Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Friday his department will begin searching for new ways to deal with a critical shortage of nurses. He urged universities, corporations and hospitals to look for creative solutions.
If current trends continue, Thompson said, the nation will face a shortage of half a million nurses by 2020. "That’s just not acceptable," he said. "The nursing shortage in our country is increasing, and it places our system of medical care at risk."
Speaking at Georgetown University, he announced $27 million in grants, mostly to assist students who attend nursing school. He said a top HHS official, Bobby Jindal, would examine steps to improve nursing education and enhance the profession.
Jindal, assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, will oversee a review of HHS activities that deal with the nursing work force. HHS also plans to work with the Labor Department on the problem.
Thompson also said he would ask universities and colleges how they might make nursing education more accessible. "Today’s employees often work long and unconventional hours. They need classes on weekends, in the evening and online," he said. And he suggested new programs to help nurses return to work quickly after absences.
The nursing shortage is now being felt in certain specialties and in certain regions and is expected to permeate the profession within a few years unless there is an influx of new nurses, HHS spokesman Bill Pierce said.
In March 2000, there were 2.7 million registered nurses, about 137,000 more than the government reported in 1996. Many of these nurses — about two out of five — are not working in hospitals or nursing homes but are opting for better-paid, easier jobs at health maintenance organizations or pharmaceutical companies.
At the same time, the nursing workforce is aging. In 2000, the average age of a licensed nurse was 45.2, up from 44.5 in 1996. Nursing school enrollments have been dropping as well.
The shortage of nurses is putting severe pressure on many hospitals and the nurses who work there and encouraging formation of unions by nurses frustrated by long and stressful hours.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.