Nursing Shortage in the U.S.

Today, there are over two million Registered Nurses employed in the United States on either a full- or part-time basis (Raffel & Raffel, 1994). The profession is decidedly female dominated (Luck and Kellman, 1985) with fewer than seven percent of nurses being males (Raffel & Raffel, 1994).

While the foregoing statistics make it clear that there is a shortage of males in the profession, it is less clear that there is a general shortage of nurses. On the pro side of the issue, Aiken and Mullinix (1987) have stated that the shortage is real but that its severity depends upon geographic location and the types of nurses needed. In this regard, the authors note that what they describe as a national shortage averages about 11 percent but can go as high as 15 percent in some areas of the country.

Raffel and Raffel (1994) also report that there is a national nursing shortage, stating that the problem is especially noticeable in hospital settings. According to these authors, the scope of the problem has forced many American hospitals to hire nurses from other cou

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other words, the nursing profession is experiencing a high rate of turnover because of a stressful working environment and this is one of the factors responsible for the shortage. Other contributors are said to be low nursing school enrollments, poor salaries, and an increased ratio of nurses to patients (Aiken & Mullinix, 1987). 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. In other words, authors such as Friedman are pointing out that in increasing numbers, nurses are electing to avoid hospital work and instead become teachers, or work in private practice as part of a health care team, or work at public and community health agencies offering alternatives to hospital care for the sick, or to act as advisors to local health departments and state agencies. As Luck and Kellman (1985) have put it: Today, nurses are frustrated with distorted images and narrow definitions of both healing and their
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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