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The Real Score on RN’s in the US
Oct 20, 2004
The Nursing Shortage
US Status Quo
According to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, tens of thousands of hospital deaths every year can be blamed on the nursing shortage. Such incidents include medication errors, patient falls and hospital infections.
The number of RN (Registered Nurse) vacancies--as reported by the American Hospital Association--only supports this shortage as there are 126,000 RN vacancies in hospitals and 13,900 RN vacancies in nursing homes.
Now the U.S. Department of Labor projects that 1.1 million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2012. And aside from the shortage, the existing nursing workforce is aging, with less than a third of them under the age of 40 in 2000.
Reasons for Shortage
1. Poor staffing, heavy workload and inadequate wages push the nurses to leave their job.
2. Compounding the shortage is the impending increase in demand for nurses as baby-boomers reach their 60s and 70s. This population will double from 2001 to 2030.
Solutions by the US Congress
1. The enactment of the Nurse Reinvestment Act
Scholarship programs were established to internally develop US-trained nurses. Accelerated nursing courses were developed and nursing was promoted as a career among young Americans.
Although there has been an increase in enrollment, such increase still falls short of the existing need. Moreover, a 20-percent drop in the number of first-time U.S.-educated nursing graduates taking the National Council Licensure Examination for RNs (NCLEX-RN) exam from 1995 to 2003 has been observed. Thus, the second solution proved to be more helpful:
2. Foreign-trained RNs
They are acknowledged as usually young, highly-motivated bachelor degree-holders who bring with them a wealth of experience from around the world.
The Philippines, without a doubt, is the major (if not the most important source) of foreign-trained RNs.
US Status Quo
According to the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, tens of thousands of hospital deaths every year can be blamed on the nursing shortage. Such incidents include medication errors, patient falls and hospital infections.
The number of RN (Registered Nurse) vacancies--as reported by the American Hospital Association--only supports this shortage as there are 126,000 RN vacancies in hospitals and 13,900 RN vacancies in nursing homes.
Now the U.S. Department of Labor projects that 1.1 million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2012. And aside from the shortage, the existing nursing workforce is aging, with less than a third of them under the age of 40 in 2000.
Reasons for Shortage
1. Poor staffing, heavy workload and inadequate wages push the nurses to leave their job.
2. Compounding the shortage is the impending increase in demand for nurses as baby-boomers reach their 60s and 70s. This population will double from 2001 to 2030.
Solutions by the US Congress
1. The enactment of the Nurse Reinvestment Act
Scholarship programs were established to internally develop US-trained nurses. Accelerated nursing courses were developed and nursing was promoted as a career among young Americans.
Although there has been an increase in enrollment, such increase still falls short of the existing need. Moreover, a 20-percent drop in the number of first-time U.S.-educated nursing graduates taking the National Council Licensure Examination for RNs (NCLEX-RN) exam from 1995 to 2003 has been observed. Thus, the second solution proved to be more helpful:
2. Foreign-trained RNs
They are acknowledged as usually young, highly-motivated bachelor degree-holders who bring with them a wealth of experience from around the world.
The Philippines, without a doubt, is the major (if not the most important source) of foreign-trained RNs.
