Reply To: A Great article about quelling the nursing shortage. Short and sweet

[Avery H.]

The nursing shortage, that has been echoed throughout our undergraduate education, which continues to echo now throughout our graduate programs and APRN practice, finds itself on centerstage once again but this time it’s hard to ignore it or drown it out due to the fact that we are in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and the shortage of nurses is apparent now more than ever. I love that this article mentions the history of our nation and how we dealt with war and previous health crises. I also appreciate the recruitment tactics that were mentioned because I believe that it had a huge role to play in the nursing shortage now and then. When dealing with a pandemic or anything that you haven’t experienced before, I believe it is important to learn from the past as much as you can but also be creative and open-minded to new ways to solve a problem. Although circumstances may not be ideal, it provides you with an opportunity to move away from the thought process of “things have always been done this way,” and allows for more innovation. A nurse reserve list or group to assist and respond to healthcare emergencies is a great idea, I’m not sure how it would work, but I love the thought. Moving forward, I think we need to continue to identify and dismantle the segregation, discrimination, racism, and any other barriers that prevent the progression of our nursing profession. In addition to identifying and dismantling the barriers, we need to also create new initiatives and be more intentional in our efforts to bring more diversity and quantity to nursing.