1

Scholarly Activities
Laura Zohar
Grand Canyon University
Professor Ellie Milo
7/15/21
 2

Scholarly Activities

Healthcare organizations are constantly changing due to internal and external forces,

including technological advancements, changes in demographics, policy initiatives, and political

reforms. Therefore, nurses need to participate in activities that help further their knowledge and

expertise. This can help them gain valuable skills to ensure they provide quality care to their

patients.

Overview

The scholarly activity that I participated in was a Quality Improvement Committee held

in the hospital's conference room once a month. The meeting was attended by different

stakeholders, including nursing staff, patient representatives, physicians, health educators,

nursing recruiters, and operations representatives. The target market for this activity was

everyone in the hospital, as nursing shortages impact patient and nurse safety. Therefore it was

necessary to include patient and hospital representatives. This activity proved highly beneficial

to me as at the end of the meeting, and I have a better understanding of the importance of

adequate staffing of nurses by addressing the issue of nursing shortage.

Problem

The Quality Improvement Committee aimed to address the nursing shortage. Nursing is a

fundamental part of healthcare as nurses provide direct patient care. However, the healthcare

system is experiencing a drastic nursing shortage. "The nursing profession continues to face

shortages due to a lack of potential educators, high turnover, and inequitable workforce

distribution" (Haddad et al., 2020). Nursing shortages impact the quality of the healthcare

delivered to patients. This impact can be attributed to staffing ratios which is a significant

clinical concern. As the demand for the nurse increases, the nursing shortage means that the few
 3

nurses present are under time pressure to deliver patient care. "In hospitals with high patient-to-

nurse ratios, nurses experience burnout, dissatisfaction, and the patients experience higher

mortality and failure-to-rescue rates than facilities with lower patient-to-nurse ratios" (Haddad et

al., 2020). It would be considerably beneficial for a nurse to participate in this scholarly activity.

Having an appropriate staffing ratio in the nursing department will decrease errors and inevitably

increase patient satisfaction. Adequate staffing also ensures the safety of nurses by reducing

burnout and work-related stress.

Solution

The area that was of particular interest to the committee was finding a solution to the

problem. To do this, the committee addressed the most significant contributor to the problem.

The aging workforce was identified as the primary contributor to the nursing shortage. The baby

boomers generation is a considerable portion of the US population. As the population ages, there

are more senior citizens and retirees in the country. Therefore, the best solution to address the

nursing shortage is recruitment. Hospitals need to recruit new staff and find ways to retain the

workforce. Thus, the committee proposed several recruiting strategies to attract new nurses.

These strategies were to be personalized including, emphasizing career advancement, flexible

schedules, and compensation offers. Recruitment also requires retention to avoid turnover. Job

satisfaction was brought up as the most significant concept that impacts the retention of nurses.

"Job satisfaction has been cited as an important factor contributing to the turnover of nurses and

as an antecedent to nursing retention" (Halcomb et al., 2018). The proposed strategies for

increasing job satisfaction included improving the work environment by ensuring authentic

leadership, work-life balance, and effective communication.

 4

Opportunity

The activity's objectives included using scholarly articles to justify the problem as a

significant issue in healthcare. "The shortage of nurses in the United States has become critical

as the projection of employment of RNs will increase 19% from 2012 to 2022, which is faster

than the average for all occupations" (Mehdaova, 2017). The scholarly activity addressed the

nursing shortage as a significant clinical issue and the parties affected. Solutions were also

proposed on strategies that can be utilized to address the issue. The activity brainstormed on

strategies that can improve the situation, including ways to increase the recruitment and retention

of nurses.

The opportunity to be captured by the scholarly activity was the creation of nurse ambassadors.

These individuals are essential as they are skilled in assisting and preparing those preparing to

pursue nursing careers. They coordinate to promote nursing and ensure individuals are

adequately prepared to navigate the nursing world. Nurse Ambassadors can help their

communities address the nursing shortage by reaching out to future nurses. They can help spread

the information about the nursing profession to equip them with the necessary skills.

Attending this activity helped me grow as a nurse as I realized the importance of

adequate staffing. When the demand for nurses is higher than the supply, both patients and

nurses pay the cost. Nurses have the role of providing primary care to patients; thus, shortages

increase the risk of medical errors. Nursing shortage also results in the burnout of nurses, which

causes overturn of employees.

 5

Program Competencies Addressed

The program competencies addressed during the session include:

 Critical thinking, which had the application of science-based analysis and synthesis of

scholarly evidence on the current situation in nursing employment.

 Effective communication includes active discussion on the issues contributing to the

nursing shortage and the possible short and long-term solutions.

 Integration of nursing science with ethics to analyze the current situation in nursing

recruitment and retention.

 6

References

Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2020). Nursing shortage. StatPearls

[Internet].

Halcomb, E., Smyth, E., & McInnes, S. (2018). Job satisfaction and career intentions of

registered nurses in primary health care: an integrative review. BMC Family

Practice, 19(1), 1-14.

Mehdaova, E. (2017). Strategies to overcome the nursing shortage (Doctoral dissertation,

Walden University).