Nurses, who make up half of the global healthcare workforce, play a critical role in disease prevention and health by providing care in primary, community, and hospital settings, as well as emergency and critical care. The global nursing shortage is being exacerbated by changing demographics, such as an ageing population and a higher burden of chronic diseases, as well as increased health-care needs and thus demands on healthcare services.
In a year after the World Health Organization (State of the World's Nursing 2020 Investing in education, jobs and leadership) proclaimed COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic, there has been an upsurge in the number of nurses quitting the field. Apart from COVID-19 victims and their families, the pandemic likely had the greatest impact on healthcare staff, particularly millions of nurses worldwide. It is hard to anticipate the long-term impact of coronavirus on nurses, their lives, and their jobs. The Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery 2021–2025 (SDNM) addresses many of the issues including the ongoing global shortage of 6 million nurses, the need for investment in nursing jobs, education, leadership, and practise, as well as nurses' safety in the face of the pandemic.
The pandemic significantly exacerbated the shortage of nurses that existed before to the outbreak. The nursing workforce is expected to grow to 34 million by 2030, up from the World Health Organization's current projection of 28 million nurses.
Majority of nurses are ‘somewhat or extremely concerned' that heavy workloads, insufficient resources, burnout, and stress are driving the exodus. The World Health Organization has confirmed the mass trauma of health-care workers, which was highlighted by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) in January 2021. According to the ICN, "large numbers of experienced nurses are leaving or considering leaving the profession following the pandemic, which should serve as a wake-up call for governments to invest in nursing jobs, education, and leadership before it is too late."
United States
The United States is anticipated to face a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs), which is predicted to worsen as the Baby Boomer generation ages and the demand for health care increases. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 200,000 additional nursing positions might be produced annually in the United States of America between now and 2026.
United Kingdom
There was already a deficit of about 50,000 nurses in the UK prior to the coronavirus epidemic, and the healthcare system is still far from filling that gap. Nursing shortages could cause staff fatigue and compromise patient safety across the NHS warned by Royal College of Nursing. According to BBC news, the UK government plans to hire 50,000 additional nurses by 2025.
Australia
Seek.com, Australia's premier job recruitment website publish more than 10,000 vacancies in June 2021. The nursing workforce is projected to grow 15.6% by 2025.
Health workforce planning forecasts for the nursing workforce indicate that Australia's demand for nurses will outstrip supply in the medium to long term, with a predicted deficit of around 85,000 nurses by 2025 and a projected shortfall of 123,000 nurses by 2030.
Canada
Canada is on track to have a nurse shortage of 60,000 by 2022, according to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). As part of its strategy to address the nursing shortage, Canada has been recruiting internationally trained nurses. 7.7% of Canadian nurses are foreign-trained, according to the CIHI.
To address future challenges in the healthcare system, there has been a focus on achieving higher levels of education and training for nurses. Other efforts have included developing and implementing more advanced roles for nurses, in addition to implementing university-level requirements for entry into the profession. Advanced nursing education is necessary to support advanced clinical roles. These link has found the profession to broaden its scope of practise. There are several short-term courses that can be taken-up at international destinations to facilitate nurses to advance their scope of practice. These courses often act as a pathway to migrate into these countries. Most often, nurses can work part-time in a related industry and meet the cost of living as well as the course fee.
Most developed countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and the United States, have used immigration to attract foreign-trained nurses. All of these immigration opportunities, however, necessitate passing the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) as well as meeting the required English test scores. There are several tailor-made programs designed to assist overseas nurses who wish to work towards obtaining their Nursing Registration in countries such as Australia, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Gulf countries as well as European countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.
With a reputation for being empathetic, skilled, multilingual and adaptable Malayali nurses are highly sought after in the international health industry. An international nursing career can guarantee a comfortable lifestyle and work-life balance that these angels in disguise truly deserve.
(The author is founding director of Health Careers International (HCI), a leading independent global provider of healthcare education and research. He lives in Australia. Views are personal).