Oftentimes, when people hear the term "nursing," they think of the people who are typically in the hospitals or health care facilities taking care of the patients. The term "nursing" is described as the profession or practice of providing care for the sick and infirm. The nursing profession involves a combination of academic knowledge, interpersonal traits, and psychological skills. Also, nurses are expected to provide a high standard practice and care at all times to the patients. Despite being recognized and valued, nurses still have to face several difficulties and challenges in their profession. Some of these challenges are easy to overcome, but others are quite complicated for the nurses to handle. A combination of issues affects the locations that experience shortages in their nursing staff. Many nurses are dissatisfied with their jobs. They are unable to do their job to their best ability because they are overwhelmed with the number of patients assigned to them. In many cases, applicants to nursing programs are turned away because of the shortage of nursing teachers. Suggestions to overcome the nursing shortage are to increase the satisfaction of nurses, provide incentives for nursing teachers, and increase funding for nursing education.
One of the main reasons to the nursing shortage is the dissatisfaction of many nurses experience on the job. The purpose of the nurse is to give the best care possible to patients. Most nurses are unable to provide the quality time needed with each patient. Nurses are required to "get the job done" and move on to the next patient. This dissatisfaction gives the nursing profession a negative image. In the article The Nursing Shortage in the United States of America: An Integrative Review of Literature, Goodin writes, "it is essential that today's young people are exposed to more positive and authentic images of nursing" (6).
