At one point or another most of us have relied on the care of a registered nurse
to provide the aid and support we need to get our health on track. Not only is
the nursing profession the largest segment of the healthcare system, but it also
makes one of the largest impacts on it, and thus on the lives of everyone. This
makes the fact that the United States is on verge of a critical nursing shortage
extremely unsettling. Nurse to patient ratios are dropping, jeopardizing patient
care in the process. For now, most hospitals with a staffing need can overcome
shortages, but a steady decline continues as more and more people don't even
consider the viability of nursing as a career. Without steps to ensure the
underlying causes are corrected a future worsening of the nursing shortage, as
well as healthcare in general, is guaranteed.
Currently, 30 states are suffering from a shortage of nurses. Nearly
ninety percent of long term facilities are insufficiently staffed, and are
forced to refuse admissions do to the inability to provide basic care. With
126,000 open nursing positions, a number expected to grow to 1.1 million by
2012, the fate of healthcare in the United States is look grim. But with more
new nursing jobs expected to be created than for any other occupation, the time
is right to reverse the problem.
To avoid the oncoming shortage disaster, and sustain the change, solutions
must be developed in: health care systems, image, policy, and education. But,
these changes must be developed and maintained by nurse practitioners, leaders,
health care executives, media, and government to effectively solve the problem
and divert future disaster.
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