Nursing Home: Inadequate Staffing and Mandatory Overtime

Nursing Home: Inadequate Staffing and Mandatory Overtime
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Nursing Home: Inadequate Staffing and Mandatory Overtime
The nursing shortage is familiar since this profession remains one of the most understaffed worldwide. Many problems contribute to this problem, and policymakers and organizations do not have a ready solution. Among the alternatives available is mandatory overtime, which allows firms to bridge the gap partially. This approach has its pros and cons. Since the cons outweigh the pros, it should only be used temporarily.
Pros of Mandatory Overtime in Nursing Homes
The first pro of mandatory overtime in nursing homes is that mandatory overtime may be the easiest short-term solution to the nursing shortage. Inadequate staffing means that organizations need more nursing personnel to handle patients. Since leaving patients unattended could be dangerous, overtime allows hospitals to plug the gap in staffing by having available personnel work for longer hours. Inadequate staffing does not necessarily emanate from the failure of hospitals to hire more nurses.
On the contrary, the nursing shortage is an industry-wide problem where the demand for nurses exceeds the supply. With fewer nursing graduates and high turnover rates, firms need help to fill all positions. The second pro of mandatory overtime is that it helps overcome acute shortages in times of crisis. According to Zhang et al. (2021), the number of hours per shift among nurses played a key role in the response and preparedness for COVID-19. The crisis led to a spike in the number of patients. Without time for hospitals to hire more staff, the first solution to be implemented was a change in the number of hours the nurses worked per shift. Mandatory overtime can help healthcare organizations fill staffing gaps during a crisis.
Another pro of mandatory overtime is that it allows nurses to raise their income levels. Nurses are remunerated for overtime work. Con...