Nursing Shortage in West Virginia
Instructions:
Identify a different problem or issue ( local or state) that needs political attention through policy action. Once you’ve identified the issue, you will be constructing an issue brief on the proposed policy action. Your 3-5 page issue brief should be constructed using the attached template and should cover the following sections:
. Brief history of the issue.
. General accounting of the current problem ( stated in one or two sentences).
. The options available for addressing the problem.
. Whether there are current applicable policies that need to be expanded, adjusted or eliminated.
. What actors are currently involved with the issue and where support currently exists.
. What your recommendations are and how you would propose moving the policy forward ( ie what support needs to build, what channel does it need to go through, which of the options listed above are most feasible, etc).
. Remember that any recommendations for new programs need to include how you will pay for them in a sustainable manner.
Do not complete the template attached below with bullets or board lists. This should be a detailed analysis of each element discussed above. Write this issue brief as if you were handing it to the state governor, the head of an agency, etc. They should understand your policy, your recommendations, and the policymaking process of the issue through review of your issue brief. It shouldn’t need elaboration from you.
Be sure to draw from course readings and to use at least three scholarly sources. A list of good online journals is available in our online library.
Student Name
Professor
Course number – Course name
American Public University
DATE
Issue Brief on Nursing Shortage in West Virginia
Background Information
The shifting healthcare landscape has significantly impacted workforce turnover in different states across the United States. Haddad et al. (2022) report that nurses are some of the most fundamental healthcare players because of their direct contact with patients in different contexts, including within hospital facilities and community settings. They also provide various services that significantly influence the quality of health outcomes. Haddad et al. (2022) indicate that the U.S. has approximately 3.9 million nurses in multiple states. Projections reveal that there will be a need for over 1 million nurses by 2030 due to the rising demands of healthcare challenges. Diverse reasons support these projections and demonstrate the importance of further addressing the nurse shortage issue through sustainability policies.
One of the leading issues threatening the healthcare and nurse supply in the different states in the United States, including West Virginia, is the estimated rate of nurse retirement and transition to other careers. Haddad et al. (2022) argue that similar to the aging population that is increasing the demand for nurses, aging professionals in this career are leaving their jobs without adequate replacements by the younger generation. Statistics indicate that the United States leads among the countries with the highest number of citizens beyond 65 years (Haddad et al., 2022). The current reality is that states such as West Virginia are grappling with a dwindling number of healthcare providers against the demand for services due to the rising need for such services as the age of Americans rises. Sablik (2022) acknowledge this gap by indicating that the state has a concerning nursing shortage that worsened due to the complications triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The author underlines the severity of the issue in rural areas by claiming that the ratio of nurses to patients in such locations is worse compared to urban settings. As a result, West Virginia is currently grappling with a nursing shortage, requiring strengthening its existing policies through legislative actions to address this aggravating challenge.
Evidence indicates that the nursing population of most states is aging. For instance, Haddad et al. (2022) state that the number of currently registered nurses in the nation beyond 50 surpasses one million. Such a figure translates to approximately one-third of the professionals approaching their exit from the workforce. This trend has been ongoing for decades, illustrating the urgency of finding immediate strategies or programs for bridging the widening gap between supply and demand for these healthcare workers. Sablik (2022) notes that the approach requires various legislative and facility-initiated techniques to succeed. Irrespective of the option embraced by the stakeholders, the first step is to recognize the historical background of the nursing shortage and devise the appropriate solutions.
Problem
Nursing shortage presents complex and dynamic healthcare-related challenges, including worker burnout and conflicts, that can trigger life-threatening issues like medical negligence, medical errors, and healthcare services inaccessibility. This problem has far-reaching ramifications characterized by increasing morbidity and mortality rates in the affected localities.
Policy Options (including barriers, feasibility, and current applicable policy)
Many policy options exist for addressing the persistent nursing shortage in West Virginia and other states in the United States. According to Park and Yu (2019), a state may embrace the new pay agreement approach as the primary mechanism for steadily increasing staffing numbers. The author reveals that this technique incorporates safe staffing guidelines and regulations for establishing healthy work settings. The projections are that adopting this option would attract more healthcare workers into the practice through a rising number of nursing school applications. Since the approach integrates the concepts of private-public partnerships, it boosts the process of recruiting, training, and retaining workers. Private donors significantly influence the improvements in remunerations, making nursing a desirable practice for upcomin...