In discussions with clients and friends of MU Law, we have begun tohear that there are nursing shortages in certain disciplines and in certaingeographical pockets around the US. The shortages appear to be in some specialized disciplines (as opposed toMedical-Surgery) and in rural areas in the west and south. We have even seen reports of nursingshortages in less common areas like Massachusetts and West Virginia.
A reported in FierceHealthcare’s newsletter, nursingrepresented the biggest increase (40 percent) in job openings from Q1 to Q2,2012. The Occupational Outlook Handbookcontinually reports that nursing will be among the occupations in shortestsupply for this decade. Nonetheless, foreign-trained RN numbers continue to plummet. And it remains to beseen if anyone in Congress will show any leadership on this increasinglyimportant issue.