Reutersreports that health care facilities all across the US are facing dire nurse staffingshortages, which are leading to increased expenses related to staffing. They interviewed over 20 hospitals across theUS and found nearly universal concerns tied to a lack of nurses.
Reuters cites a StaffingIndustry Analysts report that says that the “cost nationwide for travel nurses alone nearly doubled overthree years to $4.8 billion in 2017”. For instance, “university-affiliated J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital inMorgantown is spending $10.4 million in 2017 compared with $3.6 million a yearearlier to hire and retain nurses.”
The article highlights the classicreason for the shortage, which have longbeen on the industry’s radar. For instance:
Baby Boom Generation Demand. The US Baby Boomgeneration, those born 1946-1964, has reached an age where they willincreasingly demand nursing services. As The Atlantic pointsout:
Today, there are more Americansover theage of 65 than at any other time in U.S. history. Between 2010 and2030, thepopulation of senior citizens will increase by 75 percent to 69 million,meaning one in five Americans will be a senior citizen; in 2050, anestimated 88.5million people in the U.S. will be aged 65 and older.
Aging Nursing Workforce. Out of the 3 million US nurses,one million are over age 50 and will be expected to retire in the next 10-15years.
Few Nurse Educators. Nursing Ph.D. programs have been unableto attract nursing faculty. These nurses Ph.D’s have traditionally madeup large numbers of nursing school faculty. Part of the reason for thisis that a Bachelor nursing graduate is usually offered a job at graduation,thus reducing that graduate’s incentive to seek out graduate nursingeducation. Without a dramatic increase in nurse faculty, it will beimpossible for the US to supply enough nurses to meet the demand.
Distribution Challenges. Some of the American nursing problemstems from the lack of mobility ion the nursing force. Nurses are oftenunwilling to leave their hometowns for jobs in rural areas or high-nurse demandareas, even if those positions pay better.
Lack of Foreign-Nurses. Because of a terribly though-out USimmigration policy, it takes a nurse from the Philippines many years to legallyobtain a visa, in spite of the nursing shortage. The Philippines hastraditionally been the greatest supplier of US nurses. The story is evenworse for India, which would certainly be able to supply the US with manynurses if it did not take 10 years for a fully-qualified nurse to obtain a USvisa. As a result of the lack of US nursing visa options,foreign-trained nurses have declined sitting for the US licensing exams.