Nurses, as the largest group of the healthcare system, have an important role in the promotion of care. This is because they spend much time with patients and families, and their important information influences assessment quality, treatment, care, and patients’ health (Ebadi & khalili 2014). World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that nurses and midwives constitute almost half of the healthcare staff in the world; it has been estimated that until 2030, over 9 million nurses and midwives will be added to the present population (Caldwell & Cochran 2018).
Right-based approaches to healthcare are evidence-based and accounted as proven methods for health promotion and justice in the community. This approach has a crucial role in providing discipline and policymaking structure of every country (Hutton et al. 2018). Achieving the highest standard of care for everyone requires nurses’ insight and understanding of how the healthcare system works and how it can be improved. Nurses can lead and support the healthcare system through implementing a human rights approach to health in all healthcare aspects (Sefcik et al. 2018).
The slogan of 2018, “Nurses a voice to Lead-Health is a human right” concentrates on nursing investment to promote the economic growth of communities and reducing inequalities (Hoseini-Esfidarjani & Negarandeh 2017). Investment in the nursing workforce can be a key policy to support health as a human right (Ashley et al. 2018). Governments and policymakers should understand that investment in healthcare systems, including workforce, is very important in the socioeconomic development of communities (Rezaei & Arab 2016). The increased number of trained nurses improves patient outcomes, such as following the treatment schedule, increased satisfaction, and reduced costs and mortality (Heidary, Mazlom & Ildarabadi 2012).
Therefore, the lack of nurses influences treatment costs by affecting the outcomes. Increasing demand for healthcare services, the increased age of the population, and the incidence of chronic diseases and technological advances require an increased number of the efficient nursing workforce. The main difference between current nursing conditions and previous years is an imbalance between supply and demand which leads to stress, high workload, job burnout, and quitting the job (Darvishpour, Joolaee & Cheraghi, 2017).
The nursing shortage is a global concern which is also afflicting developed countries. This problem will prevent the achievement of global objectives of the health systems and causes dissatisfaction (Darvishpour, Joolaee & Cheraghi 2016). According to various studies as well as nursing slogans, especially in 2018 that is based on investment in the development of the nursing workforce, all health systems have to take this profession into consideration. Countries such as the United States and Britain compensate for the lack of nurses through attracting workforces from developing countries (Armmer 2017).
Due to some reasons, like the lack of suitable databases, no clear image for nursing workforces is available in our country. According to the standard for the nurse to bed ratio, two nurses are needed for a bed, and for this purpose, the same number should be trained and employed (Negarandeh 2015). According to the Deputy Minister of Nursing at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the affairs of the universities of medical sciences, approximately 1.8 nurses are available for every 1000 people. However, according to the statistics of 2013, in a country like Switzerland, 17.4 nurses are available for every 1000 people (Chan et al. 2013). Despite the increased number of nursing schools and trained nursing workforce in Iran, our hospitals still suffer from the lack of nurses. Therefore, the lack of nursing workforce is significant in other areas, including prehospital and primary care (Coster et al., 2018).
Due to the lack of nursing workforce in Iran, measures should be employed to increase nurses’ employment and prevent job burnout. Accurate estimation for the number of the required nursing workforce and its provision is the main step toward effective planning. Therefore, the following solutions are proposed to increase the attraction and retention of nurses:
Increased employment, the regulation of nursing distribution system and reasonable payment, providing more authority to nurses, involving them in decision-making, and creating desirable organizational atmosphere, creating necessary professional attractions, the reward for extra work and working schedule based on the interests of the person, supporting them by the nursing organization and creating a positive view for the society through mass media and the related institutes.
Based on the above mentioned and essential roles of nurses in the health care system, it seems that nurses should be active in supporting patients; at the same time, the government, policymakers, and professional organizations are expected to make highest efforts to create strategies to achieve the objectives of this slogan.
References
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