Resolving the Nursing Shortage
The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is only going to intensify as Baby Boomer's age and the need for health care grows. Some reports have shown that the shortage of Registered nurses could reach 500,000 by the year 2025. There are many factors that have contributed to the shortage of nurses.
In the past Nursing was the profession of choice for large numbers of women. Over the years women have come to enjoy a much larger range of career choices than in the past, and men are still not entering the profession in significant numbers. Men currently only comprise about 6% of nurses.
What is it that has driven so many out of this profession and has prevented so many others from entering it? There are some that have turned away from the nursing profession because they simply have the wrong idea about who nurses are and what they actually do. Some people show little respect for the profession and classify those in it as people that just muddle around changing bedpans. Changing these views and educating the masses is going to be a key part of attracting people to the field of nursing.
For those who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing there are a wide range of obstacles to overcome before they can enter their chosen profession. Many schools have long waiting lists, often times in excess of two years. Students are subjected to thorough back ground checks, a whole battery of immunizations, prerequisites, co requisites and a class load that makes it nearly impossible to maintain full time employment while enrolled in the program.
Many programs are over crowded and do not have adequate staff to student rations making learning and graduating very difficult. According to the American Association of Colleges of nursing more than 40,000 nursing applicants were turned away from baccalaureate and graduate programs in 2007 due to insufficient staff, classroom space and clinical training sites. When surveyed nearly three quarters of the nursing schools responding sited faculty shortages as the reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into entry-level nursing programs.
In recent years there have been several campaigns that have focused on changing the image of nursing and attracting promising young people to the profession. One such campaign, Discover Nursing by Johnson & Johnson stresses that there has never been a better time to be a nurse. The website discovernursing.com provides users with information on nursing salaries, statistics, scholarship information and nursing profiles that give personal insight into the nursing profession.
Nursing is a profession that is full of promise. Statistics show that job opportunities in the nursing profession are expected to reach record numbers in years to come. There are many opportunities to specialize in various branches of the nursing profession ranging from pediatric nursing to oncology; there is a branch for everyone.
Given the current state of the economy, the record number of unemployed Americans and an increasingly large number of aging Baby Boomer's on the horizon, I think that more focus needs to be placed on making nursing a profession that is easier to access. Cutting through the red tape, the long waiting lists, the lack of faculty, clinical training facilities and the often times unbearable course loads are going to be the key to attracting promising young professionals to this promising profession.
