Addressing Nurse Shortage: Workforce Planning and Lewin's Change Theory
This paper examines the growing nurse shortage in clinical settings and outlines a strategic framework for addressing it. It begins by analyzing the key drivers of nursing supply and demand, including shifts in healthcare delivery, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement changes, an aging population, and a declining number of NCLEX candidates. The paper then describes a workforce planning process designed to identify and bridge staffing gaps. Finally, it applies Lewin's three-phase Change Management Model — Unfreeze, Change, and Refreeze — as a theoretical framework for implementing and sustaining organizational change to resolve nursing shortfalls.
- Overview of the Nursing Shortage: Causes and scope of the growing nurse shortage
- Forecasting Workforce Needs: Workforce planning steps to bridge staffing gaps
- Lewin's Change Management Theory: Introduction to Lewin's three-phase change model
- Unfreeze: Preparing for Change: Breaking down the status quo before change
- Change: Transitioning to New Practices: Stakeholder engagement during the change phase
- Refreeze: Sustaining the Change: Institutionalizing change into organizational culture
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What makes this paper effective
- Grounds the problem in measurable data — the consistent annual NCLEX decline since 1994 — giving the argument a concrete, evidence-based foundation.
- Connects macro-level drivers (aging population, reimbursement changes) to organizational-level action through a clearly structured change model.
- Applies Lewin's three-phase model in actionable, numbered steps, making an abstract theory immediately practical for a clinical context.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates theory application: it introduces a recognized management framework (Lewin's Change Management Model) and maps each phase directly onto the specific problem of nurse shortage, showing how theoretical constructs translate into concrete organizational actions such as securing management support, communicating regularly, and embedding change into workplace culture.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a contextual overview of the nursing shortage and its causes, moves to workforce planning as a proactive strategy, then devotes the bulk of its analysis to Lewin's model, walking through each phase (Unfreeze, Change, Refreeze) with both explanation and bulleted action steps. The bibliography closes the paper. This problem–strategy–theory structure is appropriate for a short applied healthcare management essay at the undergraduate level.
Overview of the Nursing Shortage
Traditionally reported employment data is misleading and ineffective in measuring the healthcare sector's actual state. Studies reveal that standard nursing demand, supply, and need dynamics have undergone significant change, owing to variations in healthcare delivery systems, reimbursement policies for Medicaid and Medicare, and local and regional cultures and practices. Care delivery method, location, and mode of payment for services are areas that directly affect the necessity for nursing services.
Furthermore, the progressive aging of the general population and the increased need for chronic illness management indicate a growth in the overall need for nursing professionals. The present aging nursing workforce, combined with a decline in the number of professionals entering the field's academic subfield, suggests that the shortage of nursing personnel will only become more serious over time. According to the NCSBN (National Council of State Boards of Nursing), since 1994 a consistent annual decline has been observed in the number of persons sitting for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) (Strategies to Reverse the New Nursing Shortage, 2016).
Forecasting Workforce Needs
The process of workforce planning entails predicting the talent essential for ensuring future organizational success. It incorporates three key steps: developing a profile of the existing workforce; determining the workforce's future needs; and bridging all identified gaps. The process aids organizations in identifying workforce needs as well as the basic approaches, behaviors, aims, and processes vital to effecting positive change.
Moreover, workforce planning assists healthcare organizations in identifying the competency levels necessary for achieving their mission, vision, and goals, in addition to providing the financial management framework crucial to meeting those targets. A majority of healthcare firms have implemented some form of workforce planning system, and several have identified the principal external and internal driving forces affecting their ability to meet organizational goals. Relatively new healthcare organizations may benefit from beginning with planning for a particular workforce subgroup and then expanding planning to encompass the entire institution (Drake, Pawlowaski, & Riley, 2013).
References
Drake, S., Pawlowaski, U., & Riley, V. (2013). Developing an effective healthcare workforce planning model. American Hospitals Association.
Lewin's Change Management Model. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mind Tools: https://www.mindtools.com
Strategies to reverse the new nursing shortage. (2016, July 24). Retrieved from American Nurses Association: http://nursingworld.org/
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