Impact
Micro Level
Indeed, such an issue may have a negative, adverse, harmful impact on practical activities and job responsibilities among professionals in the healthcare system. To date, the results regarding these phenomena have been sufficiently studied and are well known in medical circles. According to Ely (2019), more than 90 percent of nurses report undermining professional values and norms due to staff shortages.
Most often, specialists working in nursing homes cannot provide high-quality and effective care for patients; they feel out of place and sometimes have to stay late (Ely, 2019). Such a high burden on medical workers develops emotional burnout, stress, and job dissatisfaction, as well as increases the risk of complications and mortality among patients (Haddad et al., 2020). Unfortunately, this is one of the common problems in the field, when personnel hunger forces several employees to take on complex tasks and perform them in the shortest possible time. These extreme conditions can cause tension in the body, disturbing a person’s emotional calm and balance.
Meso Level
Touching upon the meso-level, it is also necessary to mention the following potential problems due to understaffing. For example, such an unfavorable situation in the medical environment may affect the quality of implementation of relevant plans and strategies for servicing a specific category of citizens. It is known that the shortage of nurses has become one of the biggest obstacles to the introduction of the CoCare program (Von der Warth et al., 2021). Certainly, this initiative would help older people in terms of alleviating feelings of loneliness through better support, care, therapeutic activities, and visits by volunteers. However, understaffing continues to develop intensively every year, directly affecting the possibilities of implementing some improvement proposals.
Macro Level
In addition, one should note that the macro-level in the healthcare field means the coverage of social and public elements throughout a state. For the most part, it is worth mentioning that the shortage of nurses is still a global problem with no defined boundaries; this problem is of concern worldwide. This makes it difficult to provide medical care and monitor residents for the presence of certain diseases. The personnel crisis is getting worse every year, bringing the worst long-term consequences with “hysteresis effects” in many regions’ economic, political, and social spheres. Some countries and individual US states continue to actively work to solve the problem by adopting appropriate laws (Haddad et al., 2020). Nevertheless, there are not enough staff, and the ratio between patients per medical worker becomes incorrect and unfair every time.
Addressing
In order to try to solve the problem, it is necessary to make some efforts and aspirations at each of the levels. First of all, a medical professional should correctly allocate their strength, time, energy, and resources to ensure competent and qualified care for age-related people at the micro-level. Indeed, every patient needs timely and effective treatment, not caring about healthcare system problems. However, a nurse should not overwork, properly evaluating strength and capabilities to preserve inner harmony and high-quality performance of duties.
Secondly, taking into account joint cooperation with higher management, it is necessary to consider opportunities for improving the working environment and the introduction of incentive mechanisms, support, and development of nurses’ activities. The correct use of leadership tools in a medical institution increases patient and staff safety, saves nurses time and effort, and opens up new primary and subsequent nursing opportunities. It is also necessary to contribute in every possible way to the formation and development of various programs at the meso-level. These are just a few of the initiatives that make it possible to solve the shortage of personnel and commitment to the profession. These aspects improve the interaction of medical personnel, management, and patients and, ultimately reducing the cost of recruiting employees and training experienced ones.
Thirdly, unfortunately, this problem cannot be solved within the shortest possible time at the macro-level. In this case, a nurse needs to take extraordinary measures with colleagues and work on the crisis together. It is essential to solve the issue but not avoid or be afraid of the trouble; if there are certain shortcomings in work, one needs to look for ways to eliminate them and not leave the profession altogether. Of course, it is impossible to take drastic measures as a nurse, and the state and WHO should deal with this. To make up for the deficit, the country needs to invest in developing the field and training many more nurses per year than it is now. Every dollar invested in the development of nursing brings an evident and tangible return for everyone in terms of the health and well-being of people.
Expected Impact on Each of the System Levels
Primarily, such measures, to some extent, minimize the occurrence of mental and emotional burnout cases, as well as reduce the risks of errors in the treatment and prevention of diseases at the micro-level. Moreover, only with the help of some conditions, there is a chance to strengthen, consolidate the medical team, and attract new competent employees at the meso-level. Timely measures taken will not only satisfy the staff but also cope with the problem of understaffing at the macro-level.
References
Ely, J. (2019). What nurses say about short-staffing and how it’s harming patient care. Nursing Standard, 34(4), pp. 24-26.
Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2020). Nursing shortage. In L. M. Haddad, P., Annamaraju, & T. J. Toney-Butler (Eds.), StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing. Web.
Von der Warth, R., Kaiser, V., Reese, C., Brühmann, B. A., & Farin-Glattacker, E. (2021). Barriers and facilitators for implementation of a complex health services intervention in long-term care homes: a qualitative study using focus groups. BMC Geriatrics, 21(1), pp. 1-9.