| The nursing shortage is a global and social problem in which the demand for nurses caring for patients is greater than the supply, thereby threatening patients' safety, quality care, and nurse retention. The problem is that two hospitals in Southern California (SCAL) experience increased nursing shortage that affect the quality of patient outcomes related to the aging population with acute health problems. The purpose of the qualitative collective case study was to investigate the healthcare leaders' perceptions on the effects of the nursing shortage on acute care nurses and on patients' health-related outcomes in two hospitals in SCAL. The research questions include: How do healthcare leaders perceive the effects of the nursing shortage on acute care nurses in two hospitals in SCAL? What are the perspectives of healthcare leaders about the nursing shortage on patients' care outcomes in two hospitals in SCAL? What strategies, if any, are recommended to improve the nursing shortage in two hospital in SCAL? A nonrandom purposeful sample of 18 healthcare leaders enabled collection of a rich and in-depth data through semi-structured interviews. The main themes that emerged from the study included increasing nursing workload and absenteeism, nurse dissatisfaction, patient dissatisfaction, lack of leadership support, and budget challenges. The recommendations learned from the participants to reduce the nursing shortage included collaborative leadership support, proactive planning, increasing budget and incentives for faculty to train new nurses, flexible schedules, use of technology and available resources to enhance regulatory compliance and communication. |
