Nursing shortage
...he nation’s economic slump, many people putting off getting health care because of financial troubles or a lack of insurance with the economy up, so it the demand. There are fewer nurses available to replace those who retire or leave for other opportunities. Currently the ratio of RNs in their 40s to RN’s in their 20s is four to one (Buerhaus). Modifications in managed care and a new push for competitive quality is increasing patient days, hours of nursing care and the recognition of the role of the RN. The Toronto star reported in June 2001 Ontario, Canada expects to lose 14,000 o its 81,000 nurses done to retirement by 2005.(Star) Almost a third of Canada’s nurses are over the age of 50, and only 10 percent are under 30 years of age. In December, 1000, the World Health Organization reported that ten years ago Poland was graduating more than 10,000 new nurses annually. That figure has fallen to 3,000. The average of new RN graduates is 31 and they are entering the profession at an older age, therefore, they will have fewer years to work than nurses traditionally have had. 40 percent of all RN’s will be older than age by the year 2010 (Rosseter). The ratio of potential care givers to the people most likely to need care, the elderly population, will decrease by 40 percent between 2010 and 2030 (Rosseter) Demographic changes may limit access to health care unless the number of nurses grows in proportion to the rising of elderly population (Rosseter) The future demand for nurses is expected to increase dramatically as the baby boomers reach their 60's, 70's and beyond put demographic pressures influencing supply and demand on the shortage of nurses. (Government) The nursing shortage nationwide, could hit 750,000 by 2020, as aging baby boomers need more care and modern medicine has more services to offer. Michigan is expected to have a nursing shortage of 22 percent, or more than 18,000 by then. The shortage of nurses is a leading cause of medical errors. Overall 42 percent of the public and more than a third of U.S. doctors reported that they or their family members had experienced medical errors in the course of recovering medical care. (Harvard) Unfortunately, having too few nurses may actually cost more money given the high costs of replacing burnt-out nurses and caring for patients with poor outcomes. Patients that have common surgeries in hospital with high nurse-to-patient ratios have an up to 31 percent increased chance of dying(University of PA) Current nurses are reported greater job dissatisfaction and emotional exhaustion when they were responsible for more patients than they can safely care for. The failure to retain nurses contributes to the avoidable patient deaths.(Quote, Dr. Linda Aiken) {ref Journal of the American Association in Oct 2002, Lead researcher Dr. Linda Aiken} More than 40 percent of nurses working in hospitals reported being dissatisfied with their jobs. One out of every three hospital nurses under the age of 30 planned to leave their current job within the next year. (Dr. Linda Aiken.) But the problem is no longer getting enough qualified people interested in the field. Colleges are now turning away thousands of qualified nursing applicants because they can not afford to hire more faculty. Federal and state aid have fallen way short. U.S. nursing schools turned away 15,944 qualified applicants from entry-level nursing programs in 2003 due to insufficient members of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints. In 2002, a total of 5,283 students were turned away from all types of professional nursing programs as well. Almost two-thirds(64.8 percent) of the nursing schools responding to the 2003 survey pointed to faculty shortage as a reason for not accepting qualified applicants into the entry-level baccalaureate programs(AACN’s) 2003-2004 Enrollment and Graduates on Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, AACN Report. Wayne State University Nursing College could teach eight more students for every $100,000 it raises and the school has raised $400,000 in cash and assistance from Henry Ford Health System and the Detroit Medical Center. Dean Barbara Rednias is working to interest other businesses as well so that the nurse graduates stay in Southeast Michigan which helps to ...