To attract much-needed nurses, some organizations are offering large sign-on bonuses and are advertising significant salary increases for key specialties, such as intensive care. Improved working conditions and increased federal money may help other hospitals.

However, the report notes that there are 50 'magnet hospitals' nationwide that have successfully avoided or overcome shortages.

By 2020, there will be at least 400,000 fewer nurses available to provide care than will be needed.

Some home-health care agencies are being forced to refuse new patients.

In hospitals across the country, 126,000 nursing positions remain unfilled, while 90 percent of long-term care facilities don't have enough nurses to provide even the most basic care.

Seniors, aged 55 and older, are particularly sensitive to the shortage's impact on the quality of the health care system.Īccording to a 2002 report by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, inadequate nurse staffing has been a factor in 24 percent of the 1,609 cases involving patient death, injury or permanent loss of function reported since 1997.

93 percent agree (80 percent strongly agree) that the nursing shortage jeopardizes the quality of health care in the United States.

81 percent of Americans recognize there is a nursing shortage 65 percent believe it is either a major problem or a crisis.

However, a general lack of knowledge of the many opportunities nursing offers is a significant barrier to nursing recruitment efforts. It also confirms that Americans overwhelmingly trust, respect and admire nurses and would encourage family and friends to consider a nursing career.

According to a national poll released in February 2002 by the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's School of Nursing and Center for Health Services Research in Nashville, Tenn., a majority of Americans are concerned about the impact the nursing shortage may have on their ability to gain proper medical care.However, the enrollment increase is not enough to meet the projected need for new nurses. Enrollments in entry-level nursing programs increased in the fall of 2001, ending a six-year period of decline, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. They are entering the profession at an older age and will have fewer years to work than nurses traditionally have had. About half of the RN workforce will reach retirement age in the next 15 years. That's faster than the average for all other occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that jobs for registered nurses will grow 23 percent by 2008.Between 19, the average age of registered nurses increased from 42.3 to 43.3.The RN population under 30 dropped from 25.1 percent in 1980 to only 9.1 percent in 2000. The number of registered nurses under the age of 30 is decreasing.Although the number of licensed registered nurses increased 5.4 percent to nearly 2.7 million in 2000, it's the lowest reported annual increase by the department since data collection began in 1977.Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health Professions revealed that: The March 2000 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) conducted by the Division of Nursing of the U.S.As those registered nurses retire, the supply of working RNs is projected to be 20 percent below requirements by the year 2020.Within 10 years, 40 percent of working RNs will be 50 years or older.The average age of working registered nurses increased by 4.5 years to 41.9 between 19.According to a study by STTI board member Peter Buerhaus, RN, PhD, and colleagues published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (June 14, 2000):.Research demonstrates what nurses and health care organizations already know: The nursing shortage is very real. The result: Hospitals and other institutions need more nurses, especially those who deliver specialized care. These issues are occurring just as the majority of nurses are retiring and job opportunities within health care are expanding. Thus, skilled and specialized nurses are in great demand. In addition, with improved technology and managed-care issues, only the sickest patients require hospital stays and intense treatment.

A diminishing pipeline of new students in nursing.

Steep population growth resulting in a growing need for health care services.

Many factors are contributing to the current shortage. From North America to Africa and Europe, communities are challenged with growing health care needs and diminishing numbers of nurses. Countries around the world are facing critical nursing shortages.

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