Growing Nursing Shortage Tied to Recruiting Woes, Job Demands

The U.S. nursing shortage shows signs of getting worse at a time when the number of patients is set to rise, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official warned Friday.

Bobby Jindal, assistant secretary for planning and evaluation at the department, told a nursing conference in Atlanta the shortage was because of difficulty in recruiting and retaining nurses.

According to the American Hospital Assn., Jindal said, there are now about 126,000 vacant nursing positions in American hospitals, a figure that could grow to 400,000 by 2020.

“What we’re looking at today is not one of these cyclical shortages, but maybe something that will persist,” Jindal said.

Many nurses say they are dissatisfied with their jobs. Jindal said in one study, one-third of nurses said they planned to leave their current jobs within a year, while one-fifth planned to leave patient care entirely. He cited increased demands on nurses stemming from managed care and other industry changes.

Jindal said fewer students were choosing nursing careers right out of college. He also said the nursing work force is aging, as many choose nursing as a second career and begin work later in life.