Surname 1
Student Name
Institution
Course
Instructor
Date
Global Nursing Shortage
The severe shortage of nurses is an alarming problem that the healthcare system is now
dealing with. As a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) with a strong interest in the sector, I started
conducting extensive research to fully understand the scope and extent of this issue globally.
Exploring various sources, from academic journals to reports from highly regarded health
organizations, I uncovered the complex interactions between this crisis and changing
demographics, healthcare needs, educational barriers, migration trends, and workplace dynamics.
I also used Google Scholar to find additional scholarly articles. The search terms I used that were
most successful included "global nursing shortage," "international nursing shortage," and
"worldwide nursing crisis." Words like "nurse staffing problems" and "hospital understaffing"
returned less relevant results.
I chose these sources because they provided data and analysis on the nursing shortage
from an international perspective. Many examined the scope and impact of the need globally or
compared strategies across countries. I wanted reputable, recent sources to capture the most
current state of this ongoing issue. Most of my selected sources are from peer-reviewed nursing
and healthcare journals or reputable organizations like the WHO and ICN.
Surname 2
From my research, I learned the nursing shortage is a widespread problem affecting
healthcare systems worldwide. Countries across income levels face shortfalls in their nurse
workforce. Reasons include aging populations requiring more care, insufficient
education/training capacity, unsatisfactory work environments leading nurses to leave the
profession, and nurse migration to wealthier countries offering higher salaries. The COVID-19
pandemic also exacerbated workforce shortages. Strategies to address the global nursing shortage
include policy changes to improve nurse retention and working conditions and more significant
investments in nursing education and training programs.
The most exciting source I read was the Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening
Nursing and Midwifery 2016–2020 being implemented in countries. It provided a helpful,
extensive picture overview of the role of nurses worldwide as the "backbone of health care
delivery," why shortages pose such a critical challenge, and key focus areas countries should
prioritize to build nursing capacity. For example, it recommends improving nurse leadership,
advancing nurse roles in practice and policymaking, increasing funding and resources, and
enhancing data collection to inform decision-making. The evidence base for national policy
changes is strengthened by the tracking and accountability of nations' pledges to execute nursing
and midwifery interventions, as described in the SDNM. The results of this stock-taking can help
policymakers and decision-makers make better decisions about how to support the contributions
of nurses and midwives in attaining the SDGs and UHC.
This entire process took me about 5 hours. I spent roughly 2 hours searching databases
and Google for sources, 2 hours reading through potential articles and studies to select the most
relevant, and 1 hour compiling everything into proper MLA citations and writing this reflection.
If given a chance in the future, I would start searching library databases before trying a general
Surname 3
search engine. The databases returned more credible academic sources. I also learned about
helpful search strategies like using wildcards and Boolean operators. I could have found my
sources more efficiently with some more initial structure. Overall, I gained valuable practice in
developing a research question, carrying out scholarly research, and synthesizing findings related
to a global issue, which will benefit me as I write future papers. I discovered connections
between nurse retention and a wide range of healthcare management, policy, and education
topics. Solutions that are similarly cooperative will be needed to address the shortfall.
Surname 4
Works Cited
Agu, Chinwendu F., et al. “COVID‐19 Pandemic Effects on Nursing Education: Looking
through the Lens of a Developing Country.” International Nursing Review, vol. 68, no. 2,
Jan. 2021, [Link]
Ajuebor, Onyema, et al. “Are the Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and
Midwifery 2016–2020 Being Implemented in Countries? Findings from a Cross-
Sectional Analysis.” Human Resources for Health, vol. 17, no. 1, July 2019,
[Link]
Challinor, Julia M., et al. “Oncology Nursing Workforce: Challenges, Solutions, and Future
Strategies.” The Lancet Oncology, vol. 21, no. 12, Dec. 2020, pp. e564–74,
[Link]
Drennan, Vari M., and Fiona Ross. “Global Nurse Shortages—the Facts, the Impact, and Action
for Change.” British Medical Bulletin, vol. 130, no. 1, 2019, pp. 25–37,
[Link]
Efendi, Ferry, et al. “Concept Analysis of Nurse Retention.” Nursing & Health Sciences, vol. 21,
no. 4, July 2019, [Link]
Haryanto, Mickey. “Nursing Shortage.” Orthopaedic Nursing, vol. 38, no. 1, 2019, pp. 1–2,
[Link]
Marć, M., et al. “A Nursing Shortage - a Prospect of Global and Local Policies.” International
Nursing Review, vol. 66, no. 1, July 2019, pp. 9–16, [Link]
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Park, Hyunbong, and Soyoung Yu. “Effective Policies for Eliminating Nursing Workforce
Shortages: A Systematic Review.” Health Policy and Technology, vol. 8, no. 3, Sept.
2019, pp. 296–303, [Link]
Spencer, S. A., et al. A Health Systems Approach to Critical Care Delivery in Low-Resource
Settings: A Narrative Review. July 2023, [Link]
Turale, Sue, and Apiradee Nantsupawat. “Clinician Mental Health, Nursing Shortages and the
COVID‐19 Pandemic: Crises within Crises.” International Nursing Review, vol. 68, no.
1, Mar. 2021, pp. 12–14, [Link]