Demand vs. Supply vs. Demand: Nursing Shortage

Demand vs. Supply Supply vs. Demand: Nursing Shortage The shortage of nurses in this country is caused by a simple economic principle -- supply and demand. Briefly, the demand for skilled registered nurses is greater than the supply. This may sound simple, but in reality there are many factors that contribute to the nursing shortage in today's health care industry. Statistics from The National Council of State Boards of Nursing tells us that there has actually been an increase in the number of trained nurses over the past ten years.

In 2000, there were 71,475 newly certified nurses. In 2005 there were 99,187. In 2010, there were 134,708 newly certified nurses. This is a 9.8% increase during the past decade. And the demand for nurses is actually expected to be lower than the amount of nurses being newly certified. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual growth rate for nursing jobs is expected to be 2.12% annually for the years 2008-2018. The annual growth of new registered nurses exceeds the projected growth rate for nursing positions by 7.7%.

(Wikipedia, 2011) This suggests that the nursing shortage is not merely a case of demand exceeding supply. Several other contributing factors may be "lack of adequate staffing ratios in hospitals and other health care facilities, retention, as well as a lack of placement programs for newly registered U.S. trained nurses." (Wikipedia, 2011) However, despite these percentages that may lead us to believe our nation's nursing shortage is ending, the lack of well-trained nurses to fill vacant positions tells a different story.

Mary Elizabeth Hopkins tell readers that in our country's hospitals, non-urgent surgeries are being cancelled, beds and units are being closed, and emergency room patients are being diverted. (2001) By the year 2020, the nursing shortage is predicted to be over 1 million. (Dunham, 2009) There are causes to this shortfall that belie the above percentages. The projected U.S. population growth is 18% over the next twenty years, and the expected population growth of those 65 and older is expected to grow three times that.

This population growth will put an immense strain on the health care system. Among this population is a large fraction of certified nurses who are reaching the age of retirement and leaving the workforce. Job dissatisfaction in the managed care environment is also a contributing factor to the nursing shortage. (Hopkins, 2001; Wikipedia, 2011) All of these factors serve to skew the percentage rates above and do construct a shortage of supply and increase in demand to be the underlying cause of our nation's nursing shortage.

Fagan, Maraldo, and Mason tell us that "the shortage at its simplest is a lack of skilled, practicing nurses." (2007) The question as to what can be done to address this problem in the health care industry is a difficult one to answer. The United States will never be able to do without nurses, or some type of nursing care, within its health care system. There is a great deal of legislative measure being proposed to address the issue.

S.2064: Nurse Training and Retention Act of 2007, is a bill to fund comprehensive programs to ensure an adequate supply of nurses. H.R. 5924: Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act was introduced as a bill that would have given visas to up to 20,000 foreign nurses and physical therapists. HR 1001: The Nursing Relief Act of 2009, a bill to create a new non-immigrant visa category for registered nurses, would make a new non-immigrant "W" visa category for nurses to be able to work in the United States.

(Wikipedia, 2011) These pieces of legislation suggest that global recruitment is a big piece in addressing the nursing shortage. There is a big push in human resource departments throughout the country to make nursing look more attractive, professionally and personally. Sign-on bonuses, flex time, on-site child care, guaranteed overtime pay,.