The nurse staffing shortage has evolved from a staffing or financial issue into a significant patient safety crisis. As demand for skilled nurses greatly exceeds supply, healthcare organizations face challenges filling essential roles and meeting accreditation standards.
Consequently, nurses are trapped in a constant cycle of overwork and burnout, undermining their ability to deliver high-quality care and risking patient safety.
This issue reaches beyond direct patient care. The Joint Commission’s new National Patient Safety Goal 12(NPSG.12.01.01) now requires healthcare organizations to meet minimum nurse staffing levels as part of compliance standards.
What's causing the nurse shortage?
Increased Demand for Care
The demand for healthcare services has reached unprecedented levels, driven by the overlap of an aging population and a spike in chronic diseases, leading to a need for more intensive care. The difficulties presented by this surge are especially noticeable given the United States' current demographic profile, which has a historic high number of individuals aged 65 and above.
Aging Nurse Population
A significant portion of registered nurses and nurse faculty are also approaching retirement age. According to the latest RegisteredNursing.org fact sheet, nearly 1.1 million new RNs are needed by 2030 to keep up with demand, and more than 900,000 nurses are projected to retire in the next four years.
Fewer nurses working also means limited resources to train new ones. The scarcity of educational resources could limit enrollment or degrade the quality of nursing education.
Decreased Interest in the Profession
A recent National Nursing Workforce Study reported that 40% of nurses intend to leave the workforce within the next 5 years. With fewer staff, nurses must work longer hours and take on more responsibilities, leading to increased stress and fatigue.
As a solution, hospitals have begun offering incentives, such as bonuses and higher pay, to travel nurses to handle these issues. However, this has been shown to be a bad deal for health systems and nurses.
How the Nurse staffing shortage puts patients at risk
Increased Nurse-to-Patient Ratio
Safe nurse-to-patient ratios are critical for both patient care and nurse retention, and, new this year, hospital accreditation. Despite the risks, nurses across the nation must care for more patients than recommended due to staffing shortages.
Hospitals and medical organizations that are unable to maintain safe nurse-patient ratios risk losing their accreditation and, by extension, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.
For Nursing, Talent Acquisition, and HR leaders, this means the risks have never been higher.
- Burnout is accelerating turnover: 75% of nurses report high levels of stress or exhaustion, and early-career nurses are leaving bedside roles at record rates.
- Vacancy rates are rising: The average nurse vacancy rate has surpassed 9%, and in some areas, it is double digits.
- Patient safety is directly affected: Research shows that inadequate nurse staffing increases the risk of medical errors, adverse events, and even mortality.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), more than 193,000 registered nurse openings are projected each year through 2032, driven by both workforce turnover and an increasing demand for healthcare services from aging populations.
Reduced staffing can lead to higher overall costs for hospitals. Decreased patient care quality results in extended hospital stays and higher medical costs, negatively affecting the facility's perception and overall accreditation.
Quality of Care
Several studies have indicated the correlation between inadequate staffing and decreased quality of patient care. With less staff support, nurses must spread their time across more patients, leading to:
- Less time to monitor patients: increased patient falls and accidents
- Rushed or incomplete nursing care: bathing, mouth care, feeding, and toileting
- Medication errors: delayed or missed doses of medication
Improper patient care could lead to increased length of stay, infections, patient dissatisfaction, readmissions, and, even more alarmingly, elevated mortality.
Overworked Nurses
Nurses have reported feeling overworked since before the pandemic, and because the shortage shows no signs of ending, many are considering leaving the profession. As nurses take on more patients, they take fewer breaks, miss meals, and strain to get over shifts. Fatigue associated with overworked nurses can put the quality of care at risk:
Longer Wait Times
According to ECRI, Americans face longer wait times – even during life-threatening emergencies. Without adequate staff to support a healthcare facility, emergency rooms become overcrowded – causing a rise in hospitalization, procedures performed, permanent disability, or even death.
Fewer Hospital Visits
Patient dissatisfaction, longer wait times, and poor experiences compel individuals to delay or forego routine examinations and treatments. Fewer visits may lead to increased illness, further driving the need for healthcare services.
For some healthcare facilities, staffing levels have hit a breaking point, pushing them to the brink of closure. This, in turn, forces patients to travel farther to seek medical attention.
Hueman RPO's Travel Nurse Reduction Program
Hueman's Traveler Reduction Program significantly reduces premium labor costs for healthcare facilities, delivering sustained savings and financial peace of mind.
We leverage over 30 years of experience in RN recruitment and dedicate our recruiting resources to your traveler positions to help you escape high-premium labor costs. Using our seven-step program and Hueman AI, our recruiting teams focus solely on replacing travel nurses at your organization. We use advanced sourcing and networking skills to build a strong nurse pipeline for your existing and upcoming requisitions.
The Travel Nurse Reduction Program saves health systems an average of $3 million in the first year, with an average of $700k saved when an organization replaces ten travelers with staff nurses.
Ready to reduce your travel nurse costs?
Visit our dedicated solutions page or contact us today.
