The Nursing Shortage: What Can Nurse Educators Do?

developing nursing students with resilienceby Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

The Problem

Approximately 100,000 Registered Nurses and 34,000 Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses have left the workforce in the last two years as a result of stress, burnout, and retirement. These findings from the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey are quite alarming. However, additional findings paint an even more disturbing picture. Another 610,388 nurses reported an “intent to leave” the workforce by 2027. An additional 188,962 RNs younger than forty reported similar intentions to leave nursing. Altogether, about one-fifth of RNs nationally are projected to leave the workforce by 2027 (Smiley, Allgeyer,2023).

Why are these nurses, particularly those under forty, planning to leave?  continue reading

Resilience

By Cathy Converse

“What’s comin’ will come and we’ll meet it when it does.” –Hagrid

Have you ever thought about the relationship between success and failure? Sure, they’re opposites, but they also go hand in hand more often than we think. Success is almost always built upon failed attempts. Almost every successful person we can think of has actually failed numerous times or has overcome significant hardships. J. K. Rowling and Stephen King were rejected by publishers many times before landing book deals that launched incredibly successful careers. Joe Biden overcame a severe stutter to become President of the United States. The Ford Motor Company was the third automobile company Henry Ford started—the first two went bankrupt. Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison were notoriously poor students.

And yet, these people, and many more like them, went on to incredible success. There may have been many reasons they were able to overcome tough times, but almost certainly one of these was that they were resilient. Continue reading “Resilience”