Nursing Shortage

Evidence for the dearth of nurses has been provided by the American Hospital Association in terms of the interest statistics on the number of nurses employed in American hospitals.

return of Nurses Employed in U.S. Hospitals

RNs LPNs

Year Total Number per centum Number Percent

1990 1,077,695 875,714 81 201,981 19

1987 1,042,589 841,351 81 201,238 19

1985 1,007,107 789,670 78 217,437 22

1983 1,029,975 770,863 75 259,112 25

As can be seen from inspection of the table, the number of LPNs comprising the nurse module of American hospitals has actually fallen. Further, the increase in R.N.s from 1983 to 1990 has been small with intimately no percentage increase from 1987 to 1990.

In addition to providing credentials said to be supportive of the dearth, several publications have discussed reasons for the shortage. slightly authors cite the stressful environment of the hospital as principal to disorder which is offered as a major reason for the shortage; for example, these authors point out that as a result of the stress, in that respect are over 40,000

Moreover, do drugs abuse and addiction tends to be 30 to 200 clock higher in the health care population working(a) in hospitals than in the general population (Robinson, 1985). In separate words, the nurse profession is experiencing a high rate of turnover because of a stressful working environment and this is one of the factors amenable for the shortage. Other contributors are said to be low breast feeding school adjustments, poor salaries, and an increased ratio of nurses to patients (Aiken & Mullinix, 1987).

Iglehart, J.K. (1987). Facing the nursing profession. New England Journal of Medicine, September, 648-655.

Based on review of the books and my personal experiences, it seems reasonable to believe that there is a shortage of hospital nurses, not of nurses in general. Data for the shortage are almost uniformly data collected from and about hospitals. Moreover, enrollment data evidencing lowered numbers of people ingress the nursing profession is somewhat suspect due to failure to gather in into account the kind of education program which students are entering in order to become nurses; that is, figures need to be computed for particularized programs before strong confidence can be hardened in the claim that enrollment is actually lower across the jump on.

However, it has been argued that in order for it to be true that there is a nursing shortage, this shortage must be across the board; that is, more than hospital nurses must be affected. Friedman (1991), for example, has pointed out that the nursing profession has grown increasingly complex. As a result, many more nurses are electing to practice in places other than a hospital.

American nurses who are alcoholics and who will, if no remediating actions are taken, turnover (Howard & Szczerbacki, 1988).

The present-day(a) alternatives offered to those interested in the nursing profession are a good deal more enticing than the hospital with its regimentation of tasks and stressful environment.
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