Nursing Shortage
...that will continue to increase as the baby boomers enter their senior years and boost the demand for healthcare services. In 2005, the United States Department of Labor listed registered nursing as the number one occupation for job growth through 2012. The projections indicate that over one million new and replacement nurses will be needed as we enter the next decade (Fastest Growing Occupations, 2005). The potential crisis the United States is facing must be addressed with appropriate legislative actions that will help to augment the number of nurses needed to address this problem.
In 2000, the number of full-time registered nurses was estimated at 1.89 million and the demand was estimated at 2 million. That equates to an approximate shortage of 110,000 nurses or 6 percent (Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortages of Nurses, 2002). Trends in the supply of nurses have been followed in order to estimate the projected shortage in the future. It is expected to grow slowly until 2010 when it reaches 12 percent. From 2010 to 2015, the demand for nurses will begin to exceed the supply and the shortage will increase to 20 percent. Barring effective corrective measures, the shortage will continue to increase and reach 29 percent by 2020 (Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortages of Nurses, 2002).
The projected 29 percent shortage in 2020 is the result of a 40 percent increase in demand between 2000 and 2020 in comparison to a projected 6 percent growth in supply (Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortages of Nurses, 2002). The biggest factor for the increase in demand is the increasing proportion of elderly people. In May 2001, the Nursing Institute at the University of Illisois College of Nursing issued a report stating that "the ratio of potential caregivers to the people most likely to need care, the elderly population, will decrease by 40% between 2010...
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