Warnings have been sounded for a decade about the growing shortage of nurses in the nation's health care system. An industry group of health care providers, the American Health Care Association, is drawing attention during National Nursing Home Week to the shortage of nurses in its system, too.
As the nation's population ages, demand for skilled care in nursing homes goes up. But many nursing homes, relying on Medicaid for up to half their income, are unable to compete with hospitals and medical centers as nursing salaries escalate.The AHCA estimates that a 125 percent increase in the number of registered nurses and a 142 percent increase in licensed practical nurses is needed to meet the demands of nursing homes alone in the next decade. That's in addition to the 90,000 to 100,000 additional nurses needed annually by the rest of the medical profession.
Measure those demands against the flat enrollment nationally in nursing schools and the situtation reaches "epidemic proportions" in the words of the Federation of Nurses and Health Professions, a nurses union.
The current answer to nursing shortages is to offer higher salaries and more fringe benefits. That has resulted in a bidding war in some areas of the country and only a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
A broader answer requires attacking the problem on several levels, including some restructuring of the nursing profession. Higher salaries, to make the profession more attractive, is basic.
A broader recognition in the medical profession of the nurse's role as primary care giver is needed to boost the image of nursing. Nurses don't just empty bedpans and plump up pillows any more.
Nurses need to spend more time doing what they trained for, that is, taking care of patients, rather than filling out paperwork. This problem can be relieved in two ways, one by adding non-nursing employees to handle the routine paperwork and, second, computerization of patient files and records.
Educational opportunities, including more scholarships and grants, are needed to encourage those with the skills, but not the financial resources, to make the commitment to getting a nursing degree.