There’s a nursing crisis in this country, and it’s only getting worse

Ishaan Nandwani, Opinions Editor

Like most other kids, my childhood consisted of frequent trips to the doctor’s office. Before seeing my pediatrician, there were several steps critical to my visit: height and weight measurements, eye exams and vaccinations, among many others — all conducted by nurses. But beyond their endless medical responsibilities, nurses offered my apprehensive childhood self comfort and reassurance.

As I’ve grown older and decided to pursue a career in medicine, through my time shadowing in emergency rooms and interpreting in outpatient clinics, I’ve witnessed firsthand how indispensable nurses are to patient care. 

Yet despite their necessity, nurses are brutally overworked and severely underpaid, an issue that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, with this sudden increase in sick patients, hospitals have been unable to keep up with the demands of their overflowing emergency rooms, largely due to a shortage of nurses.

The nursing crisis is largely due to how our health care system is treating nurses. Many hospitals have abandoned a patient-centered approach in favor of maximizing profits, which has been detrimental to patient care and working conditions for nurses.

As an aspiring physician, I’m deeply invested in ensuring that our hospital system works for patients and health care workers. Nurses are critical to improving patient outcomes. If we fail to address the systematic issues in nursing now, severe burnout will ensue and nursing will become more and more undesirable. This will inevitably result in an even greater shortage of nurses faced with meeting the needs of a burgeoning patient population.

The struggles that nurses have faced in recent years are evident at VCU Health System. Last November, a group of nurses at VCU Health threatened to walk out after being notified that they would receive lower bonuses for the year, according to the Associated Press. Nurses received an appreciation payment of approximately $400, in comparison to $750 the previous year.

Kaitlyn Patterson, quality control nurse at CrossOver Healthcare Ministry and former inpatient pediatric nurse at VCU Health, attributes many of the challenges in nursing today to low retention of nurses in hospitals and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When you have a COVID[-19] patient, you have to take many more isolation measures,” Patterson said. “If you’re going into a patient’s room to take vitals or meds, it takes three times longer than usual. However, staffing ratios have not been changed. Adding additional responsibilities to staffing ratios that were already pushing limits has led to severe burnout among nurses.”

Additionally, Patterson said that during her time working at VCU Health on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic, a wave of nurses in her unit left their positions, leading to a loss of experienced nurses.

To combat this loss, hospitals often hire travel nurses, experienced nurses who serve for a three to four month period, to fill these gaps. However, these nurses are very costly for hospitals and not a permanent solution.

While the current situation is dire, there are changes that hospitals nationwide and that the VCU Health System can take in order to improve nurse retention.

1. Nurses’ wages must be raised. 

The current amount of money that nurses are being paid for the work that they do is simply not enough. According to Medscape, the average RN compensation in 2021 was $83,000. While these numbers have increased slightly from previous years, wages should reflect the increased responsibility and hours that has ensued from the pandemic. VCU Health should also maintain the $750 bonus among nurses from the previous year.

2. More nurses need to be hired.

An overflowing amount of responsibilities for nurses has led to burnout and a decrease in retention rates. If more nurses are hired, nurses will not be pulled in many different directions and have to compromise their quality of care. Some hospitals have prioritized profits over patient care, and have intentionally hired a lower number of nurses to keep costs down. This is simply unacceptable.

3. Improved working conditions regulations for nurses must be clearly outlined.

Hospitals must clearly ascribe reasonable limitations on the number of patients each nurse is responsible for, which may vary among hospitals. Moreover, more time off should be designated for full-time nurses to prevent burnout.

It’s important to acknowledge that many hospitals across the country are in a financial crisis, and these changes are not always easy to implement. However, every major hospital system must convene to meticulously analyze their budgets, address how these solutions can be brought about and invest more into our nurses.

The unprecedented nursing crisis our nation is dealing with is extremely dangerous, but things can be better. It’s up to our hospitals to take a stand and make the necessary changes for the sake of our nurses and all patients.