Effect of Nursing Shortage on Health Care Reform

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THE EFFECT OF NURSING SHORTAGE ON HEALTH CARE REFORM

By the year 2014, America will be undergoing through one of its historical moments, the provision of health coverage to the nation’s 46 million uninsured people. The aim of the health care reform is to improve access to quality care for all Americans. This implies more Americans will require Healthcare services.” Nurses are the largest group of U.S professionals and constitute a major part of the infrastructure necessary to any health care reform agenda “(1). Unfortunately there is shortage of Nurses to meet the demands of the health care reform. HRSA projects that, absent aggressive intervention, in the year 2020 the shortage will grow to more than 1 million RNs-representing a shortage of 36% (2). The “Baby boomers” are also aging and entering retirement. This has placed additional demand for the services of Nurses. Demands for Nurses is high and is expected to increase as more of the population gains access to healthcare reform. According to the American College of Nurses, “the nursing shortage is very real and very different from any experienced in the past and will grow more serious over the next 20 years” (3). For the healthcare reform to be successful and significantly achieve its purpose, nurses’ shortage should be aggressively redressed.

FACTS ABOUT NURSING SHORTAGE/BACKGROUND OF NURSING SHORTAGE

There is no simple description of the cause of Nursing Workforce shortage. It is a multidimensional and multi-factorial issue that cuts across education, health delivery systems and the work environment. Also the impact of reimbursement, legislation, regulation and technological advances must also be considered in order to fully appreciate the complexity of the nursing workforce shortage. The increasing age of the general population including “Baby Boomers” and the growing need for the management of

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