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In today's VISMedical Newsletter.....

Is There A US Nursing Shortage?

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I have always believed that the US economy is inversely related to the rest of the economy.
What has been happening to the US economy in recent years has certainly tested my
theory. But a recent article I found from AACN has once again confirmed that my theory
stands true.

The United States is projected to have 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.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is concerned about the shortage
of Registered Nurses (RNs) and is working with schools, policy makers, kindred
organizations, and the media to bring attention to this health care crisis. AACN is working to
enact legislation, identify strategies, and form collaborations to address the nursing
shortage. To keep stakeholders abreast of current statistics related to the shortage, this
fact sheet has been developed along with a companion

In June 2011, Wanted Analytics reported that employers and staffing agencies posted more
than 121,000 new job ads for Registered Nurses in May, up 46% from May 2010. About
10% of that growth, or 12,700, were ads placed for positions at general and surgical
hospitals, where annual turnover rates for RNs average 14% according to a recent KPMG
survey.

According to a special issue of the Monthly Labor Review released in April 2011, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that “the health care industry added 428,000 jobs
throughout the 18-month recession from December 2007 until June 2009, and has
continued to grow at a steady rate since the end of the recession.” As the largest segment
of the healthcare workforce, RNs were recruited to fill many of these new positions.

On April 1, 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the healthcare
sector of the economy is continuing to grow, despite significant job losses in recent months
in nearly all major industries. Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other ambulatory care
settings added 37,000 new jobs in March 2011, the biggest monthly increase recorded by
any employment sector. As the largest segment of the healthcare workforce, RNs likely will
be recruited to fill many of these new positions. The BLS confirmed that 283,000 jobs have
been added in the healthcare sector within the last year.

In October 2010, the Institute of Medicine released its landmark report on The Future of
Nursing, initiated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which called for increasing the
number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the workforce to 80% and doubling the
population of nurses with doctoral degrees. The current nursing workforce falls far short of
these recommendations with only 50% of registered nurses prepared at the baccalaureate
or graduate degree level.

In July 2010, the Tri-Council for Nursing released a joint statement on Recent Registered
Nurse Supply and Demand Projections, which cautioned stakeholders about declaring an
end to the nursing shortage. The downturn in the economy has lead to an easing of the
shortage in many parts of the country, a recent development most analysts believe to be
temporary. In the joint statement, the Tri-Council raises serious concerns about slowing the
production of RNs given the projected demand for nursing services, particularly in light of
healthcare reform

Though AACN reported a 5.7% enrollment increase in entry-level baccalaureate programs
in nursing in 2010, this increase is not sufficient to meet the projected demand for nursing
services. With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, more
than 32 million Americans will soon gain access to healthcare services, including those
provided by RNs and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs).

A shortage of nursing school faculty is restricting nursing program enrollments.

According to AACN’s report on 2010-2011 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate
and Graduate Programs in Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away 67,563 qualified
applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2010 due to insufficient
number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget
constraints. Almost two-thirds of the nursing schools responding to the survey pointed to
faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into their programs.

According to a study released by the Southern Regional Board of Education (SREB) in
February 2002, a serious shortage of nursing faculty was documented in 16 SREB states
and the District of Columbia. Survey findings show that the combination of faculty vacancies
(432) and newly budgeted positions (350) points to a 12% shortfall in the number of nurse
educators needed. Unfilled faculty positions, resignations, projected retirements, and the
shortage of students being prepared for the faculty role pose a threat to the nursing
education workforce over the next five years.

Insufficient staffing is raising the stress level of nurses, impacting job satisfaction, and
driving many nurses to leave the profession.

Many recent studies point to the connection between adequate levels of registered nurse
staffing and safe patient care.

In a study publishing in the April 2011 issue of Medical Care, Dr. Mary Blegen and her
colleagues from the University of California, San Francisco found that higher nurse staffing
levels were associated with fewer deaths, lower failure-to-rescue incidents, lower rates of
infection, and shorter hospital stays.

In March 2011, Dr. Jack Needleman and colleagues published findings in theNew England
Journal of Medicine, which indicate that insufficient nurse staffing was related to higher
patient mortality rates. These researchers analyzed the records of nearly 198,000 admitted
patients and 177,000 eight-hour nursing shifts across 43 patient-care units at large
academic health centers. The data show that the mortality risk for patients was about 6%
higher on units that were understaffed as compared with fully staffed units. In the study
titled “Nurse Staffing and Inpatient Hospital Mortality,” the researchers also found that when
a nurse’s workload increases because of high patient turnover, mortality risk also
increases.

In July 2010, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released its Charting Nursing’s
Future newsletter focused on “Expanding America’s Capacity to Educate Nurses: Diverse,
State-Level Partnerships Are Creating Promising Models and Results.” This policy brief
describes the capacity innovations of 12 partnerships that are effectively addressing the
nursing and nurse faculty shortages. Among the policy recommendations advanced in this
brief are requiring all new nurses to complete a BSN program within 10 years of licensure
and enhancing the pipeline into baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs

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I hope you enjoyed the article, There is a strong future for medical staffing.

Site Guide: Roy Vera, R.T,, MBA Publisher, Author and Consultant for the medical staffing industry.

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