Nurse Shortage Causes

The nursingshortage is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, it has been occurring since long time ago. It is however, only in the last few years that the shortage has begun to have a significant impact on our healthcare systems. The population growth, a declining number of applicants to nursing schools, an aging workforce and a baby boom generation that will require healthcare services in the coming years are all contributing to this situation.

The cause of the current shortage is actually three-fold: an aging population, an aging workforce, and a limited supply of new nurses.

●An Aging Population– The baby boomers are going into their golden years. It is estimated by between 2010 and 2030, one in every five people will be a senior citizen.

●An Aging Workforce– As the population ages, so does the nursing staff. Approximately one-third of the current nursing workforce is 50 years old or older.

●A Limited Supply of New Nurses– There is a limit to the budgets and staff of nursing schools resulting in graduating students. In other words, there are only so many new nurses entering the workforce each year and it’s not enough to cover the deficit created by those who will soon retire.

●Age - The lack of younger people entering nursing has risen the average age of nurses. In Maryland, for instance, the average practicing RN is 46 years old, whereas nationally the average working RN is over 43 years old. About half of the RN workforce will reach retirement age in the next 15 years. On top of this, the average age of new RN graduates is 31. Nurses are entering the profession at an older age and offer fewer years of work.

Declining Enrollment and Educators

New admissions into nursing schools have dropped significantlyin the past six years. Moreover, nursing colleges and universities denied 32,617 qualified applicants in 2015 due to the shortage of nursing educators. Faculty age continues to climb; higher compensation can be found elsewhere luring potential educators away from teaching. The Health Resources and Services Administration stated in a report that, "to meet the projected growth in demand for RN services, the United States must graduate 90 percent more nurses."

Professional Alternatives

As new opportunities have opened up and stresses have been added to the profession, many are opting to choose other careers besides nursing. Women and men are weighing their interests with a career choice that will bring them worthy compensation as well as enhancing their quality of life. Unfortunately, nursing is currently falling short on both of these. Women are now pursuing many competitive, attractive, and lucrative careers that were impossible to achieve thirty years ago. Women are entering law school, medical school, and the corporate world in droves. Research indicates that 35% fewer women would choose nursing as a career in the 1990s than they would have in the 1970s.

Research has associated nursing staff that have more formal education and better work environments with significantly better patient outcomes. This lack of nursing empowerment may be a problem in any nation or setting, though it may be more obvious in areas where training resources are rare and social attitudes may inhibit nurses from advocating for their patients or themselves. Because studies have shown that the media has a significant impact on health-related views and actions, nursing's generally poor, inaccurate media image is a major factor in the current crisis. It is believed that the global nursing shortage cannot be resolved until public understanding of nursing dramatically improves.