laura rodriguez - Nursing

 The Global Nursing Crisis: An Emergency in Healthcare.

Across the globe, nurses are a vital foundation of healthcare systems; they provide care, emotional support, and have the ability to save lives everyday. Despite this, we are currently facing a global nursing shortage, actively threatening the security of healthcare systems all over the world such as small rural clinics in third-world countries to busy hospitals in Los Angeles. 

The COVID-19 pandemic starting in late 2019 to early 2020 impacted not only the whole world, but the healthcare system as well. It has accentuated perforations in the healthcare system, and has directly exposed healthcare workers to the virus. The hard work endured by nurses during the pandemic, and the daily risk of exposing themselves to becoming infected to the virus has not only become emotionally draining, but physically as well. The high demand from nurses during the pandemic has become a traumatizing experience, with reports showing that it exacerbated the global nursing shortage.

However, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global nursing shortage crisis was still recognized as a major healthcare issue not only in the U.S, but across the globe as well. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the State of the World’s Nursing (SOWN) report, there was an estimated nursing workforce of 27.9 million with an estimated decrease of 5.9 million nurses. 89% of the shortfall of nurses came from low to middle class third-world countries in the African, South-East Asia and East Mediterranean WHO regions. 17% of the shortfall occurred simply due to aging. From the SOWN report, it was also concluded that a significant portion of the nurses were in retirement age, and there wasn’t stable funding to train and enroll the new generation of nurses. Additionally, factors such as heavy workload, understaffing, and stress led to job dissatisfaction and ultimately the further decrease in nurses. With the risk, stress, burnout, and demand that came with the pandemic, it further magnified the pre-existing global nursing shortage crisis.

Solving this issue requires investment and dedication to nursing education, better working conditions and environments, fair wages, and recognition of nurses as essential healthcare workers. Nurses prevent and respond to health emergencies. Addressing this global nursing crisis is not optional; it’s crucial for public health and stable healthcare. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Andreah Falame - Neurology

Image
  Understanding Neurological Disorders: The Brain, Nervous System, and Common Disorders Andreah Falame Neurology is the branch of study in the medical field that focuses primarily on the brain, spinal cord, and the nervous system. The nervous system is a significant system that controls everything we do. From thinking and feeling to moving and sensing the world around us. The study of neurology is an emerging field that continues to advance in more personalized treatments for patients that are battling neurological disorders.   The field of neurology circles on 3 main parts of the nervous system. Starting off with the brain, the brain is known to be a complex organ that serves to process various information. With its ability to send signals throughout different areas of the body, it leads to the works of the spinal cord. The spinal cord carries messages between the brain and the rest of the body. With the help of the nerves, the nerves transmit signals to and from the bra...
Read more

Neurology - Shanta’e Taylor

Image
  Highlighting the Global Healthcare Issues In Neurology. Neurology is the branch of medicine associated with the diagnosis and treatment of the nervous system, encompassing the brain and spinal cord. Furthermore, neurology is a paramount medical concern as it integrates physical and mental health, grasping how we behave, theorize, and recognize neurological health disorders that control our daily lives. Most importantly, everything starts with the brain — it makes us capable of functioning, executing daily habits and conversing with the people we love. Our brain should be calm, safe, and healthy. However, due to circumstances in the healthcare system, this is a privilege, rather than a basic need. In fact, this shapes the reality of many deployed soldiers, and Palestinian citizens suffering from chronic Multiple Sclerosis (MS) disease. MS occurs in the central nervous system, where the body accidentally attacks itself.  Moreover, due to the low-income healthcare system lackin...
Read more

Iasmina Ciocan - Neurosurgery

Image
Neurosurgery Iasmina Ciocan  Neurosurgery is, as we all know, one of the most demanding medical fields, due to needing utmost precision. Here, even the tiniest mistakes bring horrible consequences. Therefore, neurosurgery requires cutting-edge technology, dedicated professionals, and tremendous financial resources. Sadly, in low- and middle-income areas, the proficiency of neurosurgical care is being brought down by numerous challenges. People could always be affected by neurosurgical conditions, no matter which country they live in, hence it is essential to address the obstacles faced in this medical field, on a global level. One of these crucial problems is the absence of trained personnel and adequate surgical equipment. Specialized neurosurgical care is mandatory for conditions like hydrocephalus, brain tumors, congenital anomalies, and spinal cord injuries. However, the growing scarcity of skilled neurosurgeons and neurosurgical facilities in some countries, means that a notab...
Read more