NHS-FPX6008 Assessment 1: Identifying a Local Health Care Economic Issue

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Assessment 1: Identifying A Local Health Care Economic Issue

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Assessment 1: Identifying A Local Health Care Economic Issue

The health care economic has a great impact on the health care system, including facilities and workforce. This assessment focuses on supply and demand health care economic issues, where the services demanded in the healthcare sector are higher than the supply due to a shortage of resources. The assessment describes this health care economic issue, its impacts, rationally for choosing it, its effects on various stakeholders, as well as the gaps that create the need to address it.

Description of The Health Care Economic Issue and Its Impacts On Specific Community or Population

The healthcare economic issue chosen is the supply and demand. This issue arises when there is high demand for health care services, but the resources available in the health care system are insufficient to provide the necessary services to meet this demand. According to the World Health Organization (2024), there are approximately 29 million nurses worldwide and 2.2 million midwives, with an estimated shortage of 4.5 million nurses and 0.31 million midwives by 2030. This shortage of nurses shows that they would not be able to handle the global population in need of care and other nursing services, leading to high demand for health care services and low supplies. Bonham et al. (2025) indicate that around 100 million babies are born worldwide every year. Hence, the demand for midwives and nurse services from this population is higher than the available workforce, creating an imbalance between demand and supply of services.

The shortage of health care services has great implications for the newborn populations and young mother in need of care and maternity services, affecting their healthcare outcomes as the required patient-to-nurse ratio is not met. As Chen et al. (2025) indicate, higher daily patient-nurse ratios increase the occupational stress among nurses, which affects their ability to execute their duties effectively. As a result, the safety and health of the patient are compromised, negatively affecting the healthcare outcomes.

Rationale for Choosing the Health Care Economic Issue

One reason for choosing this issue is the high population growth rate compared to the investments being made in the healthcare sector. Thus, it is a concern to every patient seeking healthcare services, wondering whether the services offered will meet the intended needs. Moreover, the reason for choosing this issue is due to its implications for the healthcare system. For example, high demand for services compared to the supply can lead to overwhelming of the system, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, there is a need to explore this issue to understand how to address it.

Effect of The Health Care Economic Issue On Work, Organization, Colleges, and Community

Imbalance demand and supply in the health care services has great implications on the healthcare professionals like nurses due to increased workload, as the demand for care services is higher than the available workforce. According to Rarani (2025), nurse shortage is one of the causes of burnout in healthcare, which affects the mental and psychological well-being of the workers. Additionally, the issue of demand and supply affects health care organizations. This challenge arises due to the strain of the available facilities, as well as risks of reputation damage due to high chances of medication errors and safety issues associated with the workforce burnout (Alotaibi, 2024). Thus, the organization can be fined due to negligence and discourage patients from seeking their services. In addition, overworking the staff can lead to high turnover, as many workers resign from stressful professions and work environments (Willard-Grace et al., 2019). Moreover, the health care outcomes of the community seeking health care services from strained sources can be negatively affected.

Gaps Contributing to The Need to Address the Economic Issue

One of the gaps contributing to the need to address this demand and supply economic issue is the rise in medication errors related deaths. Rodziewicz et al. (2024) indicate that medication errors are a serious issue in healthcare, with around 400, 000 hospitalized patients experiencing avoidable harm every year, and 200, 000 deaths annually. Thus, with this economic issue linked to medication errors, there is a need to address it to mitigate these avoidable deaths. The other gap that has contributed to the issue to address this economic issue is the population growth. The United Nations (2025) reveals that the world population is estimated to continue increasing for the next 50 to 60 years, where it is projected to reach 9 billion by 2037. Hence, the demand for health care services will continue to increase, thus the need to address the issue of health care services supply to prevent the situation from worsening.

Conclusion

‌ Supply and demand is one of the health care economic issues that arise when there is high demand for health care services, but the resources available in the health care system are insufficient. The issue greatly affects newborn populations and young mother in need of care and maternity services, affecting their healthcare outcomes. Moreover, the community and healthcare professionals are significantly affected.

References

Alotaibi J. S. (2024). Causes of medication administration errors and barriers to reporting as perceived by nurses in Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study. Belitung nursing journal, 10(2), 215–221. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.3249

Bonham, J. R., Webster, D., Gaviglio, A., Khan, A. H., Howell, R. R., & Schielen, P. C. J. I. (2025). Newborn Screening-A Worldwide Endeavour to Protect. International journal of neonatal screening, 11(3), 80. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijns11030080

Chen, Y. C., Wu, H. C., Ho, J. J., Cheng, N. Y., Guo, Y. L., & Shiao, J. S. C. (2025). Exploring the Association Between Patient–Nurse Ratio and Nurses’ Occupational Stressors: A Cross‐Sectional Study. Journal of Nursing Management, 2025(1), 6160674. https://doi.org/10.1155/jonm/6160674

Rarani, S. A. (2025). Nursing workforce in collapse: A narrative review of global shortages, burnout, and the future of health system resilience. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 100938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2025.100938

Rodziewicz, T. L., Houseman, B., Vaqar, S., & Hipskind, J. E. (2024, February 12). Medical error reduction and prevention. National Library of Medicine; StatPearls Publishing. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499956/

United Nations. (2025). Global issues: Population. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/population

Willard-Grace, R., Knox, M., Huang, B., Hammer, H., Kivlahan, C., & Grumbach, K. (2019). Burnout and Health Care Workforce Turnover. Annals of family medicine, 17(1), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2338

World Health Organization. (2024, May 3). Nursing and midwifery. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/nursing-and-midwifery