Worldwide Nursing Shortage

The national nursing shortage America is facing is only the tip of the iceberg. Many other countries are experiencing the same problem and are frantically looking for solutions to combat this shortage.

For example the Australian Government has been forced to close hospital beds and defer elective surgery because there are too few staff to care for patients. And according to a NSW Auditor-General's report the aging population and a surge in chronic health conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease is placing enormous strain on hospital infrastructure. Even though the number of nurses has increased by 5,500 in the past four years and resignation rates have fallen from 16 to 14 percent, there was still a chronic shortage.

The Australian Government is taking positive steps such as increasing the wages for nurses making them the highest paid in the country. Additionally the government recruited over 1,000 nurses from overseas and attracted nearly 1,500 ex-nurses back to the public health sector. However, even with these positive steps it is too early to judge whether they will ensure an adequate nursing workforce in the future. The Minister for Health, John Hatzistergos, recently laid the blame at the feet of the Federal Government, saying more than 2,000 extra university places were needed to keep pace with demand. The lack of nurse educator faculty is causing a back up in training qualified nursing candidates and affecting the entire healthcare system.

The Auditor-General recommended NSW Health improve its monitoring of the nursing shortage, reduce reliance on overtime and agency nurses and develop better plans to manage its nursing workforce.

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