Strategies to Reverse the New Nursing Shortage (1/31/01)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2001
CONTACT: ANA Communications Dept.
301-628-4ANA
Alarmed by Aging Workforce, High Turnover and Declining Academic Enrollment, Major Nursing Organizations Join Forces to Demand Sweeping Change
Washington, DC -- Asserting that the "new" nursing shortage is "very real and very different from any experienced in the past," four venerable nursing associations, collectively representing a large portion of the nation's staff nurses, nurse administrators and nurse educators in the United States, have assembled research and trend data indicating the situation is serious and "will grow more serious over the next 20 years."
In a white paper entitled Strategies to Reverse the New Nursing Shortage (See Below), the associations, organized as the Tri-Council, propose a sweeping set of recommendations for changes or enhancements in Education, Work Environment, Legislation and Regulation, Technology, Research and Data Collection, aimed at attracting and retaining nursing professionals. The Tri-Council includes the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), The American Nurses Association (ANA), The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) and The National League for Nursing (NLN).
Citing a troubling combination of factors including the aging nursing population, the heightened age of nurse educators, the declining number of nursing students in the academic pipeline and the need for more accommodating working conditions for nurses, the nursing organizations warned that "Without measures to reverse (these) trends, the nation is in danger of experiencing serious breakdowns in the health care system."
"The actual size of the shortage is difficult to quantify," said Nancy Langston, PhD, RN, president of the National League for Nursing. "Standard dynamics of supply, demand and need for nursing services have been altered by variations in health delivery systems, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and even by regional and local customs. Moreover, the increasing age of the general population and the growing need for management of chronic disease conditions suggest that the overall requirement for nursing services will increase."
Several of the change recommendations championed by the Tri-Council are aimed at motivating nurses to seek higher education through career progression initiatives; compensation tied to education and the promotion of staff development programs. Others address the work environment by calling for flexible scheduling programs and redesigning work to allow older nurses to remain active in direct care roles.
"One of the most critical problems facing nursing and the nursing workforce is the aging of nurses and nurse faculty," according to Carolyn Williams, PhD, RN, president, American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). According to a recent AACN survey, the average ages of nurse educators and candidates for higher academic degrees tended to exceed averages for other professions.
Unsatisfactory working conditions can be a significant disincentive to retaining nursing professionals according to Mary Foley, MS, RN, president of the American Nurses Association. Citing a 1999 study by William M. Mercer Inc., a research firm, Foley noted that "Market demand combined with workplace issues such as workload, staffing, career prospects and pay are the primary reasons for nursing turnover. Unless these issues are addressed, strategies to increase the overall supply of nurses will not be successful."
According to Dianne Anderson, MS, RN, president of the American Organization of Nurse Executives, in areas where the most acute shortages seem to exist, some hospitals are closing units, diverting patients, and canceling surgeries because there are not adequate numbers of professional nursing personnel.
A copy of "Strategies to Reverse the New Nursing Shortage" with the full set of change recommendations can be found below.