Nurses – What Challenges Do Nurses Face In Today’s Healthcare Environment?

The fact cannot be ignored that nurses face a lot of challenges in hospital settings, and do not get the credit they deserve. Patient overload, and mental drainage of nurses all contribute to hinder the nursing profession. The challenges are constantly increasing with the competition among different professions. Moreover, the technology challenges cannot be overlooked here.

These problems have been made worse by the COVID-19 epidemic, where the world is going towards online settings. Nurses must swiftly adjust to new technology and the requirement for ongoing learning to overcome the challenges to some extent. But for that, it is essential to comprehend nursing environment struggles, in order to work on them and improve the working conditions for nurses, so here let’s discuss some of those challenges.

Less number of Nurses

The need for healthcare services has increased as the world population is increasing. Because they frequently need more medical care, older persons are more prone to diseases and interaction with nurses. However, this shift places significant pressure on an already enhanced workforce of nurses.

Some of more causes for the low number of nurses are:

Nurse Retirement: 

A large number of nurses are leaving their jobs due to their retirement. The quality of care and mentoring provided to younger nurses might be impacted by the departure of more experienced experts. Therefore, young nurses lack hands-on practice which may impact patient care as well.

Educational bottlenecks:

Nursing schools have limited chances to educate nurses. There is a lack of graduates in the industry as a result of many schools' limited nurse education.

Black, B., 2022. 

Patient Overload

Increased patient loads are a problem that comes with workforce shortages. Nurses frequently have to care for several patients at once, which may lower the standard of care they can deliver.

Here are some common effects of higher patient loads, which are mostly observed:

Lack of Patient Care:

Nurses may have less time to spend with each patient due to the increased load of patients in the. Here, patients may feel neglected as a result, and their level of satisfaction also significantly decreases.

Error Risk Increased: 

A nurse's risk of making mistakes increases due to stress and exhaustion which could result in potentially dangerous medical mistakes. Research has indicated a clear relationship between patient health advancement results and nurse staffing levels. Also, taking care of a large number of patients can be draining for nurses. They eventually may feel guilty if they perceive that they are not providing adequate care, to any patient.

Job Satisfaction:

Nurses' job satisfaction may suffer when their patient loads increase. Frustration against the healthcare system might result from feeling hurried and unable to deliver high-quality care to each patient, what he requires.

Emotional and Mental Challenges

Especially in the COVID-19 outbreak, nurses faced emotional and mental health issues, like other professionals. Their mental health may worsen as a result of the stress of seeing a patient struggle and pass away, due to the lack of beds and facilities during the pandemic.

Some of the common affecting mental health factors are:

Trauma:

Nurses frequently work in high-stress settings like ERs where they have to face traumatizing accidents. Disorders like PTSD are common due to such trauma. After the shift is over, the emotional toll of caring for people in severe conditions may still be felt, due to human instinct.

Stigma & Mental Health: 

Because mental health concerns are stigmatised, many nurses may refuse to get treated. This can lead to untreated conditions that affect their lives as well. The fear of being perceived as weak can prevent nurses from getting support that is mandatory.

Work-Life Balance:

Nurses may find it challenging to maintain a good work-life balance due to their on and off night duties specifically. Healthcare professionals can be called any time of the day either its mid of the night. This is quite draining physically too. This frustrates most people, which ultimately forces them to quit their jobs.

Also, this imbalance is not just confined to practising nurses but also student nurses. For instance, last year nursing students found it very difficult to take their classes and hospital rotations, at the same time. Here for online classes, students look for take my online class, option so that they can entirely focus on their hospital practice.

Coping Strategies:

To cope with the emotional strain, nurses may turn to harmful coping strategies like drug misuse or social isolation. This even worse affects their mental health and physical health as well.

Advancing Technology

Although technology can help students and nurses provide better strategies for patient care, there are drawbacks as well. Because technology is developing so quickly, nurses must constantly adapt and pick up new abilities, such as:

Technical Obstacles:

To properly use new technology, nurses must complete a rigorous training program, which is challenging. Although nurse students find technology very useful, like for their dissertation they approach, nursing dissertation help services, but there is a drawback. Relying too much on technology can cause problems too, which is not easy to overcome.

Effect on Patient Care: 

Although technology has the potential to improve patient care, it also runs the lack of face-to-face interaction. Some patients prefer face-to-face interaction and excessive dependence on technology might take that advantage from patients.

Also, as the healthcare sector undergoes continuous change, nurses need to stay up to date. For people who already have a lot on their plate, the pressure to learn new things is draining.

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Conclusion:

The difficulties that nurses encounter in the modern healthcare setting are varied. The challenges are numerous, so a good coping strategy is needed to address these challenges faced by nurses. Healthcare companies or support communities may foster a more supportive atmosphere by acknowledging the challenges and arranging seminars or workshops to address these challenges. This, in turn, will contribute to improved patient outcomes and overall better health of the whole community. Investing in nurses is ultimately an investment for society.

References:

• BAW. 2019. 5g Technology A Peak Into The Future. Available at < https://bestassignmentwriter.co.uk/blog/5G-technology-a-peek-into-the-future/ >

• Black, B., 2022.  Available at < https://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=PmeYEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Nurses+%E2%80%93+What+Challenges+Do+Nurses+Face+in+Today%E2%80%99s+Healthcare+Environment%3F&ots=uWzpkoFqZT&sig=0gz1UTFXXXeKMO_kMGQkqT_ADQo&redir_esc=y >