Even as the American Nurses Association celebrates the National Nurses Week in hospitals across the United States this week, concerns are being raised about the acute shortage of registered nurses, which is set to get much worse in the coming years.
According to figures released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, over three million RNs will be employed in 2016, an increase of 20 percent from more than 2.5 million in 2006, states a press release by the ANA.
However, various factors such as alternate employment opportunities, nurses retiring or leaving and fewer new nurses joining the profession, will culminate in the massive shortage of one million RNs by the end of this decade.
The release stresses that nurses are an indispensable resource for multidisciplinary medical teams working in hospitals, clinics and other care environments.
Over 5,000 community hospitals across the US are already grappling with a shortage of trained nurses. The ASA estimates that 116,000 positions for RNs are vacant in these hospitals.
'Today's nurses make the ultimate sacrifice on a daily basis to provide expert care during times of disaster and crisis,' the release quoted ANA president Rebecca M Patton as saying.
She added that nurses play an important role in taking care of individuals who become disabled through injury, illness or chronic disease.
