Abstract

World’s health systems have entered a critical period of human resource shortage. The shortage of qualified nurses has been suggested as one of the most important barriers to achieve effective healthcare systems (1). According to the WHO (2014), there is currently a shortage of 7.2 million health care providers at the international level. This shortage is estimated to reach 12.9 million by 2035 (2). In other words, in order to develop healthcare systems, achieve positive outcomes and ensure patient’s safety, recruiting well-qualified nurses is a global concern (3). Nursing shortage in Iran has also become a concern for managers and a major challenge to the healthcare system. The nursing deputy of the Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education reported that the number of nurses working in health care settings is estimated to be 140,000, but there is a need for 2,60,000 nurses to deliver ideal levels of health care (4). While, qualified nurses adequacy is one of the essential components of the nursing professional practice environment (5). Poor nursing work environment, inadequate resources, imbalanced workload, disproportionate nursepatient ratio, high bureaucracy (5), lack of supportive management, low salaries, and reduction in employment are major challenges that have caused Iran’s healthcare system to face a serious crisis of nursing shortage despite a large number of young nursing graduates (6). Evidence suggests that the nursing practice environment has a significant role in the retention of expert nurses, the quality of care and, safety of patients (7). Poor nursing work environments are related to adverse patient outcomes, including an increase in mortality rate, patient falls, and medication errors (8, 9). In addition, unhealthy workplaces are important causes of turnover, efficient nurses’ intention to leave, early retirement, job dissatisfaction and burnout (10, 11). Therefore, efforts to create environments that attract and retain nurses are worthwhile. Different strategies have been proposed to improve the nurses’ work environment. In this regard, making workplace attractive is a basis for increasing the quality of nursing practice environment (12). Today, there are hospitals called “Magnet Hospital” that are renowned for attracting and retaining expert nurses. The Magnet hospital was first used in the United States. In the early 1980s, concurrent with nursing shortage crisis in the United States, extensive studies were begun to examine the organizational structures of Magnet hospitals. In a study, the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) identified 41 hospitals that were known to attract and retain qualified nurses, and used the term “Magnet” as a gold standard for nursing practice in these hospitals (13). Magnet hospitals are evaluated in terms of achieving goals in five areas including transformational leadership, structural empowerment, new knowledge, innovation, and empirical outcomes and development (14). Magnet hospitals with a more different organizational structure than non-Magnet ones play an important role in nurses’ job satisfaction and retention (15). One of the main reasons for the attractiveness of these hospitals is the existence of work environments focusing on decentralized decision-making, autonomy, control over practice, resource adequacy, supportive management, effective inter-professional communication, and career development (16). In other words, the organizational attributes of Magnet hospitals lead to the nurses’ empowerment by increasing autonomy and authority, and subsequently improving job satisfaction. These hospitals have designed a set of work environment standards to support professional nursing practice (17). Many studies have shown that Magnet hospitals provide a healthier environment with higher job satisfaction for nurses and better outcomes for patients, compared to non-Magnet ones (18, 19). In recent years, the development of Magnet hospitals has rapidly grown in various countries. Considering the complexity of nursing shortage phenomenon, payi g attention to the factors influencing the nurses’ attraction, retention and productivity is important to overcome the challenge of nursing shortage (20). Conclusion The nurses’ dissatisfaction with the work environment and consequently, the shortage of competent and educated nurses, is a major challenge to Iran’s health system. Therefore, solving this crisis is vital to prevent adverse health consequences. In this regard, nursing managers and health policy-makers can create a quality work environment using the features of Magnet hospitals to increase the attraction and retention of health care professionals, especially nurses. This will not only result in the nurses’ job satisfaction but will also increase the quality of care and ensure the patients’ safety. © 2017, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). All rights reserved.