Is America experiencing a shortage of nurses? This paper examines a representative sampling of the literature on both sides of this issue. The review of the literature is followed by a discussion of the topic from the personal perspective of this writer. Finally, the paper presents a brief summary of its main points and offers recommendations for future actions needed to resolve the issue.
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 countries where the numbers of people entering the nursing profession is much higher.
Evidence for the shortage of nurses has been provided by the American Hospital Association in terms of the following statistics on the number of nurses employed in American hospitals.
Number of Nurses Employed in U.S. Hospitals
RNs LPNs
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