USA Nursing shortage hits more than hospitals

[Guest guest]

Nursing shortage hits more than hospitals

By Purtell, Phoenix Staff Writer

Hospitals are not the only health care organizations struggling to

recruit staff.

Nursing homes, hospices and similar facilities all face the chronic

shortage of nurses...

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the

United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is expected

to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows.

Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing colleges and

universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment

levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care.

Statistics from the AACN include:

• The shortage of registered nurses in the United States could reach

as high as 500,000 by 2025, according to a report released by Dr.

Buerhaus and colleagues in March 2008.

• In a statement released in March 2008, The Council on Physician and

Nurse Supply, an independent group of health care leaders based at the

University of Pennsylvania, has determined that 30,000 additional

nurses should be graduated annually to meet the nation's health care

needs, an expansion of 30 percent over the current number of annual

nurse graduates.

• According to the latest projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics published in the November 2007 Monthly Labor Review, more

than one million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2016.

Government analysts project that more than 587,000 new nursing

positions will be created through 2016 (a 23.5 percent increase),

making nursing the nation's top profession in terms of projected job

growth.

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/local/local_story_250233634.html