The effect of nurse shortages on healthcare at a public hospital in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Nurse shortages is a global problem leading to many challenges within hospitals which ultimately impact on the delivery of healthcare. South Africa is experiencing a debilitating shortage of nurse professionals particularly in the public health sector. As a result, the high workload on the existing nurse workforce has had an effect on the provision of quality health care for patients. The main aim of this study was to discover the effect of nurse shortages on healthcare at a public hospital with the objectives of understanding the reasons for nurse shortages, to assess challenges nurses face as a result of staff shortages and to assess how this influences the delivery of health care. This study adopted a qualitative design with an exploratory descriptive approach with twenty respondents forming part of this study through purposive sampling. Data was collected from five wards at a public hospital in KZN. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted which consisted of interviewing five operational nurse managers and fifteen registered nurses. The findings revealed that there were four major reasons for nurse shortages at a public hospital. These are budget and resources, staff development, working environment, and managerial support. The study found that the delivery of healthcare was impacted negatively due to staff shortages. Nurses faced daily job and personal challenges due to the shortage which had an impact on their ability to deliver good health care to patients. Collegial support and prioritisation were the two coping mechanisms that respondents implemented on their own to get through their daily challenges in order to provide good health care.