(Circulation. 2001;103:e9017.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
The specter of a national nursing shortage brought nurse educators and nursing leaders before the aging subcommittee of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on February 13, 2001. The message they brought was that the working situation of many of the nation’s nurses must be improved before the healthcare industry can hope to draw younger people into the profession.
"Healthcare providers across the nation are experiencing a crisis in nurse staffing, and we are standing on the precipice of an unprecedented nursing shortage," said Kathryn Hall, MS, RN, CNAA, executive director of the Maryland Nurses Association and representative of the American Nurses Association (ANA).
She cited several examples of staffing shortages affecting major hospitals and medical centers, which included the following:
- In November 2000, 10% of the surgical beds at Johns
Hopkins Hospital went idle as a direct result of the nurse staffing
shortage, which caused delays and cancellations of
surgeries.
- In August 2000, the Maryland Hospital Association reported that nearly 15% of the nursing jobs in that state were vacant—up 33% from January of the same year.
- The Water View Health Care Facility is a long-term care facility in Salisbury, Maryland that is licensed for 150 beds. Because of staffing shortages, Water View is currently only filling 50 of these beds.
- Recently, 54 of the 102 members of the Arkansas Hospital Association responded to a nurse staffing survey. These hospitals reported 752 budgeted, vacant RN positions. Projections from the Arkansas Nurses Association show that there
. . . [Full Text of this Article] - In August 2000, the Maryland Hospital Association reported that nearly 15% of the nursing jobs in that state were vacant—up 33% from January of the same year.