Recognizing lifestyle needs in nursing recruitment.Salary and benefits are not the ultimate factors in attracting good nurses If nurses are going to be mainstream providers of health care (Maraldo, 1990), there must be some definitive effort to ensure that their supply will meet the demand. To begin with, however, nurses must be willing to work in health care settings where the populations have the greatest needs for their services. One such population is the elderly. As their numbers grow, so grow their health care needs and concerns and the demand for health care workers to meet them. Yet nursing homes, an area of need, are experiencing a chronic shortage of RNs. There are many reasons for this: Clients do not get well and go home; long-term care long-term care (LTC), n the provision of medical, social, and personal care services on a recurring or continuing basis to persons with chronic physical or mental disorders. lacks the excitement found in acute care; there is little opportunity for advancement and little recognition and praise for the care delivered; salaries are not commensurate with responsibilities; the public image of the elderly tends to be negative; the delivery of nursing care to the aged is perceived as physically and emotionally exhausting (Blainey, 1985). With the prevalence of such attitudes and perceptions, the future of quality long-term care seems compromised, at best. Kaiser (1974) stated that if the problems with recruitment of professional nurses to long-term care settings were not addressed and reversed, the resulting shortage would be critical. This prediction was made years ago, but today we are still experiencing a severe shortage of nurses desiring employment in long-term care. To achieve a reversal, there is a crucial element that must be considered: lifestyle. An individual's lifestyle is the unifying principle on which his or her behavior is based, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Alder alder (ôl`dər), name for deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Alnus of the family Betulaceae (birch family), widely distributed, especially in mountainous and moist areas of the north temperate zone and in the Andes. (Baruth & Eckstein, 1981). It defines how the individual lives, makes consumption choices, uses leisure time and pursues career goals. While this concept may not be expressed during an employment interview, it is nontheless important to the individual. Most of the literature on employee recruitment deals with extrinsic EVIDENCE, EXTRINSIC. External evidence, or that which is not contained in the body of an agreement, contract, and the like. 2. It is a general rule that extrinsic evidence cannot be admitted to contradict, explain, vary or change the terms of a contract or of a issues as influencing factors for nurses seeking employment. The extrinsic factors cited most frequently as satisfiers for nurses when choosing specific health care areas include: the work itself, professional autonomy professional autonomy, n the right and privilege provided by a governmental entity to a class of professionals, and to each qualified licensed caregiver within that profession, to provide services independent of supervision. , good interpersonal relationships, personal growth, and task achievement. According to job satisfaction criteria, when extrinsic needs are fulfilled, the results are employee satisfaction (Felsen 1990). Job satisfaction could influence an employee's reporting-to-work performance along with the duration of employment (Price & Mueller, 1981). Nevertheless, it has been extremely difficult for employers to learn what potential employees really want to fulfill their career needs. Managers have resorted to providing extrinsic rewards or incentives for recruitment and employment. This, in itself, has neither eliminated nor reduced the nursing shortage. A study conducted in Maryland (Felsen, 1990) reported, however, that convenience was nurses' the primary reason for choosing positions in the long-term care facilities long-term care facility n. See skilled nursing facility. studied. This indicates that fulfillment of lifestyle needs was important to the nurses in this study, who did not place the same weight on altruistic employment factors as job satisfiers, since convenience tends to fulfill lifestyle demands. This raises a significant consideration for managers depending on professional criteria rather than personal needs to promote nurses' job satisfaction. This ties in with sociodemographic data relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc prospective nurse employees. The average RN employed in long-term care settings is married, female, Caucasian, a diplomate dip·lo·mate n. One who has received a diploma, especially a physician certified as a specialist by a board of examiners. diplomate (dip´l , and with an average age of 40 (Felsen, 1990). Combining both lifestyle needs and sociodemographic information presents the picture of a second wage earner, who views employment in long-term care as a way of fulfilling home lifestyle needs. Middle-aged long-term care professionals are likely to require different benefits to meet their lifestyle demands, and recruitment should focus on those benefits. Examples are help with geriatric care for aging relatives, either through respite care Respite Care Short-term or temporary care of a few hours or weeks of the sick or disabled to provide relief, or respite, to the regular caregiver, usually a family member. Notes: or day care; good retirement benefits that are available with a shorter invested timeframe; and vacation time and routine perks perk 1 v. perked, perk·ing, perks v.intr. 1. To stick up or jut out: dogs' ears that perk. 2. To carry oneself in a lively and jaunty manner. -- salaries, hours, autonomy, etc. -- comparable to other health care workers of equal education and years of practice. Long-term care employers also need to turn their attention to the younger professional nurses. Benefits for this potential employee must focus on child care, liberal leave policies for family matters and convenience in travel time. This population usually consists of second wage earners in the family who are working for the "extras" in lifestyle (Felsen, 1990). With the primary wage-earner already covered, benefits such as health or life insurance may not be wanted or needed by this prospective employee. Other options to meet lifestyle demands include split shifts, 10- and 12-hour shifts and weekend alternatives. Having the nurses themselves handle all staffing emergencies, based on the principle of shared governance and fiscal responsibility, could eliminate the need for temporary staffing to cover these adjustments. In conclusion, managers should consider promoting job satisfaction based on prospective nurses' personal needs rather than professional criteria. External attractions such as benefits are not likely, in themselves, to succeed in meeting the demands women face as wives, mothers, homemakers and health care providers. Fulfilling lifestyle needs or reducing the stress of lifestyle demands imposed by the work environment may be the new attractions for professional nurses seeking job satisfaction in long-term care. BIBLIOGRAPHY Baruth L, Eckstein D. Theory, practice and research (2nd Ed.). Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co., 1981. Blainey CG. Six steps to personal fulfillment in nursing. Nursing Management 1985;169(2):37-38. Burns-Tisdale S, Goff WF. The geriatric nurse practitioner nurse practitioner n. Abbr. NP A registered nurse with special training for providing primary health care, including many tasks customarily performed by a physician. in home care: Challenges, stressors, and rewards. The Nursing Clinics of North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. 1989;24(3):809-818. Christ MA, Hohlock FJ, Gerontologic Nursing. Pennsylvania: Springhouse spring·house n. A small storehouse constructed over a spring and used to keep food cool. Publishing Co., 1988. Felsen LC. Perceptions of professional nurses that may influence their selecting long-term care settings for employment. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia Pacific University Columbia Pacific University (CPU) was an unaccredited nontraditional distance learning school in California.[1] It was founded in 1978 by Richard Crews, M.D.[2], a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, and Lester Carr, Ph.D., a former president of Lewis University. , California, 1990. Fisk Fisk , James 1834-1872. American railroad financier and speculator who attempted in 1869 to corner the gold market with Jay Gould, leading to Black Friday, a day of nationwide financial panic. CF. Proceedings of the Surgeon General's Workshop on Health Promotion and Aging, 5-9. Washington, DC: Henry J. Kaiser Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882—August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. Early life Beginning as a cashier in a dry-goods shop in Utica, New York, Kaiser moved many times as he pursued the Family Foundation, 1988. Kaiser EM. Recruiting for the future: Long-term care nursing. The Journal of Practical Nursing 1974;33(5):14. Maraldo P. The nineties: A decade in search of meaning. Nursing and Health Care 1990;11(1):11-14. Price JL, Mueller CW. Professional Turnover: The Case of Nurses. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : SP Medical and Scientific Books, 1981. |
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