not worry as much about the constant pressures they face while

on the job.

Nursing is one of those professions that allows people to make special connections with

the patients. There are many scenarios where the nurses could just be trying to do their job, or the

nurse could be wanting to make that special connection because the patient could be going

through a hard time. In the PDF document from Nursing@Simmons, there are many stories that

are told from nurses about their experiences while being a nurse. Leslie Block is one of the
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nurses that submitted a story describing a time where her life was impacted by a connection she

made to a patient. She worked in the emergency room (ER) at the time, and had been for a long

time, so she had treated many patients with crazy problems. Block discussed how, personally,

working in the emergency room seemed right for her: she could not decide if it was the

adrenaline rush or that she did not have to form a huge bond with her patients

(Nursing@Simmons). But in a way, she eventually did form a bond with one patient and his

family. After falling asleep at the wheel, crashing into an 18-wheeler, and killing his sister and

his infant niece, a man and his two-year-old niece lived to see what it would be like to grieve

and, after telling this story, Block stated that this was a defining moment in her career as a nurse

(Nursing@Simmons). She decided that she would begin to teach others in the schools and in the

community how to prevent injuries (Nursing@Simmons). Block is not just doing her job and

going home, she is doing more than her job so that her community can be more educated and

stay safe. With all the work that she has done, the hospital administration should try to be doing

more so that she is able to help people like this man without feeling guilty. With all of this work,

Leslie Block is making indirect relationships with all of her patients that she has.

Some nurses make more of a direct relationship with their patients because they work

with them either for an extended period of time, or because they could work with them in home

care. There is another story from Nursing@Simmons, except this one was told by Kathy Quan,

explaining her experience with being a nurse in home care. Quan discussed that her experience

with home care explains exactly why she wanted to become a nurse: to help people. When Quan

worked her home health rotation, she learned a lot. She felt a connection to Jim, the patient, and

his mother, who was staying there with him. Quan let Jim’s mother care for Jim alongside her,

and tried not to “give her fill her with unrealistic hope” (Nursing@Simmons). Later, when Quan
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was working as a medical surgical nurse, she was making her rounds while “monitoring 38 beds,

numerous IVs, and bedbound patients who would oftentimes fall while trying to walk at night,”

there was a man, John, who called her in and told her that his soul was ready, but he didn’t want

to do it alone (Nursing@Simmons). Quan realized that this took priority over everything else that

she needed to do before her shift ended, and she promised John that she would be there for him,

even though this is something that she should not have promised with her busy schedule. Quan

admitted that she wasn’t ready for him to go, because he had been such a kind person during his

time in the hospital, never demanding, and always willing to do what he needed to

(Nursing@Simmons). Not too long after, John passed, and Quan called his family. She stated

that although she had many more duties to complete before her shift ended, but all she wanted to

do was sit and grieve. This bond that Kathy Quan gained with John could never be broken, and

when he passed, Quan grieved just like family would, because you grow close to someone when

you care for them during a vulnerable part of their life. This would be able to happen more often

if the hospital administration was able to hire more nurses, so that people like Kathy Quan would

not have to work the job of many people. She would then have been able to grieve the loss of a

patient that she was close to without feeling as though she had to get right bad to her busy job.

The nurses could also be working with children and their families during frightening

times in their lives as well. Specifically, nurses working with children and their families in the

oncology, or cancer, units in hospitals. One of the main things that nurses do when they work on

specialized floors like this is work to educate the patient and the family (Hinds and Linder). In

order for them to understand to the best of their ability what is going on with their treatment, the

nurses and families need to be in communication with each other. It has been confirmed that the

families of these patients are very emotional after their children are diagnosed with cancer, and
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this negatively affects their ability to retain information and learn about what their child is going

through, and therefore, the information that is delivered to the families needs to be said in ways

that will allow the families and patients time to process information (Hinds and Linder). They

state that when large amounts of important information, verbal or written, are delivered, then

there could be negative effects on how it is received. Other factors that could have a negative

impact include conflicting information given by different doctors, the emotional state of the

family, a language barrier between the family and the medical staff, and previous negative

experiences with medical professionals (Hinds and Linder). It is important to explain to the

families what is going on because they need to understand exactly what the treatment is that their

child is going through. Also, it is important to explain to the patient what is going on because

then they can try to understand their treatment that they are going through, just in case they have

questions about what they went through in the future. The relationship that the nurses gain from

discussing these things with the patients and their families is unforgettable, and the relationships

that nurses have with their patients in general are relationships that no one would get at any other

job.

Another thing that goes along with this job, however, is the extreme stress and highly

stressful situations that the nurses are put under. According to an article written by Jebra Turner,

there are many reasons as to why nurses are stressed out in the workplace. The first reason that

she listed is that there is “work overload (too much to do, not enough time)” (Turner). Many

nurses are assigned to many different rooms and patients to take care of during one shift, and

those patients could all have lots of things that they could have to do. Also, because there is a

shortage of nurses, they could be asked to do extra things and have to go between floors to take

care of different tasks. Another reason as to why nurses are stressed out so much is because of
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“time pressure (hurry, hurry, hurry - that’s due yesterday)” (Turner). This unnecessary time

pressure is one of the main reasons that nurses are stressed. They feel as if they constantly have

to be doing something because they always have something that needs to be done. Again, this is

related to the shortage of nurses and how the nurses currently working are given double the work

that they should typically be given. Nurses can also be stressed out because of “lack of social

support (particularly from higher-ups)” (Turner). Hospital admins can be the main people to

blame for the stress that is put on these nurses. The nurses, without support from those higher

than them, might not be sure what they should do exactly in some situations, but if they feel as if

they do not have their support, then they might not ask questions.

Fig. 1. Gives many examples of how nurses are stressed in the workplace (“Nurse Stress and

Burnout”).

Nurses experience stress in many different ways. In the same article by Jebra Turner, she

discusses more reasons as to why nurses are stressed. Turner says that “exposure to infectious

diseases” is also a reason why nurses are stressed out. When their patients have an infectious

disease, it makes sense for them to be stressed out, especially if the nurse has a family at home

that they could possibly spread that disease to. Related to the infectious diseases, nurses can be

stressed out because of “needlestick injuries” (Turner). These injuries could either be to
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themselves or to the patient. When giving an IV to a patient, the nurse could miss, and then have

to start over, so then they would possibly be stressed out about that and out that could bother the

patient during their hospital stay. Also, nurses could be exposed to “work-related violence or

threats” (Turner). This violence could be mainly caused by patients who are under a lot of stress

from their treatments, or patients who are on certain floors in the hospitals. Threats can also be

made, though, by families who want the patient to be made better instantly and do not understand

the healing process. Or they could be made by higher ups who need work to be done and want it

to be done by a certain time. Another cause to high stress for nurses is “sleep deprivation

(especially for shift workers)” (Turner). Nurses who work long 12-hour shifts are then unable to

sleep the necessary amount of sleep they need to if they have another shift the next day. Nurses

who also have families need to take care of them, so after a long shift, they might not be able to

sleep. Also, long shifts are hard on the body, so nurses are really exhausted after multiple days of

long shifts. The stress just lasts for multiple shifts and never ends.

There are more reasons as to why nurses are stressed out. Jebra Turner further explains

these reasons in her article “11 Reasons Nurses Are Stressed Out.” One reason as to why nurses

are stressed out is because of “role ambiguity and conflict (ironically, “change initiatives” can

confuse roles even more)” (Turner). This means that people are not exactly being honest when it

comes to the role or position that they have in the hospital. This can stress nurses out because

they could be confused on who they should go to when they have questions or when they are

unsure of what they should be doing. Another major cause of stress, which can cause other

stressors, is understaffing (Turner). With a shortage of experienced nurses, this causes those who

have experience to be scheduled so much that they are working more than normal people should

be. Along with this stressor, there is a “lack of career development options (limited opportunities
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for promotion)” (Turner). Because of this, many of the nurses are either wanting to quit their job,

or actually quitting, because they have not other options. Or they are required to stay are suffer

working in a job that they do not like. The last reason that Turner states is a major stressor in the

nursing field is “dealing with difficult or deathly ill patients (just a part of nursing, of course, but

still stressful).” Having a patient that is really sick and trying to keep them well, but not trying to

get the hopes up of the families can be very difficult for the nurses. Also if patients are difficult

to deal with and they will not let you help them, that can be stressful because all the nurses want

to do is help them. The stressful job of a nurse could be saved a little bit by those who are higher

above them: hospital administration. There should be something done by the administration in

the hospitals to lessen the amount of stress that the medical professionals, specifically nurses, are

put under. Something like a room where nurses can go to relax during a shift, not like the break

room but a room that is quiet and stress free. This would allow the nurses to relax after a really

stressful situation during a shift.

The hospital administrators have specific jobs that they do for the hospital. For their job

description, a hospital admin should be able to, first and foremost, “serve as a liaison among

governing boards, medical staff, and department managers” (“Hospital Administrator Job

Description”). They should be able to be a leader among the hospital. Also in the job description

is that they “evaluate personnel and prepare daily reports, assist with recruitment, consenting,

screening, and enrollment of personnel” (“Hospital Administrator Job Description”). It’s

interesting how they need to be overseeing the jobs that the nurses need to be doing, but the

nurses are not truly treated as though they are important sometimes. There are some examples,

though, that show how the administrators can help the nurses feel more comfortable and better

about their job.

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The ways that the hospital administrators can improve the workplace for nurses are pretty

simple. One of the first ways is to make sure that the nurses and staff members in general

understand their roles and responsibilities in the hospital (Nock). Everyone in the hospital needs

to take responsibility of their own roles and know exactly what they need to do and stop placing

blame on everyone else (Nock). Also, the administrators should set goals for the nurses and staff

as a whole to motivate their team so that they try to reach that as a team (Nock). This would be

helpful for the nurses because it would allow them to feel like part of the team and it would

encourage them to want to reach the goal. Nock also suggests to “reward the champions.”

Anyone who is recognized for their achievements will receive something special, and then others

will notice, and then they will also want to reach those goals so that they will be rewarded as

well. Another way that Nock states hospital administrators could help their staff is to “set clear

guidelines” when it comes to new procedures. This will make it easier for everyone so that

everyone is on the same page when it comes to educating patients and their families. The last

thing that Nock suggests is to “work closely with patient advocates.” She talks about the purpose

of the jobs of people in hospitals is to ensure that those who need their care get it, so they should

take the time to listen to those who speak for them. Nurses are essential to society, and without

them, the hospitals would not properly be able to run.

Nurses are essential to the medical industry. According to an article from Mercer

University, there are many things that nurses do that make them so important. Nurses play a

large role in the administrative side of healthcare (Mercer ABSN). Nurses have had a long-time

“professional respect within the medical community” which has been given through lots of hard

work on the academic side of the profession (Mercer ABSN). Typically, patients trust nurses

more than they trust their doctors because nurses are the connection between patients and
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doctors. Nurses are often the first healthcare professional you talk to when you walk into the

doctor’s office or the hospital, and they are typically good at getting you to relax and talk about

any information related to your health that you otherwise might not want to tell your doctor

(Mercer ABSN). Also, there could be times where nurses spend time with patients to give them

insights into the patients’ “wants and needs, behaviors, health habits, and concerns, making them

important advocates in their care”(Mercer ABSN). These nurses just want the best for their

patients and so they are trying to help them in any way that they can, so they will talk to the

family as well to see if everything is correct. Nurses do, also, monitor their patients every single

day, while the physicians may only check in every once in a while (Mercer ABSN). Nurses

spend a majority of their time assessing their patients charts and updating their records for future

reference. The nurses put everything on a patients’ chart, including vitals, if the patient has a risk

to fall, and any medications that the patient is currently taking (Mercer ABSN). In today’s cases,

nurses are the ones that are more likely to find a problem in the case of hospital stays. They are

supposed to notify a physician, but in the severe cases, nurses are likely the ones who have to

stabilize the patient. Also, there are other times where the “physician may spell out instances

when a nurse can act without seeking permission from the doctor” (Mercer ABSN). This does

require, though, the nurses to understand their basics of the medical field, and is why many

hospitals are hiring nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree (Mercer ABSN).

This would allow the nurses to be more knowledgeable in the practice of medicine.

Although, there are some issues with this. Some of the hospitals are already doing what

they can with the money and the resources that they have. Hospitals bill for more than what they

receive, and that has increased an insane amount in the last few decades (Belk). Hospitals in the

United States are paid an average of “less than 30% of what they bill, their profits margins have
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averaged around 8% in recent years” (Belk). This causes the hospitals to have an inadequate

amount of money to hire more nurses and decrease the shortage. A majority of the hospitals in

the United Stated are non-profits, which means that they make money mainly from donations

and such. This is a struggle for the workers of these hospitals, then, because they are not able to

be paid as easily. Also another reason as to why this is a problem is because many nurses are also

mothers. When nurses need maternity leave, or need time off to care for their children, that takes

time away from them coming into work. The nurses also would need to make sure that their

children are taken care of if they absolutely need to go in to work. Some people would argue that

nurses also chose this line of work, so they should know that this was what they were getting

themselves into. This is not necessarily the case though. Most people came into this profession to

help people and make sure that they are able to live a good life. Also, most nurses, when they

came into the nursing field, they probably did not know about all of the stress that this profession

put people under.

The nursing profession can be a crazy workplace overall. They want to make personal

connections with patients, so they talk to them about personal life, like possibly where they have

plans for the future, if they have siblings or maybe if they participate in any extracurricular

activities. They just want to get to know their patients, especially if they are going to be staying

at the hospital for a while, and relax to a minute or two before getting back to the craziness that

is their job, because their jobs tend to be quite stressful in many ways. Although, whenever they

come into the room to take vitals or check the IV and medication, patients are able to talk to

them more. Many of the nurses just want to make sure that everything is okay. Nurses should not

have to worry about the constant pressures they face while on the job, so hospitals should find

ways to support the nurses that are on their staff.

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Works Cited

Belk, David. “Hospital Financial Analysis.” True Cost Of Healthcare.

https://truecostofhealthcare.org/hospital_financial_analysis/. Accessed 28 March 2021.

Hinds, Pamela S., and Lauri Linder. Pediatric Oncology Nursing: Defining Care through

Nursing. Springer, 2020. https://link-springer-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-25804-7.pdf. PDF

document. Accessed 28 March 2021.

“Hospital Administrator Job Description.” Betterteam. https://www.betterteam.com/hospital-

administrator-job-description#:~:text=Hospital%20Administrators%20are

%20responsible%20for,patient%20care%20amongst%20other%20duties. Accessed 28

March 2021.

Mercer ABSN. “Why Nurses Are Important in Healthcare and You Should Become an RN.”

Mercer University. https://absn.mercer.edu/blog/why-nurses-are-important-in-healthcare/.

Accessed 28 March 2021.

Nock, Bethany. “5 Ways Hospital Administrators Can Improve Patient-Centered Care.” Gebauer

Company. https://www.gebauer.com/blog/5-ways-hospital-administrators-can-improve-

patient-centered-care. Accessed 28 March 2021.

Nursing@Simmons. “Nurse Stories: My Defining Moment.”

https://onlinenursing.simmons.edu/wp-content/uploads/Simmons_IC-432-15-

ebook_nursing-stories_FINAL.pdf. PDF. Accessed on 28 March 2021.

“Nurse Stress and Burnout: How to Deal with it Effectively Everyday.” MAS Medical Staffing, 8

Aug 2017. https://www.masmedicalstaffing.com/2017/08/08/nurse-stress/. Accessed 29

March 2021.
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Turner, Jebra. “11 Reasons Nurses Are Stressed Out.” Minority Nurse. 12 Apr. 2013,

https://minoritynurse.com/11-reasons-nurses-are-stressed-out/. Accessed 28 March 2021.