Summary: The Nursing Shortage

As the general population continues to age and grow, the nursing workforce is aging alongside. Approximately half of the current nursing workforce is apart of the baby boomer generation (Mion). RNs are eligible to retire at age 55, which will affect the majority of “baby boomer” nurses between 2005 and 2010 (Mion). According to the Nursing Management Aging Workforce Survey in 2006, “55% of surveyed nurses reported their intention to retire between 2011 and 2020” (Nursing Shortage). The demand for skilled nurses is growing at an exponential rate. According to information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the supply of nurses has been

Registered nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system, and make up the largest number of healthcare professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015) “The employment rate for registered nurses is expected to grow by 16% between 2014 and 2024”. This is more than double the average rate of growth for a profession. The rapid growth rate can be attributed in part to better management of chronic diseases and the baby boomer generation. The growth in the nursing profession is paramount, however the demographics of the nursing population does not mirror the demographics of the population served.

To uncover a solution to the problem, we must first understand the reasons behind the nursing shortage. In the years following 1945 there was an increase in birth rates, but after 1964 there was a significant decline. This generation is also known as the baby boomers, are currently between the ages of fifty-three and seventy-two. “The National Council of State Boards of Nursing reports 55% of the RN workforce is age 50 or older; the Health Resources and Services Administration projects that one million nurses are eligible for retirement in 10-15 years” (Snavely, 2016). With this aging generation, it will put

The national shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) has helped generate formidable interest in the nursing profession among people entering the workforce and those pursuing a career change. According to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service in 2002, the national population is continuing to grow and age and medical services continue to advance, so the need for nurses will continue to increase. They report from 2000 to 2020 the predicted shortage of nurses is expected to grow to 29 percent, compared to a 6 percent shortage in 2000. With the projected supply, demand, and shortage of registered nurses and nursing salaries ever-increasing, the nursing profession can offer countless opportunities. But first one must

An article in the Health Marketing Quarterly written by Mark Somers, Linda Finch, and Dee Birnbaum (university instructors in schools of management, nursing and business fields in the U.S.) asserts that the nursing shortages of "highly trained nurses and of nursing faculty" is close to a level that could be termed a "crisis" (Somers, et al, 2010). The expected gap between supply and demand will expand to more than a million nurses by 2020, Somers explains, which is twice the shortfall had had been projected just two years prior to this article's publication (292).

The United States healthcare industry faces many challenges everyday, such as the rising cost of care, medical errors, access and quality problems etc. Within the next few years, the United States will experience a shortage of Register Nurses (RNs). “Registered Nurses are considered one of the largest health professions in the health care industry. The Nurses duty is to provide direct patient care and can be done in a hospital, public health facility, nursing home and many other different settings. Other services included are patient education on disease prevention, administering treatments and promoting a healthy lifestyle.” ("The Future of the Nursing Workforce: National- and State- Level Projections 2012-2025”) The shortage will occur due to Baby Boomers aging and the demand for health care will dramatically rise. With the baby boomers aging, Registered Nurses are at the top of the list for demand in health care. Unfortunately the supply and demand does not meet. “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2012-2022 released in December 2013, RNs will increase of about 526,800 within that time frame but will still have job openings of 1.05 million by 2020)”("Nursing Shortage") Indicating that there is no growth between 2012- 2022. There are multiple factors to this shortage and one of them is that nursing schools across the nation are struggling to increase the capacity of students to meet the rising demand. Considering the fact

The shortage of nurses has gradually increased throughout the years. This shortage has taken a toll on patients, prospective nursing students, and faculty members. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, “In 2012, United States nursing schools turned away 79,659 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs” (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014, para. 5). Unfortunately, even though there is a high number of students wanting to enter the nursing field there are not enough instructors to educate and train the students properly due to the low pay incentive for nursing professors. According to Brown (2015), “Clinical settings offer higher salaries than

Another promising addition to cure the shortage, is that many students who fail to get an offer after completing medical school, are left empty handed; about 8800 students in 2016. Those usually do three things, reapply, go to Pharmacy school, or go back to school to become NPs or PAs. This is really exciting, as these nursing students will be a

The U.S. nursing shortage had been a serious issue for quite sometime now and continues to escalate. As the nursing workforce continues to age, nurses leave the profession faster than they can be replaced and the crisis continues to grow. Nurses are leaving for different reasons. What is being done to solve the nursing shortage here in the United States? Nursing recruitment and retention is one of many solutions that can alleviate this problem.

As the United States’ population ages and the Affordable Care Act continues to be implemented the need to address the shortage of nurses and faculty is more pressing than it ever has been. However, this is multi-dimensional problem, to get to the crux of it; one has to ask what the major contributing factors to such shortages are and what can be done to prevent them? Perhaps the most significant influence to the nursing shortage is the fact that each year a large number of qualified applicants are denied entrance because of a lack of prepared nurse educators (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). Equally as troubling, if not more so, is according to a 2014 survey by the AACN there is already a 8.3% faculty vacancy, coupled with the age of professors with doctorates being 61.3 and master’s degrees 57.2; it is evident that the time to act was yesterday (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). Because of statistics like this, one would surmise there would have long been a huge emphasis on how to encourage, and give incentive, to nurses to get advanced degrees and into the faculty role. However, the opposite it actually the reality, over the last decade, there has been decreased attention in nursing faculty development and financial support (Reinhard & Hassmiller, 2011). As the number of people who need care is sure to increase so too is the deficit of nursing faculty, which in turn will

In 2002, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the United States would be 800,000 registered nurses short of the national need by the year 2020. Recently, this number has increased to over one million RNs short of the need by 2012 (BLS, 2004). Although there has been some indication that the entry of older nurses into the profession, along with efforts to recruit foreign-born nurses, have helped to ease the shortage, scholars project that the predicted trends are likely to continue (Auerbach, Buerhaus, & Steiger, 2007; Buerhaus, Donelan, Ulrich, Norman, & Dittus, 2006; Larkin, 2007). As such, the need for understanding the factors contributing to the nationwide shortage has never been greater.

The waiting lists for nursing programs are very long. Sometimes students have to wait 2-3years to start that program, on another hand nurses always complain they are short stuff. According to Moore (2015), the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 526,800 more nurses will be needed by 2022 -- an increase of 19.4 percent from 2012 -- to help keep up with patient growth and replace those who leave. One of the reason for the future nursing shortage is that there are not enough faculty to teach incoming nursing students.” Either faculty are leaving due to retirement -- like their counterparts in health-care settings, they too are aging – or they’re gaining higher salaries elsewhere in practice settings other than teaching.” (Moore, 2015)

A 2002 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that in 2000 the national shortage of RNs was at 6% and was expected to double to 12% by 2010” (Wyte-Lake, et.al, 2013). The profession of healthcare is faced by this challenge with the increasing demands of the ever so changing government and its influence on the industry of healthcare. When research was conducted to determine what some of the reasons for the nursing shortage are, it was shown that one of the reasons for this shortage is that not enough students are attending nursing school. Upon reading this one thought, well how it could this be when one knows so many individuals who are trying to get into nursing school in the community. However when thinking about it while attending nursing school there wasn’t enough nursing faculty for the students that were already present so one could see how this could be a problem for future students. Another issue that was seen during nursing school was the inadequate amount of sites for clinical placement. This issue can cause schools to decrease the amount of students they accept at one time for the lack of clinical sites. In return a lack of students graduating nursing school means a decrease in nurses entering the

The nursing profession will continue to experience a workforce shortage estimated at a vacancy between 300,000 - 500,000 RNs by 2025 (UHC/AACN, 2009). This shortage is mostly due to the large population of baby boomer nurses approaching retirement, currently the largest demographic of nurses are those between the ages of 50 and 60 (UHC/AACN, 2009), as well as the increasing rates of nurse turnover. Of specific concern on this front is that many new graduate nurses (NGNs) are not only leaving jobs within the first 1-2 years but may leave the profession altogether (Griffin, 2005). At a rate of 30% the

This paper will discuss a contemporary health issue and its potential impact on the nursing profession. As the nursing profession continues to grow, society has begun to see a decrease in the number of nurses in the profession. According to NursingWorld (2005) "The nation's hospitals have 126,000 vacancies for nursing professions. In addition, 75 percent of all hospitals vacancies are for nurses." Currently Registered Nurses are at the top of the list of occupations with projected job growth. So why are so many nurses leaving the profession resulting in a shortage? Is America truly experiencing a nursing shortage or are nurses just better educated, resulting in additional responsibilities?