CNO survey: Nurse shortages impact patient care, recruitment, and staff morale

Chief Nursing Officers predict continued challenges in nurse recruitment, staff morale, and even patient care due to shortages that they say are bad and likely to get worse, according to results of a recent survey of CNOs and other nurse executives.

These were some of the key insights from the survey, Worsening Shortages and Growing Consequences: CNO Survey on Nurse Supply and Demand, completed by 233 CNOs. The survey was conducted by AMN Healthcare and The Center for the Advancement of Healthcare Professionals in collaboration with B.E. Smith, a healthcare executive search firm that is an AMN company.

Expect Shortages to Worsen
Nearly all CNO respondents acknowledged that their healthcare organizations are currently experiencing some level of nurse shortages, with 72% describing the shortages as moderate, significant, or severe. Most anticipate the problem will get worse over the next five years. Specifically, 28% of CNO respondents predicted a worsening in one year; 43% in two years; and 61% in five years.

CNOs also responded strongly to a question regarding nursing recruitment. More than 80% described the difficulty in nurse recruitment at their organization as moderate, significant, or severe, with 41% describing it as significant or severe.

In discussing nurse recruitment, CNOs said the two greatest challenges are the lack of access to high-quality talent (32%) and the location of their organization (37%).

Impact on Patient Care, Staff Morale
More than 40% of CNOs said that shortages have a considerable or great negative impact on patient satisfaction, while 34% said they have considerable or great negative impact on patient care.

These concerns are not surprising considering studies showing a link between work environment and patient satisfaction. Understaffing can degrade the nurse work environment, and the quality of the work environment can impact patient care and satisfaction.

CNOs displayed their greatest concern when asked how shortages might affect nurse morale. A large majority, 61%, said that shortages have a considerable or great negative impact on nurse morale.

Expert Help Needed
Many healthcare organizations may not be equipped to deal with the magnitude of the shortages, given that their HR expenditures are generally not robust. According to the Bloomberg BNA HR Department Benchmarks and Analysis, HR expenditures usually tally approximately 1% of operating budgets at hospitals, and talent acquisition is only a fraction of that amount.

Without the capacity or resources to mount the type of sophisticated national search needed to reduce recruitment problems, the use of outside healthcare sourcing experts may be in necessary.

By Marcia Faller, PhD, RN, Chief Clinical Officer, AMN Healthcare

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